I’m a new brewer here, and have a silly little question. What would you say a max fermentation capacity of a 6 gal Better Bottle would be? In researching recipes I have seen recommended top offs of 5.25 gal or higher. Wondering if I am ok still.
At 5.25 gallons you would have adequate head space with a blow off tube but you might lose a bit of yeast as it blows out. Even with only 5 gallons I’d still recommend a blow off tube.
Remember that at the bottle tapers at the top reducing available space for krausen.
5.5 gallon in mine with a blowoff tube. Some blow off more than others. I also use Fermcap-S at the start of my boil so I don’t know if any of that carries over.
The orange carboy caps and 1/2" vinyl tubing making a great blowoff setup.
I use the orange caps as well but attach the blow off to the smaller end and use 3/8". The tube will sometime get constipated and I won’t here any bubbles. It’s like the fat kid from willy wonka. I do it this way since I stick a thermowell in the later port.
I also use large hose clamps with a wing nut to tighten seal it up well.
A number 10 drilled stopper will work for a blow off too. The 3/8" tube will sometimes get clogged like Steve said. A few years ago I bought a drilled No. 10 with a 1/2" hole which works better. Northern Brewer sells it as a Blowoff Assembly for PET Fermenters. If you use StarSan as a sanitizer, the stopper gets a little slick and likes to pop out until it dries.