5 gal or 6.5 gal carboys

[csmurdock]

Right now I use a bucket primary and 5 gal secondary if dry hopping or flavoring and am thinking about getting rid of the buckets. Question is if I am only going to use a primary should I use a 5 or 6.5 gallon carboy? 5 gal would clearly need a blow off tube which I understand can blow out some if the hop bitterness

 

[csmurdock]

Also with a 6.5 gallon carboy and an extended fermentation could I have any oxidation or infection risk from a large headspace. I understand CO2 drive it out generally but also that better bottles breathe which is where I am leaning.

 

[xmacro]

Go with 6.5 - the CO2 given off by the yeast is more than enough to fill that space. I've currently got 4 gallons in a 7 gallon carboy, and 3 hrs after I pitched, the airlock was bubbling merrily away

 

[csmurdock]

So basically do people use a 5 or 6.5 gallon better bottle for about 4 week fermentations?

 

[jsmoon888]

I just got my first Better Bottle and love it. I will only use glass for long aging.

 

[xmacro]

So basically do people use a 5 or 6.5 gallon better bottle for about 4 week fermentations?

I use plastic buckets. I can't see any problems unless you're aging 6 months or more

 

[jsmoon888]

As far as size I use 6 gal with no problems.

 

[kh54s10]

For a 5 gallon batch you will want 6 gallons or bigger. A 5 gallon fermenter would blow off almost every time!

I suggest the 6 gallon Better Bottle or buckets. They are much lighter and way safer!

 

[iambeer]

The best ones are the ultra rare Italian 4.5 gallon carboys. They use special Romanian virgin tears in their glass which imparts a superstitious quality to the taste of beer---AWESOME. But difficult if not impossible to find them.

 

[csmurdock]

Thanks guys. And I will keep an eye out for virgin tear glass

 

[beerman0001]

So basically do people use a 5 or 6.5 gallon better bottle for about 4 week fermentations?

Better bottles only go as high as 6gal but they work great. 6.5 gal glass is the best size but they are heavy when full.

 

[BamaRooster]

I too have started using better bottles and have been very pleased. But a blow-off tube is almost always required because of the 6 gallon size.

 

[rustym]

Go with the 6.5 gallon. You won't regret it. If you stay in this hobby, you find that you'll want to do 6 gal. batches that end up with 5.5 gals. in your fermentor and then end up with a full 5 gals. to bottle or keg. A 5 gal. won't work. The headspace is no problem for fermentation. Buckets are fine, but I like to see the action going on! Also, my last brew had to have a blow off tube in the 6.5 gal. carboy.

 

[zeg]

+1 on the 6.5 (or preferably, IMO, 6 gallon better bottle). In primary, there's no reason to worry about oxidation unless you do something silly to blow all the CO2 out.

If you are going to do beers that require extended secondaries, or if you're going to do wine or mead that will require racking, having a 5 gallon fermenter is convenient. In that case, you do need to be more worried about headspace. This would be pretty rare with beers.

 

[strambo]

I love my 8 gal bucket...I have done 1 month primaries in it a couple times, it isn't an issue. Never need a blow off either. I have a 5 gal BB and a 3 gal BB for secondaries on fruit and the 3 gal is for half batches.