Well I never thought I would complaine about that!!!....hehe...anyway hello there fellow hop heads , I am just a newbie so bear with me....first batch, Brewers Best Red Ale...turned out good after in bottles for 2 weeks...then after 6 weeks..turned out really good. so as of now I am offically hooked!!, question, I have a 5 gal glass carboy wich I used for my first batch, wich is a loaner, I can pretty much keep it as long as I need it, however, I picked up my own p.e.t. carboy..I actually ment to get a 5 gal...but I got the 6 gal by mistake, and no I cannot swap with my local brew shop where I bought it as they dont have any 5 gal....so my question is, is a 6 gallon carboy too much head space for the 5 gallon batches, I want all my beer to turn out as well as my first batch ,just want a few opinions, if it is a valid concern, or am I worrying too much about something trivial as ...a little head space....Tom
Too much head!!!
- Thread starter tnsen
- Start date
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Are you using the carboy for your primary or your secondary fermenter?
If it's your primary, then headspace is not an issue, because the yeast are going to produce a lot of CO2 that creates outward pressure. That and the layer of krausen on top of the beer will protect it from most things that could spoil it (such as infection and oxidation). I use an 8-gallon vessel for a primary for my 5-gallon batches.
If it's your secondary, then that gallon of headspace will be a factor. How much of a factor will depend on how long you are keeping beer in it. The longer time you leave fermented/conditioning beer in a vessel with a lot of headspace, the more risk of oxidation you face.
If you do leave beer in a carboy for a long time (more than a few weeks) with a lot of headspace, you do have a couple of options: 1) a blast of CO2 if you have a kegging setup, or 2) Private Preserve - a wine preservative spray made up of inert gases. Same concept in either case - a heavier-than-air gas that you spray into the carboy on top of the beer to protect it from oxygen in the headspace. I've used Private Preserve to protect meads that I was aging for upwards of 6 months and had no oxidation problems.
If it's your primary, then headspace is not an issue, because the yeast are going to produce a lot of CO2 that creates outward pressure. That and the layer of krausen on top of the beer will protect it from most things that could spoil it (such as infection and oxidation). I use an 8-gallon vessel for a primary for my 5-gallon batches.
If it's your secondary, then that gallon of headspace will be a factor. How much of a factor will depend on how long you are keeping beer in it. The longer time you leave fermented/conditioning beer in a vessel with a lot of headspace, the more risk of oxidation you face.
If you do leave beer in a carboy for a long time (more than a few weeks) with a lot of headspace, you do have a couple of options: 1) a blast of CO2 if you have a kegging setup, or 2) Private Preserve - a wine preservative spray made up of inert gases. Same concept in either case - a heavier-than-air gas that you spray into the carboy on top of the beer to protect it from oxygen in the headspace. I've used Private Preserve to protect meads that I was aging for upwards of 6 months and had no oxidation problems.
EineProsit
Well-Known Member
6 gal carboy ok for primary if you use a blowoff setup
WestCoastHopper
Well-Known Member
He he. I read that title and thought "stop bragging!"
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