5 gal fermenter question?....

[KnoxMainer1]

i'm using a 5 gallon fermenter bucket to, well, ferment. when 5 gallons is poured into bucket it is about 4-5 inches from rim of bucket. is this enough space? i have the one airlock on but can i put more than one airlock on to compensate for the potentially little room in the bucket?...knox.

 

[barrog]

IMO that will not be enough head space. When fermenting 5 gal you should use a 6.5 gal carboy or bucket. Although you may be safe with blow off hose. Adding another airlock won't be necessay either. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[mc_eric]

That's not enough headspace, the lid will definitely blow if you don't use a blowoff tube. If you can keep the bucket in a water bath with some frozen water bottles, it might keep the fermentation slow enough to keep the lid from blowing. But you WILL BE in for a huge mess if you don't use a blowoff (probably).

I've tried to do 6 gallons in a 6.5 gallon ail pail and my blowoff tube got clogged w/ krausen, blew the lid. not really that big of a deal, just a pain to clean up.

Adding another airlock probably won't help, as the issue is really that the airlocks tend to get clogged up with krausen.

 

[hamiltont]

Fermcap = no problem!

 

[KnoxMainer1]

what if i use a wide, lets say over an inch, tube with the blowoff method?..

 

[mc_eric]

O yeah, forgot about fermcap! Never used it personally, so I can't vouch for it, but I've heard it works great.

If you're not gonna use fermcap, tho, bigger is definitely better for a blowoff tube. My b/o tube is just a 3-piece airlock w/ the bottom cut crossbars off and tubing attached to the top, so it does get clogged up from time to time. If you do use a tube that big, you'll be fine.

Honestly fermcap is probably your best bet, tho.

 

[KnoxMainer1]

thanks everyone!...Knox

 

[chrispykid]

Guys,

He's saying that there are 4-5 inches between the 5 gallons and the top of the bucket. Doesn't that make it about a 6-6.5 gallon bucket? Last time I did my primary in a bucket that sounds like about the same amount of headroom as I had in my bucket. I attached a blowoff tube to be safe, but the krauzen never climbed that high.

I'd go with the tube for the first couple days to be safe (one end where the airlock would go, other end in a small pot of water - instant airlock). You can switch the regular airlock after that.

 

[KnoxMainer1]

thanks chrispykid! i suppose it is a six gallon bucket! ha!....thanks for the input!

 

[Mutilated1]

It should be enough headspace unless you make a really big beer or a wheat beer, some beers need more space than others. For a typical beer you might make 5 gallon fermenting bucket with 4-5 inches of space is perfect.

 

[springer]

Every fermentation is different but it sound like you do in fact have a 6.5 gallon bucket. I always use a blowoff at the start on the smaller fermenters then I change it to a air lock. Reason being I had a 5.5 gallon batch of a 1.050 Irish ale in the a 7.1 gallon conical put the airlock on an forgot about it temps around 62° . Next day nice brown globs all over the ceiling and foam all over. Never had this happen even with some high gravity beers prior.