carboy question

[wmcook3200]

I just started my first batch of home brew. My question is this. I made 5gallons of beer but when i racked into my 5 gallon carboy there is a large amount of empty space in the carboy. Are 5 gallon carboys actually bigger than 5 gallons. If so how do you deal with all this head space.

 

[duboman]

I just started my first batch of home brew. My question is this. I made 5gallons of beer but when i racked into my 5 gallon carboy there is a large amount of empty space in the carboy. Are 5 gallon carboys actually bigger than 5 gallons. If so how do you deal with all this head space.

Are you sure it's a 5 and not a 6 gallon carboy?
Or...
Are you sure you have 5 gallons of beer?

How are you measuring your volumes?

To add, as a kit they are usually partial boil meaning you boil a certain amount and then add top off water, did you add the water?

 

[GenIke]

5 gallons in my carboy goes up just passed the shoulder. There is probably at least a 1/2 gallon of room up top.

 

[wmcook3200]

Are you sure it's a 5 and not a 6 gallon carboy?
Or...
Are you sure you have 5 gallons of beer?

How are you measuring your volumes?

To add, as a kit they are usually partial boil meaning you boil a certain amount and then add top off water, did you add the water?

i boiled 2gallons and filled the primary to 5 gallons. My beer fills the carboy just below the shoulder. Maybe they sold me the wrong carboy. I will have to check the volume when it is empty again.

 

[Mchophead]

your fine that sound to me like the right level. Besides you want a little head space or you will have a mess on your hands when your beer really gets going(high Krausen)

 

[wmcook3200]

your fine that sound to me like the right level. Besides you want a little head space or you will have a mess on your hands when your beer really gets going(high Krausen)

Ok thanks for the help.
l

 

[Mchophead]

you bet let us know how it turns out

 

[BGBC]

2 gallons pre-boil or post? You'll lose some volume during the boil to evaporation.

How do you know you filled to 5 gallons? Prior to our first batch, we used a 1 gallon jug to fill our 6.5 gal carboy with water, marking the volume after each gallon added.

Anyway, having some extra head space in your primary fermenter is a good thing. Search krausen for images, or just wait a couple days and you'll see.

 

[jhurt]

I just started my first batch of home brew. My question is this. I made 5gallons of beer but when i racked into my 5 gallon carboy there is a large amount of empty space in the carboy. Are 5 gallon carboys actually bigger than 5 gallons. If so how do you deal with all this head space.

You may have purchased a 5 Imperial Gallon carboy which is 6 US Gallons. Metric FTW