Fermenter size

[Man-O-Leisure]

Size of Hey guys, just a question to make my mind at ease..

I am thinking of doing a few 1 gallon batches for my first attempts, i am thinking of getting a few 5 liter mineral water containers to use for the wort and also to use the plastic containers as fermenters.. this ok?

The size of the bottles is 5L, so i am thinking of trying to aim for say 4L batch size into the fermenter. is that ok? enough space in the fermenter with only 2 liter space? (which is actually 25% of the batch size)

These are normal plastic water bottles, an airlock should fit fine but i dont know if the plastic will be thick enough if this is a problem or not?

Only reason i want to do such small batches is so i can try out a few different styles and i only have a small amount of space to store the fermenters.. if i went with say a 5gallon batch, i might have room for 1, if i go small i can probably do 4.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bamsdealer]

Each batch is different. 25% headspace is good for most beers but every tenth one will screw you. That's what aluminum foil or blowoff tubes are for��

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Should be fine. Do you know what kind of plastic the buckets from are made of?

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Should be fine. Do you know what kind of plastic the buckets from are made of?

I really have no idea... but basically if you were to go to any Supermarket and buy a 1 or 2 liter bottle of mineral water, then its basically the same, just bigger.. I guess thats about a 1/4 or a 1/2 gallon bottle for you guys (assuming you are in the US)