Use same plastic bucket for wine & beer???

My 'advanced' homebrewing kit came with a 6 gallon (to bottom ring) plastic bucket and a 6 gallon glass carboy. My plan was to always make my beer in the carboy and the use the plastic bucket as a primary for the wine, and as a brief bottling bucket for the beer.

I've heard not to use plastic brewing supplies for both beer and wine...

I have wine in my only glass carboy at the moment and it has at least 14 days left on it. I was thinking of using the bucket to start another batch of beer, and then transfering it to the carboy when the wine is done.

Now, I can smell wine-fementation smell still "in" the plastic bucket.

I have a 2nd (and hopefully a 3rd) glass carboy on my Christmas list. (My wife makes me do "lists" for presents...) She won't let me just go get one on my own because of space issues at the moment before Christmas.

My question is, should I just 'play it safe' and wait for the wine to be done to start a batch to use the class carboy? I fear, since I can smell wine still in the bucket after a few cleanings, that my beer may absorb some of that, or my next batch of wine may absorb some of my beer...

I use the same equipment for beer and wine, but I haven't noticed any odors that hang on after cleaning the buckets and tubing. Wash it well in oxyclean and hot water, rinse well, and then sanitize and it'll be fine.

As a bigger winemaker than brewer, please don't mix your buckets. You'll get off tastes either direction. You make beer to taste beer, wine for wine. I know that space can be an issue, you should see my lack of space, but I always keep them separated. And do you usually brew 6 gallon batches? 1 gallon of headspace seems alot to me, but I am still learning.

Cayuga said:

As a bigger winemaker than brewer, please don't mix your buckets. You'll get off tastes either direction. You make beer to taste beer, wine for wine. I know that space can be an issue, you should see my lack of space, but I always keep them separated. And do you usually brew 6 gallon batches? 1 gallon of headspace seems alot to me, but I am still learning.

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I've made well over two hundred batches of beer, and probably that many in wine. I don't yet have any off-flavors from mixing my equipment. Are you sure that's a certainty? If you clean your equipment properly, so that there are no odors or stains, why can't you mix the equipment?

Headspace is crucial after primary for winemaking, but not so much for beer. I think it would be more important in "big" beers that age for a while, like a barley wine or imperial stout, so you could reduce the headspace for something that will sit a while. I've been skipping secondary altogether in many beers, so the issue of headspace doesn't even come up with most ales.