can you use a 6 gallon carboy

[monk420]

I wanted to know if i can use a 6 gallon as a primary or did it have to be a 5 gallon

 

[user 53515]

You want to use a slightly bigger vessel than the volume of beer inside. 5 gallon carboy for a 5 gallon batch is too small.

 

[Hex]

Primary for 5.5-6 gal batches should be in a 6.5 carboy (extra wort volume for sediment loss). Secondary and aging in the 5 if necessary. I have used a 6 gal for primary, and needed a blow off tube to contain the reaction. I like the 6.5 gal best because they are larger diameter cylinder, you will read that commercially, short wide fermenters are preferred to tall skinny ones.

 

[monk420]

can you use a 6 gallon for a secondary

 

[Hex]

6 gal secondary, yup, done that too. I did my pomegranate wit in a 6 with about 4 inches head space, the pomegranate picked up fermentation and forced out the O2. Even the action of racking to the secondary creates a CO2 blanket on top of your beer. Bigger is better!

 

[brewmonk]

pot-monk, use it, use it up!

 

[Shooter]

If you have both and are making five gallon batches, the six gallon would work better as a primary and the five gallon better as a secondary.