5 gallon Carboy

[JHendrix]

So I Decided to take a step away from my Mr Beer kit and bought a nice kit with a 6.5 Gallon fermenting bucket and a 5 Gallon glass Carboy, which originally I was thinking about using as a secondary and changed my mind. Now my question is would I be able to use my 5 Gal glass carboy as a primary if I were to have a blow off tube?

 

[the_Roqk]

YES

Make sure you have a blow off tube. Not much head space in the 5 gal.

 

[JHendrix]

YES

Make sure you have a blow off tube. Not much head space in the 5 gal.

With a blow off tube and such little head space is there still a chance of a blow off?

 

[gfd622]

Yes, but you will lose some serious amounts of beer (OK, not a ton, but you'll probably only get 7 6-packs from a batch). I'm an all glass guy personally and so I just upgraded to a 6.5 gallon glass carboy and I'm very happy - very little need for blowoff tubes anymore (except for those hefty brews).

Short answer - yes, you can do it with a blow off tube.

 

[woollybugger2]

You could also make a smaller brew say 4 or 4.5 gallons instead of 5.....

 

[Edcculus]

Contrary to popular belief, 42 is not the answer to life, the universe and everything. Fermcap-S is! Starters, in the boil, in the carboy. Foam be gone.

 

[bjzelectric]

Ive had a blow off actually blow off of a 6.5 gallon carboy. I lost about half the batch and it was a huge mess. Just so happened to be laundry day and I had no towels available! Son of a...

 

[JHendrix]

Contrary to popular belief, 42 is not the answer to life, the universe and everything. Fermcap-S is! Starters, in the boil, in the carboy. Foam be gone.

I'll have to check into that stuff, does it affect the head retention or anything?

 

[GNBrews]

No.

 

[BioBeing]

I did my first couple of batches in a 5 gal carboy. They weren't big beers, and I only lost a little bit to my blow off. Just make sure your tube doesn't get blocked.

 

[Edcculus]

Nope, does not change head retention. Its basically a silicone emulsion that breaks up the surface tension. You can boil within an inch of the top of a pot without fear of a boilover. I just fermented a Hefeweizen within a few inches of the top of a 5 gal carboy. I got a clogged air lock at first, but nothing worse.

 

[conpewter]

yes the foam control drops are wonderful. I use them all the time in the boil now.

Also you could do apfelwein in the 5 gallon carboy since it does not foam during fermentation.