Primary Fermentation in "Ale Pail"

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PFlint

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I have 6.5 gal plastic bucket with a spiggot on it. So far I've been using it as a bottling bucket and fermenting in a 5 gal glass carboy. Avoiding the whole glass v. plastic issue would it be recommendable to use it as a primary fermenter? It seems like it would be easier to rack to the carboy with the spiggot. Does anyone have any experiance with this?
 
Many, many, people use nothing but "Ale Pails". That 6.5 gallon bucket would have to be much better for a primary than a five gallon carboy...much less chance of blowoff.
 
I have a 6.5 gallon "ale pail", a 6.5 gallon "ale pale w/ spiggot and a 6.5 gallon carboy. First ale pail without spiggot is primary, rack to carboy and then rack to other ale pail with spiggot to bottle. You could use whatever combination you choose. It sounds like it would be easier to rack from your ale pail to the carboy. Then you could rack back to your bucket to bottle.

loop
 
My 6.5 ale pale with spiggot leaks where the spiggot is. Does anyone else have this problem? It doesn't leak a lot but a couple of ounces will leak out while I am bottling. I wouldn't use mine as a primary for this reason.
 
Thanks, I think I'll give it a try. My pail leaked a little the first time I bottled but I tightened up the spiggot and have not had any problems since.
 
Im only on batch number two myself, but carboys are the way to go (I now own three of them!). It is nice to have glass for your primary because it can be a very messy process and you can really get in there and scrub a carboy without risk of scratching the plastic, and in turn giving bacteria a nice warm place to call home. For $20 its worth the peace of mind. I hate trying to fall asleep at night wondering if my equipment was sanitized properly! :p
 
I use a 30L (6.5 gallon) plastic primary with spiggot, and a 23L (5 gallon) glass carboy as secondary.

Problem is, I don't have a table that's quite the right height to put the carboy under the spiggot...I'm thinking I'll just pick up the primary and pour through a funnel from now on.
 
You don't want to oxygenate after primary firmentation.

You've got to siphon and make sure no air gets mixed in in the process. You don't eveny want to splash it.
 
I agree with Scott. I use a piece of hose to go from my primary to my secondary. Then it doesn't matter about finding a table or cabinet the right height.
 
I first got the itch to make beer from watching "Good Eats" episode about making beer. He used two buckets - both with the spiggot. On the other hand it didn't seem that he knew very much about beer making.

Whatever works!
 
I like the buckets. Here's why:

1. Light weight.
2. Opaque (no chance of light damage)
3. Easy to clean
4. No blow-off.

I know that glassies will claim that there's are easier to clean, but here's my method:

Hose out the bucket to get crud or dust out.
Fill bucket to the tip-top.
Add 4 tbsp household bleach
Stir with racking cane.
Throw all your tools in there. (can't do that with a glass carb)
Let it all sit while you boil. Use your bottle brush to get anything stuck-on off.

Dump, fill again with water and no-rinse sanitizer right around the time you add your finishing hops, then dump again.

The bleach kills any odors and nasties. You end up with a complete set of sanitized equipment.

Likewise, I'm considering using my bottling bucket as a secondary while my Kolsch occupies my true secondary.
 
ScottT said:
You don't want to oxygenate after primary firmentation.

You've got to siphon and make sure no air gets mixed in in the process. You don't eveny want to splash it.
Click to expand...


I agree.. pouring is a very very bad idea. Siphoning is the way to go.. especially with an autosiphon.

For what it's worth I have a 6.5 gal bucket for a primary and a 6.5 gal carboy.. I haven't used the carboy as a primary yet because the bucket works just fine but I am aware of the oxygen permeability issue as well as the sanitizing/scraching issue and might just try the glass primary for my next go round.

For those of you who use a bottling bucket type setup for a primary, does the trub ever get sucked into the spigot? I usually end up with a bit of cold break material and hop debris in the primary and that makes for quite a thick layer of trub sometimes.
 
Lost said:
For what it's worth I have a 6.5 gal bucket for a primary and a 6.5 gal carboy.. I haven't used the carboy as a primary yet because the bucket works just fine but I am aware of the oxygen permeability issue as well as the sanitizing/scraching issue and might just try the glass primary for my next go round.
Click to expand...


I just decided after about 20 batches it was time to start doing primary in glass. I never had any problems with the plastic buckets but I'm trying to upgrade the brewery. :D
Heck, I even do my secondaries in corny kegs now. You have to be vigilant about venting them (at least once a day), but it works nice, and highly convenient for racking time.
 
Cheesefood said:
I like the buckets. Here's why:

1. Light weight.
2. Opaque (no chance of light damage)
3. Easy to clean
4. No blow-off.

I know that glassies will claim that there's are easier to clean, but here's my method:

Hose out the bucket to get crud or dust out.
Fill bucket to the tip-top.
Add 4 tbsp household bleach
Stir with racking cane.
Throw all your tools in there. (can't do that with a glass carb)
Let it all sit while you boil. Use your bottle brush to get anything stuck-on off.

Dump, fill again with water and no-rinse sanitizer right around the time you add your finishing hops, then dump again.

The bleach kills any odors and nasties. You end up with a complete set of sanitized equipment.

Likewise, I'm considering using my bottling bucket as a secondary while my Kolsch occupies my true secondary.
Click to expand...

All pretty good points, except "no blow off". Apparenatly you haven't had the right combination going in yours yet, but when you do, that lid blowing off there makes a nice little boom. Makes quite a mess, too!

It's a good idea to use a blowoff with a plastic bucket, too.
 
SwAMi75 said:
It's a good idea to use a blowoff with a plastic bucket, too.
Click to expand...

How do I set up a tube for blow off from my Ale Pail? Right now I have an airlock installed and it bubles constantly.
 
First, why is air mixing a problem? ...darn.

Second, why can't you just run some hose from the spigot (with the primary in an elevated position), to the secondary...same effect as a siphon, no?
 
burnsie said:
First, why is air mixing a problem? ...darn.

Second, why can't you just run some hose from the spigot (with the primary in an elevated position), to the secondary...same effect as a siphon, no?
Click to expand...

air is bad because it contains oxygen. oxygenation causes beer to go stale faster.

you should just run the hose from the spigot. no need to siphon if you've already got the spigot.
 
DP said:
How do I set up a tube for blow off from my Ale Pail? Right now I have an airlock installed and it bubles constantly.
Click to expand...
just use your 3/8" OD siphon tubing....it should fit perfectly in the grommetted hole that your airlock is regularly in. the tubing is significantly more forgiving as far as hops particles, due to the small holes on the bottom of the airlock...
 
I have always primary fermented in my pail......but this last batch I did, I fermented in a glass carboy because i wanted to "see the process" which was pretty cool, but the krausen and cleaning of a carboy is a lot more rigorous than it ever was in the pail.
 
7 1/2 year old thread revival....

Good for you!!!

I also prefer cleaning buckets than carboys :D , but I like the visuals of carboys over buckets :D
 
I only use 7.5 gal buckets and they all have spigots and down tubes of varying heights depending on the brew. Never having to siphon is a good thing and only rarely utilize a secondary...
 
Why is cleaning a carboy a big deal. I dump an appropriate amount of PBW into carboy, fill with hot water and let it sit overnight. Next day I have a clean carboy.
 

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