from wine to beer :)

[mcjagger]

I have made several batches of wine over the last few years with
good results and am thinking of starting a batch of bee ....I have a wine making kit that includes a 8 gal plastic primary fermenter with a lid( no airlock).....my question is can I use this for the primary fermenter in making beer, keeping in mind that it has no airlock on it that everyone on these boards keep talking about...never had to use it with an airlock in making wine.....is there a differance????Any advice would be great.:confused:

[tjthresh]

You can by using open fermentation, but most people wouldn't recommend it. You will just have a greater chance of contamination.

[Beer Nazi]

Asuming the lid has a small hole, you could lay a paper towel towel that was soaked in a water/sanitizer solution over the hole.

This would help kill any yeasie beasties trying to get in.

I'm not sure if the extra air space in the 8 gallon fermenter would affect your beer batch, which is usually 5 gallons.

Of course you can find a 5 gallon fermenter with airlock at your local homebrew shop or online for $10.00 or less.

My wife has recently taken up wine making, I'm happy she did!!!

[tjthresh]

I have learned that for a primary fermenter you should use a 6.5 gallon bucket/carboy allow for the foam that is created. I don't imagine that 8 would hurt.

[Tweek]

I would highly reccomend getting an airlock for it. with wine wild yeasts can be a desirable thing sometimes, with beer it almost never is.

an 8 gallon container should work ok for a primary ferment because the initial kick off should generate enough c02 to protect the beer. The basic rule about fermenter size vs. batch size is that you want to make sure that the fermentation will create enough c02 to push the 02 out of the container. I wouldnt reccomend using an oversize container for a secondary unless you could purge it with c02 or fill it the rest of the way with sterile marbles or something.

:D have fun

[CaptHook]

This a case of size does not matter. Just keep the crud out and
allow the excess gas escape. I did 20 gallons in a 30 gallon
stainless tank by covering the top with "saran" wrap.
The wrap is not air tight, it will allow the gas to bleed out.
Worked fine. Be brave, go for it.