head space during fermentation...

[saylinaway]

How important is head space during fermentation?

i am sure you can have too little of it but can you have too much as well?

can i ferment 5-6 gallons in a 14 gallon primary without issues

Thanks

[SAHomeBrew]

Wow, that would be a lot of headspace... I would think you could as long as it was sealed/covered, they have been fermenting in open fermenters long before the advent of the bucket   and as far as too little, as long as you have a blow-off tube, it's not an issue.

[saylinaway]

Thanks

Yeah it would be alot of head space, but i figured that if it would work, i could buy into the future so to speak...  im sure someday i might want to make a bigger batch, and at my homebrew sotre they are only 15 dollars more than regular carboys...

I figured it would work but wanted to make sure before i invested!!  

[bonjour]

It should work.  The trouble with that large of a fermenter is lifting it.  when you have 10+ gallons of beer in there it will be very heavy.  Brewers with fermenters larger than 5 gallons tend to have pumps to move the beer/wort around or they use conicals on a stand so they can drain the fermented beer into a keg.

The 10 gallon brewers I know all ferment in either plastic buckets or 6.5 gal glass carboys and secondary in 5 gal carboys

Fred

[saylinaway]

VERY good point!!!

ouch!!!  

so they just split a 10 gal boil into two barboys huh???

that make s sense!!!  why didnt i think of that