planing on doing a few upgrades to my equipment before i do my second batch

I plan of getting a carboy I have the cooper diy kit witch dosnt use an airlock thinkin about getting a 6 gallon carboy for primary and useing the bucket as a secondary is this a good idea or should I use the carboy for secondary

I plan on starting my next batch in about 2 weeks give me time to free up some bottles fist batch is bottled letin it sit for 3 weeks before tring it I'm going to retry coopers lager is if a few changes in the brewing gives me better outcome I think the first one should be ok I did make a few rookie mistake to much water pitching at to high of a temp

I would get a second bucke,t one with a whole for a airlock, and not bother racking to a seperate secondary. I almost always use my plastic buckets and only move the beer if I am adding something after primary fementation or if I am going to let it sit for a while before bottle.

I would suggest a 6 gallon Better Bottle or another bucket. Glass is heavy and dangerous. Read the disaster threads.

You don't have to secondary at all. (other threads) But if it is a long aging secondary I would use the Carboy or Better Bottle. The lid seal and the gas permeability of the softer plastic used in the bucket risks oxidation of the beer.

Some will argue that is also a problem with the Better Bottle. I guess I will find out in about 6 months, I plan on making a Scottish Wee Heavy and doing a 3 or 4 month secondary. I will be using the Better Bottle, I will never own a glass carboy.

btoobrew said:

I plan of getting a carboy I have the cooper diy kit witch dosnt use an airlock thinkin about getting a 6 gallon carboy for primary and useing the bucket as a secondary is this a good idea or should I use the carboy for secondary

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I just read a post by Yooper about that very subject. Took me a minute to find it but here's what she said:

Yooper said:

It looks ok!

But I would suggest for next time, if you're racking to a clearing vessel, a "secondary", to use a carboy with much less headspace. Most of the infection threads come from a longer term use of a bucket, due to the oxygen being allowed in the headspace which allows mold and other things to grow.

I'd say to either not rack at all (my preference), since the co2 that was created during fermentation will still protect the beer in the headspace of the bucket, or to use a carboy to limit headspace.

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So the better bottle carboy is a plastic carboy

I don't know if I like the fermentation bucket I got but it just seem like a good seal I got. A og of 1.050 and a fg of 1.020 so I know it fermented but not a lot of krausen like I see in some pic I don't know if that was due to the 25 l wort apposed to the 23l I should of done. I'm really new at this never even tried a home brewed beer

btoobrew said:

So the better bottle carboy is a plastic carboy

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Yes, but it's the right kind of plastic, unlike the plastic carboys for water coolers, for example.

Right

I like the buckets with the spigot in the bottom, makes it nice and easy when racking to secondary. Just put on the hose and turn the valve. Leave all the yeast and other stuff behind.

I try not to use the siphon if I can get away with it. One less thing to sanitize

I use carboys,buckets ,even a 15 gallon closed top drum with blowoff tube for 10 gallon batches.Now,I only primary for 2 weeks and if I secondary it's usually just in a glass 1 gallon carboy for experimentation.Use whatever you like as long as it's foodsafe,you're probably not going to have it in there long enough to worry about oxygen permeability.I will say plastic is way lighter than glass and not as dangerous.Just try not to use those empty rat poison jugs you've got in the basement.

The issue with a plastic bucket isn't oxygen permeability, it's the oxygen in the head space. Secondary fermentation doesn't generate enough CO2 to purge the headspace in a bucket, so you're inviting various aerobic critters to infect your beer. The smaller headspace in a carboy eliminates this problem. Get a Better Bottle if you're not comfortable with glass.

mine has the spigot and a bottleing attachment it was easy to bottle but idk about the krausen ring in place of the airlock and lack of proper seal

OldBunny said:

The issue with a plastic bucket isn't oxygen permeability, it's the oxygen in the head space. Secondary fermentation doesn't generate enough CO2 to purge the headspace in a bucket, so you're inviting various aerobic critters to infect your beer. The smaller headspace in a carboy eliminates this problem. Get a Better Bottle if you're not comfortable with glass.

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For a bucket and long term secondary I would say that you have a combination of problems, including the large headspace. The headspace is probably the biggest drawback but also the lid seal and permeability are contributing factors.

So to use a bucket for long term secondary would normally be a last choice.

The cooper diy fermenter has a large amount head space. I just want to make a good beer I do want to move to ag but I'm goin to git the kits down pat first

I would suggest ordering a kit from Northern Brewer, Midwest Supply or Austin. The key to making better beer is A. The process. And 1A the ingredients. I think they have a high quality standard.