Primary size--too small?

[zgo]

Hey everyone,

I just brewed AHB's Arrogant Bastard extract kit with some friends, and for various reasons and accidents we're using a 5 gallon carboy as a primary (usually works as secondary) to hold a little over 5 gallons. Of course, there is little to no headroom at all in the thing now, but we are using a blow off tube, given the OG.

My questions:
1. Will the lack of headroom in the primary have an adverse effect?

2. As long as there's a blow off tube, should I be worried about any mess from the kreusen?

Thanks.

 

[kevokie]

I would be willing to bet you will get a lot of kreusen in the blow off tube. I really doubt that the lack of headroom will have any adverse effects, other than a lot of blow off obviously.

 

[zgo]

Thanks for the response.

Let me add a third question then:
3. Will all the blow off reduce my total and final volume?

 

[steber]

You should be fine. After a few days you should be able to throw an airlock on depending how long you plan to stay in the primary. It also might take slightly longer to prime as you'll lose some yeast through the blow off. But nothing to be too concerned with. Just make sure your blow off tube doesn't get clogged!