BeerBorg

Just wanted to share this with anyone else who tries to squeeze the most volume they can out of an LBK. I kept getting more and more volume by cheating on the head space, until it got to the point where I was losing a pint or more of precious brew from every batch from the overflow. And these were not lawnmower beers, by a long shot.
It just occurred to me today that there was another option besides cutting back the size of the batch. I brewed up a batch and filled the LBK dang near up to the lid. Then when it was ready to go into the ice chest, I simply transferred half a gallon into a gallon juice jug and put that in the cooler along with the LBK. After 3 or 4 days I expect the violent fermentation to be done, all danger of overflow past, and I'll combine all of it back into the LBK for the next 2 weeks. I figure this has a very high chance of working like a charm. Time will tell.

Just be careful on the transfer. You don't want to aerate the beer at that point or introduce any micro-organisms.

Another thought.

If you want to brew bigger batches, get a bigger fermenter.

Walmart sells 5 gallon food grade buckets for a couple of bucks. You may even be able to get 3 or 5 gallon buckets for free from bakeries. A 5 gallon bucket does a 4 gallon batch pretty readily. A 3 gallon bucket would do an oversized Mr Beer batch.

Try some fermcap. It helps the krausen from overflowing.

Yeah, what BP said. Or, get a 5 gallon water jug from wally world, put your brew in that, and na nah NAAAAAH, a fermenter. Just put it in a dark place or cover it with a dark towel.

Thanks for all the good ideas. I like the fermcap idea, and I definitely will be careful about aeration and contamination during transfer. I've struggled with the move to larger fermenter for a long time now, but as much as I'd love bigger batches, there's just too many things keeping me on the smaller batches. Just a few are money for new equipment, serious back troubles lifting heavier containers, limited space, and the ease of controlling temps in an ice chest right now in mostly very hot weather. To be honest, if I had a 5 gallon fermenter, I'd try to squeeze 6 gallons out of it, and if I had a 7 gallon fermenter, I'd try to squeeze 8 gallons out of that, etc. I just like to squeeze every last possible drop of productivity out of everything. One day I may see a therapist about that.

I hear ya, Joe. And everyone's circumstances are different. But Brian made a good point, as did Yankeedag. It wouldn't cost a whole lot more to get a container that would hold three gallons easily (I have two small carboys, and they'll hold a 2.5 - 3 gallon batch with enough head room). It might be easier and less costly than you think, and then you wouldn't have to worry about aeration and contamination.

But you know your situation best, so I'll wish you luck with whatever you choose. As long as you're brewing, it's a good thing.

Or get another LBK

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but nothing about teaching a fossil...

RickBeer wrote:They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but nothing about teaching a fossil...

I have to admit, when I read this, I was petrified.

Anyway, everything seems to have gone just fine. After 2 days, the krausen died down and I carefully siphoned the wort from the jug to the LBK and now it's full to within about an inch of the top and can happily finish fermenting with no further interference. I think even when I use two LBK's for a 5 gallon batch, I'll simply use this same process on each of them. Just hate to get less than 100% from anything.