Worth buying this carboy?

[loetz]

Hey, I'm buying equipment for the first time and I'm wondering if you guys could take a look at something for me.

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I found this used carboy online. It seems to be five gallons. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn't buy it? Is there anything I should look for when buying used equipment?

On top of this, do my first and secondary fermentation containers need to be exactly the same size? If my first vessel contains four gallons and then I transfer that into a five gallon secondary-vessel, will that extra air in the vessel mess up the brew?

Thanks

 

[Double_D]

I would go the other way, from a five gallon container to the four. That way, you have more room for the krausen during primary fermentation. The carboy doesn't look bad. When buying used equipment just make sure it is not cracked, chipped, or visibly damaged and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[SittingDuck]

^^^^ This. Absolutely primary in your 5, then secondary, if you do, in your 4. You want the extra space for krausen and active fermentation in primary, but in secondary you want as little headspace as possible since there is less CO2 being produced.

 

[loetz]

Is it possible to have too much krausen space in the primary? Where is the line?

 

[badbrew]

Is it possible to have too much krausen space in the primary? Where is the line?

I don't think it is an issue normally because of the cO2 layer. If you open it up frequently after a long time in primary, then I guess it may possibly invite oxygen in. I normally hear the problems with a large void in a secondary for the oxygen issues.

 

[RM-MN]

I've done a 2 1/2 gallon batch in a 6 1/2 gallon bucket without issues but I didn't open it for 3 weeks which was when I bottled it.

 

[loetz]

thanks, guys!

 

[loetz]

I'm looking to save money on grain mills, but I'm not sure if it is worth the sacrifice.

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Do any of you have any thoughts on these mills? It looks like I would have to build a box for the milled grain to fall into and some sort of a feeder for the grain. I'm ok with that, but I'm worried about the quality of the grind.

There is also this mill, but it says it is for nuts and poppy seeds.
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[birvine]

Hard to tell with the pic, but at 1 Euro why not buy it and give it a try. If it just cracks the grain then I think you'd be ok.

B

 

[loetz]

If it just cracks the grain then I think you'd be ok.

If it cracks the grain versus doing what? Mushing it? I'm not really sure what a good grain mill should do. This will be my first all grain.

And the add is a bit misleading. They want 10 euros for a mill.

 

[daksin]

If it cracks the grain versus doing what? Mushing it? I'm not really sure what a good grain mill should do. This will be my first all grain.

And the add is a bit misleading. They want 10 euros for a mill.

That's a flour mill- you don't want to grind your grain into flour. You want the grain to be crushed to a size between .025 and .04 inches (not doing that conversion in my head) without damaging the hulls at all.

10 Euros converts to around $13-$14 USD. For around $25 USD (20EUR) you are looking at a "corona" style mill. In that price range, which is about as cheap as you can go for a usable mill, that's what I would look for.

 

[loetz]

For around $25 USD (20EUR) you are looking at a "corona" style mill.

Yea, I've had a really hard time finding something for that price. The cheapest corona style mill I've found is on Brouwland - alles voor het maken van bier, wijn, likeur en kaas and they want 56 euros for it. I'd have to pay shipping on top of that. Do any of you have any better ideas?

 

[loetz]

That's a flour mill- you don't want to grind your grain into flour.

And thanks -- that's what I needed to know.

 

[loetz]

Do any of you have any thoughts on using something like this for a mash tun?

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Igloos and coolers are kind of expensive here, so I wouldn't be saving any money if i went that route.

 

[daksin]

You need to be sure it can take the heat of mashing, and also that it's food safe. I would actually suggest looking for a big pot to mash in. You can line it with a mesh bag, mash in the pot, and then use it as your boil kettle also. This is called brew-in-a-bag, or BIAB. It allows you to just lift the grains out with the bag, leaving behind your first runnnigs. You can either not sparge, or batch sparge in another vessel. There is plenty of thermal mass to hold your temperature- you don't necessarily need something insulated. I mash in a 30qt aluminum pot and just wrap it with a heavy towel. Pots are probably pretty easy to find where you are.