Put 3 Gallon Batch in a 6 Gallon Carboy?

[HappyWarrior]

Doing my first 3 gallon brew today.

I only have 6 gallon carboys on-hand. I don't rack to secondary - so is it possible to do an entire single-stage fermentation in a carboy that is double the size of the batch?

Not sure if that huge head space will cause issues....

 

[dcross41796]

Doing my first 3 gallon brew today.



I only have 6 gallon carboys on-hand. I don't rack to secondary - so is it possible to do an entire single-stage fermentation in a carboy that is double the size of the batch?



Not sure if that huge head space will cause issues....

Should be fine as long as you don't open the carboy much. The fermentation is gonna purge that head space. Don't wanna introduce any o2 once fermentation slows down.

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

Some people have a problem with the headspace. I typically do about twelve gallons so I use two 5 gal carboys as fermenters for kegging and bottle the remainder in a third carboy. It seems that since the yeast wants O2 at the beginning of the ferment, the air in the headspace is not a negative thing. It is quickly replaced with CO2 when the ferment commences.