New to brew, carboy question

[brewape]

So I was given a few carboys from a friend, 6g, 5g and a lot of 3g better bottles.

Before I start, I wanted to know if there is any danger in fermenting a batch that is less than the carboy size by a gallon or more, such as doing 4g in a 5g carboy, or 2 in a 3g, and so on.

Thanks!

 

[Haputanlas]

Not at all. I do it all the time. The only problem will be that it might be hard to extract some beer for Gravity readings (Since the top of the beer will be so deep in the bottles).

 

[Gldnst8warrior]

Going under the gallonage is fine its when you push it to the limit that you might run into issues. For instance if you fill it to the rim and fermentation starts that Krausen is going to come gushing up through your Airlock.

The only issue with going a lot under I could see is more Oxygen. But Oxydation is an important part in the wort pre fermentation so its not a problem presay. Once fermentation starts the Co2 being produced will force out the excess oxygen. Long story short it should be fine. I brew 5 gallon batches in 6 gallon carboys all the time.

 

[Haputanlas]

The only problem will be that it might be hard to extract some beer for Gravity readings (Since the top of the beer will be so deep in the bottles).

Just in case you were wondering when this would be a problem, I sometimes use my 6 gallon carboy for 3 gallon batches.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

Using a carboy/better bottle that is larger then the wort size is recommended e.g 5 gallons of wort in a 6 gallon fermenter, so being under is always a good thing. When you push the envelope of what a fermenter can handle, that is when it can get messy, e.g. 5 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon fermenter. When doing so, using a blow off tube and a large enough container that can hold a decent amount of sanitized water and thus handle the krausen that will be expelled into it will prevent a nasty blow out.

 

[brewape]

OK thanks, this helps.

I need to fully catalog what I was given, I saw I have 7 1 gallon jugs. Not sure how useful they are to brewing beers.

I also received 2 cases of liter flip-tops, the thick kind. A few places I read said the thicker once can be used for carbonation and storage, not that I need a liter of beer every time but, wait... yes I do.

 

[cklages]

The one gallon jugs are great fun for experimental batches. Do whatever you want, and worse case scenario that learning experience only cost you one gallon of beer/wine/mead or whatever. Seriously, those one gallon jugs are worth it, especially when you are dialing in a new process.

 

[dcp27]

1 gallon jugs are great when you're experimenting with adding things in the secondary, like oak, flavorings, etc. you can test various levels to lock it in for next time, or try out a bunch of different things without doing it to your whole batch.

 

[brewape]

Perfect, one more general question.

I was told to grab BeerSmith and I did. Looks generally easy to use, I even added a few recipes I had on hand without issue.

Apart from using the 1 gallon jugs to split a 5 gallon batch and test flavorings, can anyone attest to the validity of the BeerSmith scaling ability to take a 5 gallon batch and make it a 1 gallon batch if I simply want to make 1 gallon test batches period?

It's easy enough to do in the program, but...