Hello I have a question about northern brewer brew in a bag 3gal recipe kit’s I know there for 3gal. But is a 3gal carboy going to hold the whole 3gal batch?
Yes. I think so. What you have to keep in mind. Your boil of rate as well. So you might end up with less wort. On the end.
You need headspace for activity. I’m guessing you might get 2.5g in a 3g carboy.
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If you brew 3 gallons, you have to realize a boil off and loss due to trub… IF you want 3 gallons in a fermenter, then adjust your water amount up… As far as 3 gallons in a 3 gallon fermenter… I wouldn’t do that… When the yeast becomes very active … it’ll blow! Sneezles61
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I would use blow over hose. If you put 3 gal in a small carboy
I do these kits all the time, I use a 5-gallon bottle for Primary. (the one’s I used to use as secondaries for 5-gallon batches. No blow-off has ever been necessary for me. On those rare occasions when I do secondary, the 3-gallon better bottles are perfect. Just like you need a 6.5 gallon bucket/carboy for 5-gallon batches you need a vessel a bit bigger than 3-gallon for fermenting 3-gallon batches.
I do the BIAB kits in a bag, but in a round cooler, so it’s sort of a cross between a BIAB and the typical “Dennybrew” style batch sparge setup.
I start with 3-gallons in the mash, then drain, squeeze, and batch-sparge with up to 2 gallons more until I hit my desired preboil volume, which is typically ~4 gallons.
I usually end with 3-3.5 gal in the fermenter.
BTW, Please hound our host to increase the selection of 3-gal kits. The 8 they have are all very good, but it would be nice to have a couple of the different IPA kits. I usually scale the AG kits in BeerSmith and manually tweak the quantities to something the LHBS can actually measure. I’d give them a lot more money if they made it convenient…
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Hello I am looking into brew 3.5gal batch’s. So my questions is I have all of my equipment for brewing 5gal so can one ferment 3gal of beer in a 6.5gal carboy without any negative effects?
Sure but you may not see alot of airlock activity and I wouldn’t open it up leave the co2 cap intact. Not optimal and not for longer than necessary. But in a pinch
Get a 5 gallon carboy. Same headspace as a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 bucket or carboy.
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I do 1 gallons in a 3 but secondary in a gallon jug
Ultimately, the wort will give off CO2 that will create a cap… You’ll be fine. Sneezles61
I stopped making 2.5g batches when I realized that for the same time spent and just a bit more money I could make 5g. My time is more valuable than the cost savings making a smaller batch
