I am converting a 15.5 gal keg into a conical fermenter and need to know what affect the extra head space will have on fermentation if at all. Any suggestions and/or reference material is greatly appreciated.
too much headspace is not really a problem in a fermenter. it’s going to fill with co2 during active fermentation pretty much regardless.
I ferment 2-3 gallons in 6.5 gallon buckets all the time. Extra headspace isn’t a problem.
5.5 gallon batches in 8 gallon buckets here.
Okay, thank you. I’m sure there is a science to it but at this scale it’s probably not worth worrying about. I just wanted to make sure that doing anywhere from 1-2 up to 10 gallon batches wouldn’t be detrimental to my delicious little childrens.
I have a 14.5 gallon conical that I do 6 gallon batches in all the time. The head space is not an issue UNTIL you decide you are going to lager in said vessel. I had all sorts of issues when I tried to lager in the conical as a unitank with my beers picking up o2 over the extended aging and getting acetaldehyde. Once I switched to lagering in either a carboy or keg this issue was resolved… but just a word of warning.
a 1 or 2 gallon batch might be impractical based on geometry and where your racking arm sits. I’d keep a couple empty glass cider jugs or a few 5 gallon buckets for the 1 or 2 gallon batches
Id definitely agree with this. 1-2 gallons wont fill up very much space in a keg. you would have a very hard time racking it out.
Good point. Also impractical to have it tied up with only a couple gallons in it for weeks on end and not be able to ferment larger batches in it when the buckets will suffice for small batches. Thanks again.