What size fermenter for 5 gal lager?

[jpcoote]

Hey everyone! I've been brewing ales for a while now. I finally got my hands on a dorm fridge that I can lager in, but there's an issue: it only fits 5 gallon buckets, not the 6.5 gallon ones. Now, this would be my first venture into lagering, so I'm not totally familiar with the characteristics of the fermentation. In my head, it seems like since the lager yeast ferments at the bottom and doesn't produce that thick krausen at the top that ales do, i shouldn't necessarily need the extra head space that a 6.5 gallon bucket provides. But I'm not sure.

So basically, will I run into any trouble doing primary fermentation in a 5 gallon bucket? Or will I end up will partially fermented beer all over my fridge?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

In not sure how much headspace you'd wind up with. I would try using fermcap s to reduce the amount of foaming maybe help keep it in the bucket. Doing my first lager now. It does have krausen on top but not as much as ales.

 

[Cyclman]

Lager still has a kraeusen, you can't do 5G in a 5G space, your yeast will blow out of your airlock / you won't want to do that with your yeast. Do a smaller batch of wort.