Carboy splitting

[Andy_Burbank]

Will it mess up a brew if I split between two glass carboys? I have the beginner bucket which I used once and it worked (maybe 6 gallons?)

But last time I used a glass carboy that was 5 gallons and it erupted. Will it mess up the fermentation if I split 1 brew between two glass carboys?

 

[Riot]

No harm at all in doing that, just don't open it until you're about ready to package it. The initial ferment will get all of the air out in a hurry but once you break that seal the headspace won't be good for your beer

 

[Andy_Burbank]

Okay. I haven't started the brew yet. So after I do the initial steps of starting the brew I'll just split what's in my large brew pot into two glass carboys for the entire fermentation and should be fine, correct?

 

[Riot]

Yeah, I would do that without a second thought. Better to have extra space than beer on the floor, no question

 

[RM-MN]

Yeah, I would do that without a second thought. Better to have extra space than beer on the floor, no question

Agreed, and with two carboys with beer in them, you can experiment with dry hopping each differently or try different fermentation temperatures (be careful with this on, you can make an awful beer) or different yeasts to see what the yeast strain does to the flavor.

 

[Vandulus]

A cheaper option instead of buying a second carboy is to use a blow-off tube. The tubing should cost about $3 and all you'll need is bucket or container filled with some sanitized water. Here's a couple of articles for more info:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9.html
http://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=279

 

[Qhrumphf]

A cheaper option instead of buying a second carboy is to use a blow-off tube. The tubing should cost about $3 and all you'll need is bucket or container filled with some sanitized water. Here's a couple of articles for more info:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9.html
http://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=279

All well and good for a 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy, but even a blowoff tube won't cut it for a 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy.

5 gallon carboys are worthless unless you're either doing small batches, or unless you use them for secondaries (in which case you don't want the larger carboys). Or splitting batches like the OP wants to do, which is just fine.