Does 6 Gal. Primary = Blow-off?

[jamebow]

so right now i've got the bucket that came with my starter kit. after two batches, it is already smelling like beer even after a vigorous, bleachy washing. so i'm done with it.

i have a 5 gallon better bottle carboy for a secondary and i love it. so i want to get another and use it as my primary, but the largest size they come in is 6 gallon.

i don't want to mess with a blow-off tube. my fermenting space is VERY restricted. so does a 6 gallon carboy have enough headspace (with a 5 gallon batch) so that i can get away with not needed a blow off tube?

thanks,

jamebow

 

[Wheat King]

im headed in the same direction as yourself with my fermenter setup, and am also restricted as far as space goes. my 2.5 foot deep closet is about the only place i can ferment.

i dont have anything to contribute to the thread except another question: if a fermentation bucket smells like beer after vigorous scrubbing...does that mean its done for? ie non-sanitizable? my Ale Pale has smelled like beer since my 1st batch...could that be causing problems in my later batches?

 

[Beer is good]

It depends on what your brewing I suppose, I just fermented a porter in a 6.5gal primary and the krausen came just an inch from the cork... if I had used a 6 gallon I'd surely have foam in my airlock.

or maybe it could clog it and ASSPLODE MY CARBOY!!! :-(

 

[chillHayze]

a 6 gallon BB will need a blowoff tube if you have any kind of decent fermentation in a 5 gal batch. You could scale down to a 4.5 gallon batch and most likely not have issues. All you need is a carboy cap and 3/8 tubing running to a cup. That doesn't take up too much room.

Wheat King: That is normal and there is no need to get the smell out, however some people report an oxy clean soak gets it out. I've never had any problems just leaving the smell.

 

[MrSaLTy]

I have had beers that had massive blowoff even with a 6.5 gal carboy so you can never be sure. I have found that it can be somewhat yeast dependent but you probably will run into cases where you have blowoff in a 6 gal fermentor for sure. This is espescially more likely if you do a starter.

 

[Blender]

A bucket that smells like beer is not a bad thing is it? I will agree that with a 6 gallon carboy you should plan on having a blow-off tube. I have heard of some brewers adding a defoaming agent to the fermentor to control foam.

 

[Mike-H]

Simple answer = YES, you will have NO problems brewing ordinary recipe's with your 6.5 primary and 5 secondary. That entails pitching yeast without a starter, which is also not a problem. Chances are at this stage (you're not too far behind me) that you need to aquint yourself more with the brewing process than worry about number of yeast cells etc... So far, for me, i've done about 5 batches without starters, my primary is a 6.5, I have a blowoff tube but I havent even come close to using it and my beer after aging is excellent. Baby steps imho.

 

[EdWort]

Nothing beats a 7.9 gallon bucket primary with a spigot from Austin Home Brew. Racking to a 5 gallon Better Bottle or straight to a keg is a easy a pie.

Try it, you'll like it.

 

[jamebow]

if it doesn't matter if it smells like beer (the last batch was an IPA and it mostly just smells hoppy), i'mma stick with the bucket. i'll giver her another bleachy soak and then i just won't worry.

new buckets (without the spigot) are only like $10 anyhow. i think i'll stick with them for a while longer.

 

[johnoswald]

A bucket that smells like beer is not a bad thing is it? I will agree that with a 6 gallon carboy you should plan on having a blow-off tube. I have heard of some brewers adding a defoaming agent to the fermentor to control foam.

Lets remember that the MOST important thing in a primary is CLEANLINESS!
Buckets, plastic bottles, SS tanks or glass carboys must be absolutely free of life from when you introduce the wort until you add the yeast. The unfermented wort is a perfect soup ready to let many things grow - that is why the yeast take-off so fast. But you can do a some things to further promote yeast growth in preference over other microbes.

Speed of Cooling the wort. Get (or better, make) a wort chiller to cool your boiled wort as fast as possible. The longer it takes to cool, the higher the chance that something will get in it.
Lower Fermenting temperature. Healthy yeast are more active at cooler temperatures than other microbes. So by cooling to 50F (rather than the usual 70F) you give the yeast a leg up on anything else that might have gotten in. Then when you let the temp rise back to 70F the yeast have started making the environment less suitable for the other guys - pH drops and ethanol is formed - both kill off bacteria.

All that said because a cool to 50 and then slow rise back to 70 will reduce blow-off problems too. The yeast gets going more slowly but more healthily.

Dilution. Then there is the use of post primary dilution. You can prepare a more concentrated wort (say 4.5 gal) for your 5 gal primary. Then when you rack to your secondary, you can dilute it up to the mark with boiled (and cooled) water.

So you don't have to invest in a umteen gallon carboy to avoid blasting foam everywhere. 5 gal carboys can be used to make 5 gal batches.

Also, watch out when scrubbing a plastic bucket primary. Scratches can harbor bacteria, molds and wild yeasts!
And, who needs (or wants) to add a defoamer?