prefsnider
Member
Can I make a 2.5 gallon batch in a 3 gallon FF?
3 gallon Fast Ferment
- Thread starter prefsnider
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Coastalbrew
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2018
- Messages
- 1,049
- Reaction score
- 820
You will definitely need a blow off tube, but should be alright.
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2021
- Messages
- 2,780
- Reaction score
- 2,402
Why do you think you can't?
OP
OP
prefsnider
Member
just wondering if the blow-off would be extreme...
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2021
- Messages
- 2,780
- Reaction score
- 2,402
I've found that using a really big blow off tube minimizes or actually in my case has eliminated getting crud blown up and out of the fermenter. And I'm filling my fermenters fuller than when I did have the blowouts.
I use a 7/8 ID tube. Ridiculously big... maybe, but the other sizes they had the day I went shopping were too small. But it's worked well so far. Tubing that big is stiff, but I put it in very hot ... not boiling water and softened it up. Then I bent it to the shape I needed and let it cool. It holds that shape pretty well unless for some reason I put it in very hot water again.
I'm thinking the slight pressure that builds up trying to pass through a narrow tube keeps the bubbles from expanding enough to break their surface tension... or what ever the science is behind bubbles. With the larger tubing, pressure when the krausen is active just doesn't build up so the bubbles get big and burst before they can carry crud up into the lines and blow it out.
If your lid has a hole for a stopper, then just find a vinyl tube that is a big enough OD to fit that hole in the lid with out the stopper. I tend to just leave the blow off tubes on till the beer is ready for bottling. But they can be swapped out for an airlock easy enough when ever you care too.
I use a 7/8 ID tube. Ridiculously big... maybe, but the other sizes they had the day I went shopping were too small. But it's worked well so far. Tubing that big is stiff, but I put it in very hot ... not boiling water and softened it up. Then I bent it to the shape I needed and let it cool. It holds that shape pretty well unless for some reason I put it in very hot water again.
I'm thinking the slight pressure that builds up trying to pass through a narrow tube keeps the bubbles from expanding enough to break their surface tension... or what ever the science is behind bubbles. With the larger tubing, pressure when the krausen is active just doesn't build up so the bubbles get big and burst before they can carry crud up into the lines and blow it out.
If your lid has a hole for a stopper, then just find a vinyl tube that is a big enough OD to fit that hole in the lid with out the stopper. I tend to just leave the blow off tubes on till the beer is ready for bottling. But they can be swapped out for an airlock easy enough when ever you care too.
OP
OP
prefsnider
Member
The hole in the lid with the rubber grommet removed is 9/16" dia. I'll work with that.
Seems fine. I am not sure how much volume the Fast Ferment actually hold. I usually target 2.6 to 2.7 gallons into my "3-gallon" Fermonsters (which hold about 3.2 gallons all the way to the top). I get an occasional blow off with some yeasts, but most are fine. My generally rule is to shoot for 20% headspace...which means 2.5 gals wort + 0.5 gals headspace = 3.0 gallon fermenter.
I generally always use a blow off tube, though, to be safe.
OP
OP
prefsnider
Member
I'll use the largest tube that will fit into the lid. Thx to all.
Similar threads
