I have a 9 gallon carboy from work and want to use it as a primary fermenter. Are there any issues with having 4 gallons of head space in a primary? I want to use it but don’t want to mess up a beer. Any help would be appreciated.
You can use it as a primary for 5 gallons but I would advise against using it as a secondary. It has too much headspace for 5 gallons to be stored long term or as a secondary. I use an 8.5 gallon fermenter all the time for 5 gallon batches.
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I would be tempted to up my recipe 50% and brew 7.5 gallons. No sense wasting all that room 
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Can I ask, what was in that vessel?
Sneezles61
I actually got it a long time ago thinking I would brew beer one day. It was used for shipping sulfuric acid to our laboratory at work. They used to go through 2-3 of them a month. Since then I’ve used it as a change jar. A very large one 
That is now my beer fund. I just recently got started in brewing and I’ve already gone from 1 gal batches to 5 gallon batches. Didn’t want to buy another primary if I could use this one. Thanks for the help. Sounds like I’ve got a good primary carboy
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I believe alot of brewers started with them… which work… be careful… acid does etch the glass and will leave areas that can harbor bugs… Then the oh crap… I dropped it and to the hospital we go incidents…
We are all routing for you to make wonderful brews… we really don’t want you to get hurt in the process… You and many of the newer brewers are this forums future… Keep us in the loop!
Sneezles61
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Agree, more beer is better than less. If not, I wouldn’t worry about the headspace in primary. If this were a secondary, I would be more concerned
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All my glass carboys are set in plastic milk crates for moving around. They also have neck handles. I never lift full carboys by them but gives me something to hold on while washing. Mostly use the glass for wine
Gee whiz… I think I saw one out in the garage… Kinda rusty…
Sneezles61
