Fermentor size?

hockeynut

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
8
Reaction score
4
Points
3
I have 15 extract brews under my belt. I use a 10 gallon stainless pot for my boil and push the maximum capacity of a 6.5 gallon plastic ALE Pail. I brew Ale's because of the fermenting temperatures do not requiring refrigeration. Many of my brews have used bagged ice to both lower the wort temp and top off the boil volume. With my last brew, I used a full boil with no top off necessary and the WI winter temperatures to cool down my wort. I was super impressed by the additional character I achieved with a full boil verses the partial boil. However, I lost about a gallon of wort out of my air lock when my fermenter could not handle the yeast activity. In an effort to increase my yields, I am considering on increasing my extract boils to a volume of about 7.5 gallons and using a 20 gallon commercial grade ingredient bin with a lid as my fermenter. My thought is that the additional air space above my wort would allow for the yeast to go to town without blowing out my airlock. Thoughts?
 
I have 15 extract brews under my belt. I use a 10 gallon stainless pot for my boil and push the maximum capacity of a 6.5 gallon plastic ALE Pail. I brew Ale's because of the fermenting temperatures do not requiring refrigeration. Many of my brews have used bagged ice to both lower the wort temp and top off the boil volume. With my last brew, I used a full boil with no top off necessary and the WI winter temperatures to cool down my wort. I was super impressed by the additional character I achieved with a full boil verses the partial boil. However, I lost about a gallon of wort out of my air lock when my fermenter could not handle the yeast activity. In an effort to increase my yields, I am considering on increasing my extract boils to a volume of about 7.5 gallons and using a 20 gallon commercial grade ingredient bin with a lid as my fermenter. My thought is that the additional air space above my wort would allow for the yeast to go to town without blowing out my airlock. Thoughts?
Yeah for sure I don't think headspace is an issue once fermentation kick in the co2 produced will blanket the beer once done fermentation. As long as it's food grade plastic she'll be fine:)
 
Anything you can clean and meets your standards will ferment fine. We have gotten pretty spoiled in the last decade or so for options.
 

Back
Top