Beginner looking for some advise: Move to smaller secondary or brew smaller batches?

[Keepcalm]

Was given another 6 gal and 5 gal carboy so now I am at 2x6 gal and 2x5 gal carboy.

Also just purchased the book "Brewing Classic Styles: 80 winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew"

Was thinking as long as the funds and motivation is there, why not see how many of styles/recipes I can go through in 2018. Since my Fridays are completly free I can brew 2 batches in one day.

The book says "All of these recipes are designed to leave 6 gallons (22.7L) of wort in the kettle at the end of the boil. It is assumed 5.5 gallons (20.8L) are transferred to the fermenter and this will yield a full 5 gallons (18.9L) of beer into packaging after loss due to trub."

I want to do all brews at full volume boil. Original idea I had was to ferment in the 6 gal carboy for 1 to 2 weeks and then transfer the the 5 gal to free up the 6 gal so i can do another batch.

Been reading a lot of posts that say don't transfer unless you need longer fermentation time.

Is this plan good or should I skip transfering and use the 5 gal carboys as primary fermenter as well. If using 5 gal as a primary what would you recommend for the max amount of wort to go into the 5 gal carboys? 4gal?

Thsnks.

 

[C-Rider]

Brewing 2 5 gallon batches a day how often? You gonna have a whole lot of beer. Do you drink that much or do you have a lot of friends? Me I do 2 gallon batches giving me 17 bottles on average. Pretty much only me or one other guy drinking so I don't really want 100 bottles of the same stuff.

 

[RM-MN]

Was given another 6 gal and 5 gal carboy so now I am at 2x6 gal and 2x5 gal carboy.

Also just purchased the book "Brewing Classic Styles: 80 winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew"

Was thinking as long as the funds and motivation is there, why not see how many of styles/recipes I can go through in 2018. Since my Fridays are completly free I can brew 2 batches in one day.

The book says "All of these recipes are designed to leave 6 gallons (22.7L) of wort in the kettle at the end of the boil. It is assumed 5.5 gallons (20.8L) are transferred to the fermenter and this will yield a full 5 gallons (18.9L) of beer into packaging after loss due to trub."

I want to do all brews at full volume boil. Original idea I had was to ferment in the 6 gal carboy for 1 to 2 weeks and then transfer the the 5 gal to free up the 6 gal so i can do another batch.

Been reading a lot of posts that say don't transfer unless you need longer fermentation time.

Is this plan good or should I skip transfering and use the 5 gal carboys as primary fermenter as well. If using 5 gal as a primary what would you recommend for the max amount of wort to go into the 5 gal carboys? 4gal?

Thsnks.

Beer recipes are scalable. You can change the amount of ingredients to make any batch size you want. I'd probably plan for 3.5 to 4 gallons into a 5 gallon carboy and still plan to rig a blowoff tube for those beers that get too much krausen to fit.

Those 5 gallon carboys are also good for making wine, ciders, or mead as those don't produce the krausen like beer does.

The correct wording is, "don't move your beer to secondary unless it is for adding fruit for a true secondary fermentation or for long term aging." You can leave your beer in the primary fermenter for a long time, up to 6 months or more.

 

[Keepcalm]

Thanks for the advice. Plan on brewing once or twice a month, I do have a bunch of people over often and they all go through a ton of beer.

Also will be brewing 2 different recipes each time.

Is there any negative affect in fermenting 2.5-3 gals in a 5 or 6 gal fermenter?

 

[Dcpcooks]

Thanks for the advice. Plan on brewing once or twice a month, I do have a bunch of people over often and they all go through a ton of beer.

Also will be brewing 2 different recipes each time.

Is there any negative affect in fermenting 2.5-3 gals in a 5 or 6 gal fermenter?

No down side to fermenting a smaller batch in a 5 gallon carboy. You will have oxidation risk if you rack a beer to secondary in a larger carboy.

The primary fermentation will consume o2 and drive off any remaining o2 leaving an o2 free environment.

When you rack beer you risk oxidation and leaving extra head space magnifies that risk as your past the point where you can rely on the benefits of primary fermentation to drive off or consume o2.

 

[Sammy86]

Is there any negative affect in fermenting 2.5-3 gals in a 5 or 6 gal fermenter?

The only thing to worry about is the headspace for a 2.5-3 gallon batch in a 6 gallon fermentor. I would use the 5 gallon fermentors and put 4.5 gallons in there to get 3.5-4 gallons out.

 

[kh54s10]

I would use the 5 gallon fermentors and put 4.5 gallons in there to get 3.5-4 gallons out.

IMO that is really pushing it. I put 5.25 gallons in a 6 gallon Better Bottle. They actually hold a bit over 6.5 gallons totally full and get blow off in about half my brews. Allowing only .5 or so gallons of headspace I would expect blow off on almost every batch. Massive on some.

 

[Sammy86]

IMO that is really pushing it. I put 5.25 gallons in a 6 gallon Better Bottle. They actually hold a bit over 6.5 gallons totally full and get blow off in about half my brews. Allowing only .5 or so gallons of headspace I would expect blow off on almost every batch. Massive on some.

I don’t think that’s really pushing it IMO...many are using blow off tubes to begin with so why not???

Remember fermentation deals with a lot of factors yeast pitch rate and temp...if you’re not making a starter and just pitching at cooler temps your fermentation won’t be as vigorous so you can get away with it.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for the advice. Plan on brewing once or twice a month, I do have a bunch of people over often and they all go through a ton of beer.

Also will be brewing 2 different recipes each time.

Is there any negative affect in fermenting 2.5-3 gals in a 5 or 6 gal fermenter?

Get those people to start brewing beer and bringing it to share. Learn about brewing from each other and do friendly competitions so you all strive for better beer.

I do 2 1/2 gallon batches in a 6.5 gallon bucket. Works great.

 

[BrewInspector]

Use your 2 larger ones for the once a month brew sessions. If you decide to do that extra second session during a month either make smaller batches for the 5 gallon bottles or do some experimentation like brewing one beer (maybe a slightly larger batch if you have the capacity) that is split between the 2 bottles and use different yeast in each so that you can see how the yeast choice affects the final product.

 

[Keepcalm]

Get those people to start brewing beer and bringing it to share. Learn about brewing from each other and do friendly competitions so you all strive for better beer.

Most of those people are lazy. In the book I mentioned the author suggest to submit your brews in competitions for professional feedback. I thought that is a great idea and started looking into it. Noticed its cheap to enter a beer and most allow you to mail entries in.

 

[Keepcalm]

Use your 2 larger ones for the once a month brew sessions. If you decide to do that extra second session during a month either make smaller batches for the 5 gallon bottles or do some experimentation like brewing one beer (maybe a slightly larger batch if you have the capacity) that is split between the 2 bottles and use different yeast in each so that you can see how the yeast choice affects the final product.

I like that idea of using the 5 gal to experiment like that. Thanks!

 

[Keepcalm]

Thank you to everyone for their time and feedback. Would have to say this is one of the best forums I have ever joined. Stocked to take all the ideas and suggestions and applying them to see what works for me.

 

[RM-MN]

Most of those people are lazy. In the book I mentioned the author suggest to submit your brews in competitions for professional feedback. I thought that is a great idea and started looking into it. Noticed its cheap to enter a beer and most allow you to mail entries in.

If you manage to get even one to brew and share with you, you become a winner. If you both enter competitions you may both improve.