Two and 1/2 or three gallon batch

[Keith_O]

Will it give me too much head space to put a smaller batch in a 5 gallon fermenting bucket? and yes it is 5 gallon and not 6.5.

 

[flars]

As the primary fermentor this will not be excessive head space. Long term aging as a secondary would risky unless the head space can be purged of air with CO2.

If you have the equipment, purging the head space of the primary, after active fermentation, would not cause any damage.

 

[JonM]

I've done exactly that and it works just fine.

 

[Ilan34]

If you have the equipment, purging the head space of the primary, after active fermentation, would not cause any damage.

What would be the basic process for this? Sanitize a gas line, stick in the carboy and just let it rip? Any advice on psi and amount of time?

 

[Ilan34]

If you have the equipment, purging the head space of the primary, after active fermentation, would not cause any damage.

What would be the basic process for this? Sanitize a gas line, stick in the carboy and just let it rip? Any advice on psi and amount of time?

 

[konungr]

That's basically how i do it, minus the sanitation. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to sanitize the end of the line, but i just take my quick disconnect off my gas line, hold it over the mouth of the carboy/bucket (without touching anything) turn my valve on for a few seconds to allow a blanket of c02 to enter the fermentation vessel and valve off. In my opinion you don't really need much since the co2 is a heavier gas and should blanket the beer without the need to purge all air from the vessel. Do whatever makes you feel safest though, as always.

 

[flars]

What would be the basic process for this? Sanitize a gas line, stick in the carboy and just let it rip? Any advice on psi and amount of time?

Like konungr said. I would use very low pressure though to create a blanket rather than turbulence.

 

[CaptainArgo]

My very first batch was about 3 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket, and it was just fine
Primary fermentation will easily produce more than enough CO2 to fill the empty space.