I thought of a question for the OP.
If you fermented in your bottling bucket, do you have another bucket with a spigot to transfer to at bottling time? I know some of the starter kits come with a fermenting bucket without a spigot, and a bottling bucket with a spigot.
I soak all the parts in StarSan before I assemble and fill the bucket. I usually twist the spigot so it points upside down, spray some StarSan into it, and wrap it in plastic wrap.
There's a landing at the top of the stairs to my basement that stays between 62 to 64 degrees most of the year...
Hello, and welcome to the forum.
One of the great things about home brewing is the ability to keep it as simple as a large pot on your stove, or to go all-out, automated, commercial brewery.
What did you have in mind?
You should be fine with water in the airlock. With the plastic bucket fermenters, just gently pull the airlock out before you try to move the bucket. The pressure change from lifting and squeezing it usually causes the liquid in the airlock to get sucked into the bucket.
You've got plenty of...
A lot of 5 gallon extract kits call for a 2.5 gallon boil, then add extra water afterwards to bring the volume up to 5 gallons.
Is that what you had in mind?