Dumb Question about Carboys

I am planning on getting a carboy but I am not sure if I should get a 5 gallon or a 6 gallon? The buckets that came in the kit are 6.5 gallon so the siphon will reach the bottom of either. I usually make 5 gallons of beer so I am leaning towards a 6 gallon one. What are everyones thoughts on the direction I should go? Also is there any benefit to getting a glass one over plastic? Any input is appreciated.

6 is better than 5. You really can't easily make a 5g batch in a 5g carboy... it's 5g right at the neck, and if you fill that high it's gonna blow off.

Regarding glass vs. plastic... please consider doing a search. That dead horse has been beat to glue.

Hey thanks. I didnt even think to search for the glass over plastic.

Get a 6.5 gallon carboy, you'll thank yourself for that little extra headroom.

I use a 6.5g for primary, or a 5g for secondary (when I do a secondary). I find the 6g too small for a primary, and too large for a secondary.

-a.

sorry I just assumed it was for primary. I stopped secondarying a while ago, I sold off my 5 gallons so I could buy another 6.5 and get a good pipeline going. my beers have actually gotten better by doing a 4 week primary instead of 2 week primary then 2 week secondary. I'm probably going to regret that next time I do a bigger beer and want to put it in a secondary after the 4 weeks to age. Hopefully I can just let it age in the keg longer.

If you are primarying you need a 6 or 6.5 gallon primary. Better bottles IIRC are 6 gallons. I primary in them all the time and haven't had issues. Glass, which I personally don't like to use except to long term bulk age (5 gallon) come in 6.5 gallon for fermentation. So you have your choice as to glass or plastic, but if you are using it as a fermenter, then 5 gallons are too small to use.

You can probably get away with a 5 gallon one if you use an anti-foam, but I'd still definitely go with the bigger one.

although everyone says you cant use a 5 gal to do primary, I do. I just expect to have blow-off every time. I dont find this to be a problem though, since my blowoff only lasts a day or 2 and then all is normal. I do lose about .25 gal. of beer to this, but always get 45-50 beers per batch I have done so far.

With that being said, I would get the bigger carboys, since they are more versatile. There is really no downside to going with the 6.5.

Get a 5 gallon carboy and a 6.5 gallon bucket. Then the 6.5 gallon bucket will turn into a 4 week primary only. And the 5 gallon carboy will turn into the apfelwein primary!!

Is anyone using stainless fermenters? The conical fermenters look pretty cool - and you know how cool effects flavor.

Frankly, if I wanted another primary, I'd get 6.5 G buckets. They are very cheap and easy to use. Easy to clean. And (I haven't tried this yet...) you can get plastic bags to fit inside and then there is essentially ZERO clean up of the bucket.

No you can't see through them to watch the fermentation.

In my time brewing, I have never regretted getting the larger fermenter.

I have a couple of 3 gallon carboys that I use for meads, but I wish I would have gotten the larger 6 or 6.5 gallon models. After you brew for a bit, you will find that it makes more sense to make bigger batches. When I first started making mead I thought that 3 gallon would be big enough and I found out that 3 gallons was a bit small. I use them now for experimental batches.

I also like the buckets!!! You can use them for fruits and don't need to worry about fruit plugs clogging your carboy and sending fruit puree all over the ceiling and walls of your fermentation area. Ask me how I know and why I always ferment in bathtub of our guest bathroom, LOL!

I have both, and the only thing is when using the 5 gal, I expect to get some blow off and put the blowoff tube in right from the start.

6.5 gallon buckets without the spigot is what I find the best for Primary. You can get them for 12-15 bucks and recycle them into sani buckets and replace them as needed.

I use 5 gallon carboys to clarify my beer.