Top up carboy?

[Mazaruni]

Brewing 1 gallon all grain for the first time in a million years. Do I need to make sure the carboy is topped up during fermentation, like for wine in secondary fermentation? Thank you!

 

[VikeMan]

The fermenter should definitely not be filled to the top. You need some head space for the krausen. I recommend a total fermenter volume of at least 130% of the batch size.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Brewing 1 gallon all grain for the first time in a million years. Do I need to make sure the carboy is topped up during fermentation, like for wine in secondary fermentation?

Start with a "blow-off" tube rather than an air lock and leave some space at the top of the fermenter.

Many gallon carboys will have the words "ONE GALLON" near the top of the carboy. For the carboys that I have, it's 120 oz from the bottom of the carboy to the bottom of the letters - and this leave a reasonable amount of space for the fermentation to occur (blow-off tube still recommended).

There are a number of additional ideas over in 1-Gallon Brewers UNITE! .

 

[Mazaruni]

Awesome information, thanks so much, Vikeman and BWKKat. I have a big mouth bubbler about 1.5 gal and also some 3 gal carboys. I'll bet the bubbler would work OK, but would the 3 gal be too big?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I have a big mouth bubbler about 1.5 gal and also some 3 gal carboys. I'll bet the bubbler would work OK,

Much easier to brew gallon batches in the Little BMB (vs a 1 gal carboy). No need for a blow-off tube. Again, more details over in 1-Gallon Brewers UNITE! .

 

[Mazaruni]

Any one else make cocktails from extra wort? My 1 gallon all grain experiment produced more than 1 gallon before dry-hopping, and I did not feel like dealing with it. So:

1) wort +homemade apple liqueur+ splash triple sec + orange bitters and
2) wort + elderflower liqueur+splash lemon juice.

Not too bad!