Question about beer fermentation chamber (fermentor)?!
Answers: Im planning on making my first batch of beer within the week so im getting all my supplies ready, im planning on making 5 gallons of beer so i was wondering if i should get a 5 gallon glass carboy or a 6 gallon glass carboy (i want to use a glass carboy, i just dont kno if its bad to leave too much or too little airspace in the carboy)... is it bad to have too much open space in the carboy (due to air possibly infecting your batch) or is it bad to have too little airspace in your carboy so that there is no place for the bubbles to go and poof, ur bottle breaks??? im not sure but please let me know asap because i really want to get going.
For primary fermentation, it is best to go with a 6 or 6.5 gallon glass carboy. That will give you plenty of air space for initial fermentation, and if the fermentation is violent enough, sometimes that almost isn't enough, so use a blow off tube. A large diameter tube that will fit just snuggly inside the mouth of the carboy is great for a blow off tube. The extra airspace won't add any problems to the beer, because the oxygen will just be ate up by the yeast during initial growth phase, and will quickly be displaced by CO2. If you plan on doing secondary fermentation, then a 5 gallon will work just fine since everything has settled down by then.
Six gallon is better. There is less chance of blowing out your air lock.
2 much air in top is not bad as u need space 4 the beer 2 ferment just make sure everything is sterile b4 u start
Either should work, but if you're worried about having some blowback, go for the six. Don't worry about having some extra airspace, just make sure you sterilize it good.
Great! Another convert! You should use the larger 6 gallon carboy for primary fermentation because of the amount of foam you get during fermentation. You can go with a five gallon one, but you will definitely want to set up a blow-off tube then. See a description of this on the page referenced in my source below. I use six gallon buckets for my primary fermentation and then 5 gallon carboys for secondary. I've been brewing of and on for about 15 years now. Good luck and enjoy your first batch of many, I hope.
RDWHAH (Relax, Don't Worry. Have A Homebrew)
All the advice sounds good you could also try reading Charlie Papazians "Complete Joy of Homebrewing". Great reference guide for new homebrewers
I'll second Axel's reply verbatim especially the point about CO2 displacing the ambient air space and the potential for negative effects (oxidation).