11l Glass Demijohn/carboy - Suitability?

[MR2Jay77]

Hey Guys,

Just managed to find an 11l Glass carboy/demijohn for my microbrews. I started this first one in a food grade bucket but, if I am honest, I'm not overly happy with this solution for a 5l batch as I can't seal it so an airlock works and I can't see what is going on inside without opening it up.

I can see no reason why this wouldn't be suitable for brewing beer but is there anything I don't know? I have bought a different cap for it as well as I know the neck is a different size to a 5l one.

Cheers

 

[JapanBrew]

Anything glass that you can clean easy and seal good, works great. I wish I could get 11 liters. Mine are more like 8 to 9 liters. I have about 12 of them. They work well.

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks :thumb:

That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I've struggled to find larger ones for the primary fermentation of my microbrews and wondered if the reason for this was something I'd missed. I have found (and bought) one ready for my new recipe so I'll carry on and use it :thumb:

 

[JapanBrew]

You could brew a normal 20 liter batch and then split it and dry hop different hops or pitch different yeast. Then you get 2 different beers in one shot. Mine are smaller so I brew 14 and split that.

 

[Hoppyland]

Hey Guys,

I started this first one in a food grade bucket but, if I am honest, I'm not overly happy with this solution for a 5l batch as I can't seal it so an airlock works and I can't see what is going on inside without opening it up.
Cheers

A glass carboy will be fine - easy to clean and sterilise as it doesn't scratch. Disadvantage is that it's easy to break, and makes dry-hopping a pain.

For me, if you're using a top-fermenting (ale) yeast, then there's really no need for a tight seal or an airlock during the initial, vigorous fermentation as you'll have a thick yeast head which will constantly generate CO2 gas & keep things from spoiling.
My suggestion would be, if you want around 5l of beer, then start the fermentation in a plastic bin (10l food grade ones can be had for as little as £3). Then, when the vigorous fermentation dies down, carefully transfer into a 1 gallon demijohn & fit an airlock. OK, you won't get a full 5l batch - but you will get the advantage of having minimal headspace in the demijohn. This is a good thing in avoiding airborne infections, or flavour degradation due to oxygen.
Just my take, though :)
Loads of ways to brew good beer :thumb:
Cheers
Bill

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Bill :thumb:

My first batch is actually in a 10l FV now and looks like it's about ready to transfer to a 5l demijohn this weekend :th: The thing I didn't like about that process is that the FV I have is opaque so short of opening it up, I can't see what is going on in there

The 11l demijohn is arriving today so I think I'll try using that one for my next brew. See how I get on.

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