I still plan to do the 8 gallon split batch experiment, but it seems bunk to me, on a homebrew scale, that 4 gallons in a 5 gallon cornie would negatively affect the finished beer, to be noticeable. But, that's what the experiment will be for. Doing a closed transfer is really awesome and keeps me sane.
I think it may be worth it to semi-open ferment a lager to be brew this week too, to see how it turns out. I may take Thursday and Friday off this week. So maybe Thursday I'll brew a Czech lager, to be fermented, per usual, in a keg. And Friday, I'll brew the Czech dark lager to be semi-open fermented in the kettle. This sound good? Or should I switch them around? Just wondering which would be a better test to see how the semi-open fermentation really affects the flavor profile.