Fermenter head space question

Pictured is 5 gallons of sanitizer in the glass carboy. Is there sufficient headspace there to ferment 5 gallons of wort, or would it just be safer to ferment in my 6.5 gallon plastic ale pail?

Thank you!

 

Use a blowoff tube and you'll be fine. Is that a 6 gallon carboy? I routinely ferment 5.5 gallons in my 6.5 carboys with no blowoff tube without a problem.

 

Looks like a 5-5 1/2 to me. I have a 6 gallon BB that I think is the minimum for fermenting a 5 gallon batch with decent head space.

 

I don't have a blowoff tube unfortunately. If i'm just using a 3 piece airlock, should I just use my 6.5 gal ale pail instead?

 

That would be safer, yeah. Use the 5 gallon as a secondary where minimal headspace is desirable.

 

What yeast? What temperatures? What gravity? How big of a starter?

I find that at warmer temperatures, with larger starters and moderate gravity worts I tend to have the highest krausen. It also depends heavily on the yeast strain too. Low gravity or high gravity tends to I guess have too little or too much sugar for the yeast to cause a lot of krausening.

I've never had a blow over in a carboy. Granted, I typically leave a lot of head space, but for example, I only left maybe 2 inches of head space in my 3 gallon carboy with a Pilsner I just did, didn't blow over and I had maybe half an inch at least of headspace over the level of krausening. That was probably my riskiest brew as I normally have about 3-5 inches of head space and my typical Krausen is 1.5-2 inches. I've had as much as 3 inches of krausen and as little as an inch. Some strains seem to cause a higher krausen and some lower, but temp, starter size and wort gravity also have a lot of impact on this (I have had starters in my flasks krausen over a couple of times).

 

I typically get 3-5 inches of krausen, but as little as 2". Temp is definitely a factor, as is size & health of the yeast pitch. Typically pitching at 62-65F, it does seem to keep the krausen from going stark raving berzack though.

 

I think the only times I've been pushing 3 inches is when I've had fermenter temps in the high 60's and low 70's.

 

Yeah, for me about 66-69F. Also depends on how voracious the yeast pitch is at a given temp range.

 

It's easy to attach a length of tubing to a 3 piece airlock for a blowoff

 

I have the same Carboy. Mine is 6 gallons. And 5 gallons of wort looks just as full as yours. Put a blowoff tube on it and you will be fine. If you want to use the ale pail which is easier to clean then by all mean go ahead. Personal preference really.