I'm a somewhat new brewer...brewing about 6 months or so. On my very first batch, I made a totally rookie mistake: I poured my boiling hot wort directly into the plastic carboy (Better Bottle off brand). I thought I would put in cold makeup water and it would all even out at about the right temperature.
Anyway, when I poured in the hot wort, it actually deformed my carboy and shrunk it. It was originally a 6-gallon carboy, and after this incident I thought it was about 5 gallons. So that's what I've been brewing with for the last 6 months. After getting frustrated numerous times with serious blowoffs (over 1 gal liquid lost for higher OG beers), I decided to buy a new carboy (6 gallon Better Bottle brand). Now, I've got this extra carboy sitting around. I planned to use it as a secondary fermentation vessel (especially so I could brew beers at a faster pace than 1 every 3 weeks). I thought it was 5 gallons, but now I've measured again, and it's really more like 4.5 gallons. So there's no reasonable way, without trashing 1/2 gallon, to make it into a secondary.
I'm in a pretty tight apartment, and can't afford to waste any extra space. Any thoughts on how to salvage this 4.5 gallon carboy, or should I just toss it?
Anyway, when I poured in the hot wort, it actually deformed my carboy and shrunk it. It was originally a 6-gallon carboy, and after this incident I thought it was about 5 gallons. So that's what I've been brewing with for the last 6 months. After getting frustrated numerous times with serious blowoffs (over 1 gal liquid lost for higher OG beers), I decided to buy a new carboy (6 gallon Better Bottle brand). Now, I've got this extra carboy sitting around. I planned to use it as a secondary fermentation vessel (especially so I could brew beers at a faster pace than 1 every 3 weeks). I thought it was 5 gallons, but now I've measured again, and it's really more like 4.5 gallons. So there's no reasonable way, without trashing 1/2 gallon, to make it into a secondary.
I'm in a pretty tight apartment, and can't afford to waste any extra space. Any thoughts on how to salvage this 4.5 gallon carboy, or should I just toss it?