How long can I primary in plastic bucket?

Sorry if this is a repeat question, I search for over a half hour for the answer to this question. I have been convinced in my reading here to stop using a secondary. I am currently using a plastic bucket for my primary and know there is some threat of O2 making its way into the bucket through the plastic. How long can I safely leave a beer in my bucket without a threat of O2 contamination?

I've heard up to 6 months on this forum.

How long has it been in there and how long are you planning to leave it in there I think is the better question? A month? Sure, two months, sure, longer...? Why?

It has only been there for three weeks. I am just wondering for the future. Should I switch to the glass carboy that I have or buy a pet bottle? Will the plastic bucket work for up to two months? Will my beer be oxidized in two months, three months or what? I just did not know...

I went 34 days once in a primary (plastic) and got Best of Show...

Actually, you shouldn't rack your brew (from the primary) until the FG is met.

Carboys are nice because they're less permeable to air than the plastic food grade buckets are, so there's less chance of oxidizing the beer and getting the nasty wet cardboard taste. I've had a RIS sitting in plastic for 5 months before and had no problems, but that may not always be the case. Funny story, kinda.... I forgot about it in my basement.

andr: do tell?


i go 10-14 days in ale pails. im not fully trusting.

Well, I was storing it in an unfinished room in my basement where I have my sump set up. Some big ole storms came in and the sump couldn't really keep up so I got some water in that room. Thank God none of the water made it to the freshly carpeted area in my basement with my beloved pool table, but I did have to move my bucket to another sealed off area with my heating unit. The water eventually drained from that first room, no issues, and I simply forgot about the RIS in primary by my furnace, as I had two other brews in secondary already and was planning another brew day... rookie mistake I guess.


Some time passes...


Problems with the furnace... I call in a repair guy and nearly the first thing he says when he gets in to inspect is "What the hell is in this bucket that I almost tripped over?"

And there is the tale of the mysterious disappearing RIS. Turned out pretty good and was worth the furnace trouble, heh.

windfall!!!

Lots of good options; you can rack it or leave it and you'll get good beer either way. Do whatever gives you peace of mind; if that's using a secondary so be it--not like there is any realistic downside to that.

Racking to secondary takes time and the risk of infecting a batch goes up, just a bit I know. Why do it if you don't have to? I am overjoyed that I can leave it in primary for up to a month and not have to deal with it until I bottle it. Just makes the process that much easier.

Beerens said:

Why do it if you don't have to?

Click to expand...

I can't speak for anyone else, but I use a secondary (a) because I can spare a carboy for an extended period of time whereas I often can't spare my primary for the same period of time (b) I often move my beers from my brewing room upstairs to a storage space downstairs after primary fermentation is done and carrying a 5 or 6 gallon carboy is both safer and easier than carrying my primary (c) my primary doesn't have an airlock so I feel better with my beer in a carboy in case something happens that I am away from it for a very long time (d) when I lager, the beer is taken off the trub after diacetyl rest which necessitates a secondary for the lagering process.

Having said all that plan to do a batch sometime where I leave it in the primary maybe six or eight weeks then bottle.

You can leave it as long as you need to...Many of us skip secondary and primary for a month instead, and many of us do so in buckets...there is no worries for months with using buckets. Anyone who says otherwise is buying into that old propaganda from the glass carboy industry.....you'll be fine.

I've never had an issue with long primarying in my buckets.

I alternate between using a secondary and leaving it in primary the entire time. I rack to secondary if the recipe calls for it or if I want a clearer beer. I have recently been leaving most of my batches in primary for 3-4 weeks before racking to the corny. I will say that leaving it in primary allows for easier yeast harvesting. Montanaandy

I have heard of crashing cooling the beer, or something like that. Could and should I do this in plastic?