Fermenting in plastic bucket or better bottle?

Hey everyone,

Are there any advantages to using a food grade plastic bucket over a carboy other than the fact that it protects from light damage.

Any reason why someone would prefer fermenting in a carboy rather than a pail?

Thanks

Gabriel

If you ferment in a pail, and you leave the lid on the darn thing...it will keep you from making stupid "IS MY BEER RUINED?" Threads. You can't see what's going on...which is pretty entertaining, and part of the fun of glass!

I ferment in buckets cause they are very easy to clean....and i have 4 or 5 of them.

I used buckets for several batches then started buying Better Bottles. I like plastic because I am clumsy. Better Bottles Bounce!
I like to watch the yeast do its thing and the Better Bottles allow me to see it all happen. Plus, the stoppers seem to seal much better than the bucket lids, so I can get a better feel for how much activity is still going on by the airlock bubbles.

I used buckets a lot but then I landed some glass carboys and started mixing those in. Once I picked up a BB I'm sold on them over glass.

As for your queston, I use what one I have open and clean at the time.

FSR402 said:

I used buckets a lot but then I landed some glass carboys and started mixing those in. Once I picked up a BB I'm sold on them over glass.

As for your queston, I use what one I have open and clean at the time.

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+1 on all of the above

I am down sizing on my glass carboys. BB all the way.

So its a matter of taste!

Thanks for your input!

Plastic pails are cheaper. If they weren't, fewer people would use them.

Ale Pail hasnt failed me yet.

McGarnigle said:

Plastic pails are cheaper. If they weren't, fewer people would use them.

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They are cheap and fast to clean. the carboys you need to let soak for a few days to clean them. If you want cheap and easy, the bucket is the way to go.

FSR402 said:

They are cheap and fast to clean. the carboys you need to let soak for a few days to clean them. If you want cheap and easy, the bucket is the way to go.

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A carboy brush works just fine. No need to soak (though we do occasionally soak them, more out of laziness than anything else!).

Moonpile said:

A carboy brush works just fine. No need to soak (though we do occasionally soak them, more out of laziness than anything else!).

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only for glass, don't do that with a BB.

I sold my glass carboys and ferment in buckets now. I ferment in my garage, which is 50 feet from my house. Carrying a full glass carboy that far, even in a crate, is unpleasant to say the least. Buckets are so much easier and safer.

I have 3 BBs. I use them as secondaries for my beer, and as primaries for cider and mead.

I used a bucket for 2 or 3 batches, right up to my very first "active" fermentation, blew the airlock straight to the ceiling. For the last 5 years it's been glass and a blow-off tube. But I am going to try BBs since the glass carboy's have gotten so expensive.


I also like to watch the yeast in action!!!!!! People would never believe the things you see in there.

Plastic buckets. Cheap and easy to clean. Easy to carry.

Okay, I have a glass carboy and better bottle. Which one should I use as primary fermenter?

Coin flipping....

you feeling strong today?

Heads! Glass!

oh fine... use the BB...

I'm a fan of buckets too. I have a better bottle and a glass carboy as well as I'm in the process of rebuilding my home brewing rig. One of my favorite aspects of the buckets that hasn't been mentioned here as far as I can see is that they also make a good place to store your 'stuff' when you aren't brewing. Glass carboys and better bottles both take up space. You can even stack your buckets when they aren't in use.

Someone earlier in this thread made the point about the 'is my beer ruined' comments that seem to come from newer hobbyists who are watching what is going on inside a bottle fermenter. After you have brewed several batches, the 'watching' part isn't as interesting as it used to be. All of the fermenter buckets I have used in the past have lids that seal tightly with no problems, and I'm MUCH less likely to crack that lid open for any reason during the ferment. I just use a general rule of thumb for fermentation times and don't worry about checking the gravity during the ferment. I like to do a 10-day primary ferment and then rack to a secondary for 14 days. I will normally pull a gravity reading when I rack to the secondary, but after two weeks in the secondary, I KNOW my fermentation is complete and it's ready to bottle. I have never ever taken a gravity reading 3 days in a row to see if my fermentation has stopped. Maybe I'm just more patient than I should be

rmchair said:

Okay, I have a glass carboy and better bottle. Which one should I use as primary fermenter?

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If you have one of each, my suggestion would be to use the bucket for your primary, and save the BB for your secondary.

A better suggestion would be that you use your bucket for primary, skip the secondary altogether as many people do, and use the BB for Apfelwine.

I'm just sayin'...

rmchair said:

Okay, I have a glass carboy and better bottle. Which one should I use as primary fermenter?

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Use the bigger one! Better Bottles only go up to 6 gallons, and I feel like they're not quite big enough. If you have a 6.5 gallon carboy, that would be perfect for primary. If they are both 6 gallons, you can use either one. They are pretty much interchangeable.