- Thread Author
- #1
redandguilty
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2011
- Messages
- 5,227
I've really enjoyed learning to brew and the beer always disappears quickly, but I'm tired of brewing in 1 gallon batches (limited by my 1-gallon carbouy/fermenter). So far, I've been brewing all-grain recipes and I boil in a bag. My stock pot can handle nearly 2 gallons, so I went to the beer store with the dimensions of my beer cupboard looking for a bigger fermenter so I could move to 2-gallon batches.
Turns out, a 5 gallon carbouy fits in my cupboard, so I buy one and start brewing twice as much as I did before. About $20 in ingredients and 5 hours later I've got 2 gallons of yeast and wort in a 5-gallon carbouy with a tube running to a cup of Star San to act as a blow off. That's a fine strategy most of the time...but what I had introduced to the system wasn't just an extra gallon of wort, I added 3 gallons of air. And as night cooled things off, just a little, that air contracted and sucked some of the Star San into the fermenter. I'm guessing nobody wants to drink beer with sanitizer in it.
Turns out, a 5 gallon carbouy fits in my cupboard, so I buy one and start brewing twice as much as I did before. About $20 in ingredients and 5 hours later I've got 2 gallons of yeast and wort in a 5-gallon carbouy with a tube running to a cup of Star San to act as a blow off. That's a fine strategy most of the time...but what I had introduced to the system wasn't just an extra gallon of wort, I added 3 gallons of air. And as night cooled things off, just a little, that air contracted and sucked some of the Star San into the fermenter. I'm guessing nobody wants to drink beer with sanitizer in it.