Fermenter size?Can you have too much empty space?

Northern Brewer General
1

I am a brand new brewer. My NB kit should be here today. I don’t plan on always making 5 gallon batches of beer.

My question is…does it matter if I ferment a 3 gallon batches in a 6.5 gal NB bucket and then secondary in a 5 gal glass carboy? Can you have too much space?

Thanks in advance for the responses! This site has already helped so much in my quest for home brew. :cheers:

2

For primary ferm it should not matter, as you want adequate oxygenation of wort, and the active fermentation will expel remaining O2 in headspace.

For secondary you do not want the beer in contact with oxygen, so the greater headspace could cause unwanted oxidation. That is assuming you are not purging the secondary fermenter with CO2 (I make that assumption since you say you are new, and likely not into kegging).

But you will find plenty of learned opinions that secondary is not really needed anyway. So you could just leave in the primary until time to bottle.

3

+1 You’re fine. Personally, I would skip secondary and do the ferment in the carboy so I could watch.

4

Thanks for the advice. I am doing a five gal batch first so the head space should be perfect. I will consider using a smaller secondary for small batches or move to kegging.

I’m not looking forward to sanitizing all those bottles lol.

5

[quote=“Furious brew styles”]Thanks for the advice. I am doing a five gal batch first so the head space should be perfect. I will consider using a smaller secondary for small batches or move to kegging.

I’m not looking forward to sanitizing all those bottles lol.[/quote]
Agree with zwiller, ferment your 3 gal batches in the 5 gal carboy and skip the secondary.