Air-Locked Better Bottle Primary Fermenter?

[timothywilliam]

May have posted this in the wrong place before but I have a question.

I have a 6 1/2 gallon better bottle and I want to use it for a primary fermenter. Is it a necessity to use a blow off hose? can I use an airlock for a 6 1/2 gallon carboy with a 5 gallon batch?

It seems that it leaves as much room as a plastic fermenter, so maybe I don't need to worry about the muck level.

What do you think?

 

[Choguy03]

Either one will work. There is nothing wrong with using a air lock with a better bottle. In the case of violent fermentations, a blow off is preferred to help reduce the amount of mess created.

 

[s3n8]

Depends...

Lots of things like temp, yeast, recipe will affect how much krausen you get. Wheat beers are notorious for violent fermentations.

Seriously, just watch it. If the krausen gets up too high, attach a blowoff.

I think the BBs are 6Gallons, not 6.5. I almost always use a blowoff on my 6.5G carboy because I almost always need it.

 

[raceskier]

I use a 6 gal BB as a primary. I have never had a primary fermentation that was "gentle" enough to not require a blowoff. I tried it exactly one time with an orange carboy cap and a 3 pc airlock. The cap was blown off the BB. I still haven't found the airlock. I use the BB closure. A 1/2 in OD hose is a perfect fit into the o-ring of the BB closure. Easy to set up and works without any problems.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

I have to say it... If you use foam control you would have no issues.

I have pushed my luck and fermented about 6 gallons in my BB, which is frighteningly little head space, but with foam control it did fine without any blowoff.

 

[menschmaschine]

I always use 6 gal. BBs for primary. For my ales, I almost always get blow-off. I would highly recommend using it.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's interesting that in my last 5 or 6 batches, I've fermented 5.5 gallons in a 6g better bottle and had no blow off at all. I used the tubing in anticipation but my water bottle never got murky. I think it has a lot to do with precise temp control. Folks who ferment at 70F ambient are likely getting high temps at the core of the carboy and I'm sure it contributes. Then again, most of my beers are 1.060 OG and lower.

 

[menschmaschine]

I use precise temp. control with ales (usually, a fermentation temp. in the upper 60s) and still consistently get blow-off. So, who knows?

 

[s3n8]

Since the basement is now in the low 70's, I have started fermenting in an ice-cube cooler with water and ice packs. I am able to keep temps under reasonable control (I think). I try to keep the water about 66-68 which helps. Most of my beers are 1.070 or higher and I am using mostly Nottingham & S-05. Most at least creep up into the blowoff hose. Not many discolor the water in the blowoff bucket. ymmv.

 

[raceskier]

Actually, I did use Fermcap Anti Foam on the last batch (approx 5 drops) and still had a massive blowoff. I do my primary fermentations in a Ranco contolled 4912. I do notice that there is a significant temperature lag with the sensor outside the BB. I think to really control temperature precisely, putting the sensor in a thermowell in the bottle would be necessary.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Actually, I did use Fermcap Anti Foam on the last batch (approx 5 drops) and still had a massive blowoff.

I usually aim toward the higher end of their recommended 1-2 drops per gallon. Typically I use 8-10 drops for a 5-5.5 gallon batch. I've yet to have a batch that has actually had blowoff even with that amount of fermcap in it, though I don't doubt that it's possible in some cases (for instance, I haven't yet used it with a hefe fermented warm, one of the worst blowoff offenders...)

The other day I had two carboys full which had been fermenting for only a day or so, and I had forgotten to put in fermcap at the start so the krausen was up into the neck, just a couple inches from a blowoff. I added 9 drops to each, and within 20 minutes or so the krausen had dropped several inches and has stayed reasonably low ever since.