2.5 gallons in 5 gallon bucket a problem?

[mrphillips]

How much oxidizing can I expect from this? My last 2 5 gallon batches came out a little disappointing, so I want to save some money and cut my new recipes in half...but I only have a 6 gallon carboy and a couple 5 gallon buckets. How much would only filling these up HALF way affect the taste of my brew? Thanks.

 

[JonM]

You'll be fine. I've done that and so have lots of others. Cheers!

 

[poptarts]

I would skip secondary if you dont have a smaller container. But ive done 1 gallon batch in a 5 gallon bucket with no issues.

 

[fartinmartin]

My brews seldom are bigger than 19 litres, my FVs are about 30 litres, the extra space is no problem, indeed an attribute, try filling that space with fermenting froth.

 

[Damoxemus]

Same as above, did 3 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket recently and it turned out great. With all the Co2 produced during fermentation you won't have to worry about oxygen. The only thing I noticed was it took a bit of time for the airlock to start moving (though not sure if extra headspace qas the cause).

 

[fuzzy2133]

Like all the above go for it. Definitely nice not being worried about needing a blow off with the extra head space.