How much beer can I put in a 7 gallon fermenter?

[ChadS]

As the headline says, how much beer can I safely put in my 7 gallon conical fermenter without losing too much Krausen through a blowoff tube? Should I stick with 5 or could I fill it to 6 gallons?

 

[blubrewbbq]

As the headline says, how much beer can I safely put in my 7 gallon conical fermenter without losing too much Krausen through a blowoff tube? Should I stick with 5 or could I fill it to 6 gallons?

You are good with 6 generally. Both my Anvil and Fermonsters are 7 gallon and I haven't had any issues with 6 gallon batches.

I brew mainly Amber's and APA if that matters.

 

[WBB]

Funny this thread comes up. I’m usually good with the 7g anvils. About 5-6g is around what I put in usually. This time I brewed a simple IPA with OG 1.068 and I used rehydrated Nottingham that was going to expire 4/2019. After about 16 hours, KABOOM! Total blowout. Blew out the airlock and all the vodka and even started coming out the lid seal. Quickly put in a blowoff and it’s bubbling like crazy.

 

[odie]

I have a 7 gal fermonster and it seems over sized. Guess It matters for the yeast?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Have you measured how much exactly the fermenter will hold? I have a carboy that, I think, I purchased as "6.5 gal", but right up to the neck is 7 gals. Below is a pic with 5.2 gals into the fermenter, and I am sure I could fit another gal of liquid in there.

 

[Calder]

I put 6.25 gallons (maybe a touch more on occasion) in a 7 gallon fermenter. I always use FermCap. I always use a blow-off tube. Maybe 1 in 10 batches have something going up the blow-off tube, rarely do I actually lose any liquid. It is usually Belgian yeasts that causes activity in the blow-off tube.

I had a couple of problems early on with airlocks blown across the room and stains on the ceiling, that I use a blow-off tube every time, and would recommend everyone do the same. For the little extra effort it is to use one (when you are in the habit of doing it every time, it is very little extra effort), it is worth it to save the clean-up effort of 1 blow-off event.

 

[RM-MN]

As the headline says, how much beer can I safely put in my 7 gallon conical fermenter without losing too much Krausen through a blowoff tube? Should I stick with 5 or could I fill it to 6 gallons?

How good is your fermentation temperature control? If you keep the fermentation temperature near the low end of the yeast's preferred range or even a little below you can slow the fermentation which will help control the amount of krausen. Once the fermentation slows as the sugars are used up, warm it up to room temp to help the yeast with cleanup.

 

[isomerization]

+1 to above comments, very much yeast strain, temp and grain bill dependent. Unless extended aging in primary, more headspace is usually better.

 

[Gravity]

+1

 

[ProblemChild]

well, you can put 7 gallons of beer in it, but I would not try to put 7 gallons of wort in it.....


Boo!!! Hiss!!! Boo!!

wa wa waaaaaaaaa.....

 

[Soulshine2]

As the headline says, how much beer can I safely put in my 7 gallon conical fermenter without losing too much Krausen through a blowoff tube? Should I stick with 5 or could I fill it to 6 gallons?

6 ,use a blow-off tube for the first couple days.

 

[kh54s10]

For comparison, I use 6 gallon Better Bottles. They hold just over 6 gallons all the way up the neck. I put 5.25 gallons of wort in them. I have good temperature control and some don't get close to blow off, others blow a bunch. It really depends on a lot of factors. Start with a blow off tube EVERY time.

 

[jrgtr42]

I use the 7-gallon ale pails. Twice in my brewing career have I had a blowout (once was too much nutrient, both in the starter and in the beer) and I'm not sure what the second was.
For most beers, you'd be safe with 6 gallons into the 7-gallon fermenter. There are a few recipes and a few yeasts that are super-active, you may want to keep those a bit lower.