Carboy size...Does it matter?

[Sinnick]

I am thinking of using just my glass 5 gallon carboy for my primary and secondary fermenter for my next batch. I noticed that at the end of the boil I do not have quite 5 gallons and I was wondering if my 5 gallon glass carboy would be plenty large enough.

Also, I have a batch right now going and it is fermenting quite well. Will moving it to a secondary slow the yeast down or stop the process? Should I wait until I am down to a comfortable gravity?

Thanks, Nick

 

[Rev2010]

You should probably go with a 6.5 gallon or so just for some extra blowoff space. 5 is a bit too close, especially if you top of the wort with water to replace the boil off. Even 6.5 gallon carboy's get a lot of blowoff with certain types of brews.


Rev.

 

[Bacon]

While Rev is right, the larger size is probably easier and better for a primary, I've used a 5 gal carboy for ~4.5gal batches before no problem. Just remember to keep that blowoff tube on until after the krausen dies back otherwise youll paint your walls with homebrew.

As for secondarying that other batch, is there a specific reason to? If you're not doing something special, let it ride in the primary vessel. There are plenty on topics on here that go over why/when/if to secondary, and theyve done that topic to death

 

[BlackForestBrewery]

You should probably go with a 6.5 gallon or so just for some extra blowoff space. 5 is a bit too close, especially if you top of the wort with water to replace the boil off. Even 6.5 gallon carboy's get a lot of blowoff with certain types of brews.


Rev.

I agree 100%. If you brew mostly 5-5.5 gallon batches, 6.5 gallon carboys should work well for most of your brews. You want to leave a little bit of room if possible to avoid blowoff. Like Rev said, it still is possible to get blowoff with some brews, but the extra room sure does help.

 

[Rev2010]

Yeah I meant as a primary. 5 gallon carboys are good for secondary being there's less airspace on top on top of the beer.


Rev.

 

[just2brew]

I always kept myself from going any bigger with glass then 5 gal carboy. The weight and I seem to push the limits sometimes. I have 3 that I use for secondaries or split 7 gallon primary batches between two of them. I use 3 Ale Pales for primaries. I figure it's nice to have the option to stack fermentors if I get a fridge instead of a chest freezer for a fermentation chamber next summer.

 

[juslod]

It isn't really about the size of the carboy, but how you use it.

 

[SKMO]

Fermcap-S

It will buy you a gallon of blowoff or 1/2 gal of boil space anytime. I've used it for over 10 years.

It's absolute magic if you are pushing the limit on volumes.