Greetings lab partners,

[GnarlyDudeBrewer]

Been cruising these fantastic forums for a week now and joined today. I am putting together my game plan for gathering all my equipment on the cheap as possible route. I've learned alot here and will update when I'm ready to choose which style to start with on my first extract brew. Thanx

 

[funkadelicturkey]

Howdy and welcome. IPAs and Stouts are popular choices for a first brew. My advice is get a 8 gallon fermentation vessel, for a 5 gallon batch, (food safety bucket) for your first brew and many more to follow. It sucks to have your beer coming out of the top and making a mess when you don't have a enough space.

 

[GnarlyDudeBrewer]

So, I figured out I would prob need about 8 gal for a 5 gal batch on the kettle operation, but you think I'll need a fermenter that big as well? Most of the LHBS sell a 6.5G for fermenting, is there something newbies overlook that would more likely cause an expansion?

Gnarl,

 

[funkadelicturkey]

The size of you kettle may be dependent on type of brewing your are doing. I used a 20 quart/5 gallon kettle for extract batches and that worked just fine, since I was doing a partial boil and topping up with water at the end. For 5 gallon all grain batches I have a 10 gallon kettle and that feels small sometimes, I've heard of using an 8 gallon kettle but you'd have to keep a close eye on it to avoid boil overs. My home brew store also only sells 6.5 gallon buckets and i've used them for primary and had messy problems. Moved to a 8g bucket like ~ http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10375&osCsid=bc3c4c8463645cf662cefe03d44dbde7 and no more problems! Good Luck!

 

[unionrdr]

A 6.5 gallon bucket is the standard size for most manufacturers & thus home brew shops & home brewers. A 5 gallon batch in an 8 gallon container that isn't making a ton of co2/blow off can be in trouble. I can get that sort of thing in my Cooper's micro brew FV if I do only 19L (5.016USG). It is a TTL of about 40L of space,so 19L is a little more than half full. A lot more so in a cavernous 8G vessel. That's a lot of head space. 3 gallons doesn't sound like much till you take into account the shape of the vessel. Shape can add more head space.
The last time I did a 5G batch in my Cooper's micro brew FV,it almost didn't make enough co2 to keep the surface from getting infected. Not one bubble the whole time with nearly half a fermenter of head space.
I'd rather rig a blow off & be safe then worry about a large head space not making an infection. Why am I worried you may still wonder?? Because the co2 is NOT pushing the o2 out; it's mixing WITH the o2 and litterally absorbing it. It does this to the point of pressure exceeding that of the head space & the airlock "vent" bubbles.
Interestingly enough,you can compress co2 & o2,but you can't compress water. When compressed,liqud in the fermenter will find the path of least resistance,using the gasses in the head space to blow off either the airlock,lid,or both to releive the pressure on itself.