how much head space for primary

[suzanneb]

just brewed a extract and grain batch. i think i might have put to much water in my primary. i am using a 5 gallon carboy and i added extra water to get to five gallons. now i am realizing i should have left more head space. there is only a few inches before the neck begins in the carboy

so how much headspace do i need? will it still work and just be a big mess?
thanks

 

[rjsnau]

Usually you need about 1.5 gallons. With as little head space as you have you will need a blowoff tube and quickly if you have already pitched the yeast. Otherwise you are going to have a big mess and possibly infect your beer.

 

[Andrew5329]

What rjsnau said, for bucket fermenters 1.5 gallons is a must. A lot of people do a 5 gallon carboy like you did, and plan for a blowoff because it effectively removes most of the krausen as it forms.

You can look into the pros/cons of doing a blowoff but as long as you get a tube on there you'll be fine.

 

[suzanneb]

Usually you need about 1.5 gallons. With as little head space as you have you will need a blowoff tube and quickly if you have already pitched the yeast. Otherwise you are going to have a big mess and possibly infect your beer.

went to bed and woke up and .....
well i had some foamy stuff on the top of the airlock. do you think my beer is infected?
i took out the bung to clean and resanitize and as i was doing that foamy stuff started to come out the top. wiped that off and used a little sanitzer around the inside and outside of the carboy.(some got in the beer i hope that is ok) and then replaced bung and put some 3/8 tubing down the hole in the bung.

so i guess my questions are
1- is my beer infected?
2- will my impromptu blowoff tube work. i.e. should the tubing be inside the hole in the bung or go around the outside of the hole in the bung. i am guessing air can escape a little but where the outside of tubing comes in contact with the inside of the bung hole. but i dunno

 

[beerguy52]

I use Fermcap - it affects surface tension and greatly reduces blowoff. (Also prevents boil overs ). But moreover, during active fermentation there is positive pressure in the carboy so all you really need to guard against is chunky stuff (stuff big enough to see) falling in. I just put tinfoil over the neck and not worry about it. Haven't used either a blowoff tube or airlock in years with no infections.

 

[Ryan11]

This has happened to me plenty of times. Don't worry your beer is not infected. At this stage there is too much CO2 pushing out of the carboy that nothing is able to get in and infect your beer. Also, non rinse sanitizer will not hurt your beer if some gets in. Your blowoff tube should work if you put it in the hole of the bung. Just make sure it was sanitized first and keep checking it to make sure it doesn't get clogged because it's better to use a tube with a larger diameter. After your blowoff tube has done its job and nothing is coming out take off the tube and put the airlock back on. After that let it sit for like another 1-2 weeks and you should be good. In the future try to get 6.5 gal bucket or carboy. I personally prefer carboys but thats a different thread you can find on here.

 

[suzanneb]

so in an ideal world would i be using a 1 1/4 inch blowoff hose and no stopper or a hose that fits over the hole in the stopper???

 

[Ryan11]

This would be ideal....1in. or 1 1/4 should be fine

 

[suzanneb]

wow cool picture.
i assumed the blowoff hose would need to be below the carboy.

 

[neosapien]

the gallon marker stickers are awesome. need some of those.

 

[Ryan11]

That will work it just depends on what kind of set up is available. Gravity will allways help but the pressure inside the carboy is going to push the krausen out no matter where the blow off goes to. Just remember to put the blowoff tube in a bucket of sanitizer if you can.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

That will work it just depends on what kind of set up is available. Gravity will allways help but the pressure inside the carboy is going to push the krausen out no matter where the blow off goes to. Just remember to put the blowoff tube in a bucket of sanitizer if you can.

Not sure I agree with this.. I think the bucket needs to be below the level of the carboy. It will help prevent suckback PLUS if for some reason the tube got full of or partially full of liquid and the pressure dropped it would siphon the entire bucket of sanitizer into your carboy.

 

[BrutalBrew]

As long as the tubing in the carboy inst submerged in liquid which it shouldn't be. You will be fine. If the carboy starts a neg pressure and does suck on the sanitizer bucket. That tubing is way to big for the small amount of air that would be required to equal out the pressure to suck fluid all the way up that large tubing and start coming into carboy. Even if it did it would equal out due to the carboy has no way to vent the air if the tube is tight fit and the tubing is blocked by back pressure or heavier than air fluid. The carboy would fill until the co2 compress's in carboy neck and then all pressure would equalize and stop. Now when you take everything apart it might burp at you. Remove from tube to carboy first into a pan or bucket next to you. The most you would notice is the fluid level in the tubing would be higher than the fluid in the sanitizer bucket.
If your using small hose into the small hole on carboy cap then I would be very concerned about having the sanitizer overflow bucket higher than carboy. Setup in picture should be ok. Also glass carboys dont flex so a Better bottle would have a higher chance of sucking in fluid.

 

[Ryan11]

Yeah i've never had problems with the set up in the picture. Then again I dont leave my blowoff tubes in there during all of the fermentation. As soon as the Krausen slows I put the airlock back on.