First Extract Brew - FV / Keg Questions...

[dlowe1992]

Hi all,

Novice here with experience of a few kits, now looking to try my hand at extract.
Will be roughly following the Palmer Cincinatti Pale Ale Recipe.

Pale Ale DME
Dark Crystal Malt
Some combination of Cascade / Amarillo / Centennial Hops (got over-excited when buying hops)
M44 yeast.

Likely a partial boil and dilute to save some time cooling (time at a premium owing to my son just turning 2..)

Being my first extract brew, I don't particularly want to go straight in and brew 20L or so. I'll look to do a 10L or even 5L to begin with. I have a 12L stock pot so all fine there. Question is on FV. Can I stick 10 or even 5 litres into the 25L FV I have and expect it to work?

Likewise, all previous kits I have transferred straight to a 5 gallon pressure barrel. If I were to do a 10L brew, presume no issues with the barrel being half full from the get go? Maybe prime with a little CO2 when transferring? If I go 5L I'll go to bottles..

Itching to get cracking but want to avoid a stupid mistake from the beginning..
Appreciate any help.

Dan

 

[phildo79]

Are you able to purge the FV after half filling it?

 

[dlowe1992]

Are you able to purge the FV after half filling it?

Not sure...
Stupid question spoiler...

How would I purge the FV?
It's just one of the standard big buckets with a bored hole in the lid for the airlock..

 

[phildo79]

Ah, well no then. You need a co2 cylinder and an airtight FV. You pressurise, then vent. Theory being that oxygen is lighter than co2 and should get pushed out. But there will still be some that remain.

Those plastic buckets do a job but if you start getting serious about brewing, they will find their way into the recycle bin. I dumped mine years ago, after not using them for years.

 

[dlowe1992]

Ahh, makes sense.
I'm trying to resist the temptation to go and buy a bunch of equipment until I've done a few brews first

Will the headspace between the beer and top of the bucket be a problem if I'm using a large 25L bucket with only 5 or 10 litres of beer in there?

 

[Agentgonzo]

You'll be fine with 10L in the fermenter. As it ferments, it'll gradually push all the air out. Fermentation produces way more volume of CO2 than the volume of the beer.