Fermenting question?

[Sharp]

I got 2 4 gallon buckets for free today and I was wondering when I do my next batch would I see a difference in the beer if I were to split the wart into the 2 buckets and then evenly mix the yeast? or should I make sure I use a 5 gallon bucket and keep it all together? thanks in advance

 

[charliehorse]

Not much difference. If you're using dry yeast, you can weight it out or just use 2 packets. sometimes it's fun to ferment the same beer with 2 different kinds of yeast.

 

[DogboyBrew]

make sure you pitch enough into each, you don't want to under pitch and lose half of your batch. Depending on the beer you are brewing, you might want to look at a 6.5 gallon bucket for the bit of extra head space and just go with one bucket, minimize the chance of an error.

 

[TopherM]

A 5 gallon batch split into two 4 gallon buckets with 2.5 gallons in each bucket is leaving alot of headspace. About 38% of each bucket will be empty. That # should really be closer to 15-20% to make sure the CO2 produced is filling the headspace to eliminate oxygen.

No problems splitting the batch, but if you intend to do so, you might want to start brewing 6-6.5 gallon batches.

 

[flars]

Are you brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer? If you put 5 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon bucket you will have problems with blow off. Even using a blow off tube will not solve all the problems of to little head space.
You would be better off using the two 4 gallon buckets if you have no other options.

 

[Sharp]

I do have a 6 gallon bucket I use now. I have a 5 gallon batch in now (belguim IPA) but as it is fermenting I would like to boil a summer ale and get that fermenting a while. I do believe the head space may be a problem. Should just get a bigger bucket.

 

[flars]

If you can, the bigger bucket would be best.