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Is ample head space really a requirement for a fermenter vessel?
I have always assumed it is. we need lots of room for krausen and space for co2 above the krausen.
The reason I'm challenging this assumption is I have moved down to small batches in my serving kegs. I have moved away from my five gallon cornies and I have the 2.6 gallon steel kegs for serving and they are a delight in many ways. Easy to move, clean, and store in the fridge.
I still ferment in my relatively hard to clean 5 gallon corny kegs. They are only filled half way.
There is a 3.0 gallon stainless keg that I could buy for a fermenter. The convenience is tempting.
But is that tiny headspace enough? The difference between the 2.6 gallon serving keg and the 3.0 gallon fermenting keg is just a few inches of headspace. There would be times some krausen would spurt out the gas tube into the starsan bucket.
Well, lateral thinking here, maybe that's ok? What do you think? Do I need the big head room of a big five gallon fermenter?
I have always assumed it is. we need lots of room for krausen and space for co2 above the krausen.
The reason I'm challenging this assumption is I have moved down to small batches in my serving kegs. I have moved away from my five gallon cornies and I have the 2.6 gallon steel kegs for serving and they are a delight in many ways. Easy to move, clean, and store in the fridge.
I still ferment in my relatively hard to clean 5 gallon corny kegs. They are only filled half way.
There is a 3.0 gallon stainless keg that I could buy for a fermenter. The convenience is tempting.
But is that tiny headspace enough? The difference between the 2.6 gallon serving keg and the 3.0 gallon fermenting keg is just a few inches of headspace. There would be times some krausen would spurt out the gas tube into the starsan bucket.
Well, lateral thinking here, maybe that's ok? What do you think? Do I need the big head room of a big five gallon fermenter?