Someone Help me.... better bottle or carboy?

Alright. I am in a real pickle. I cannot decide how to upgrade my fermentors. Right now I am an Ale Brewer looking to get into some lager brewing. I have one glass carboy and a series of buckets. I have been putting my 'nicer' more craft brewed beers in the carboy for secondary while leaving my pale ales and such in buckets for 3-4 weeks.

What I want to know is better bottle or glass? Obviously better bottles are cheaper but I have read they will eventually need to be retired. Is it worth just investing big into a team of carboys or so?

Someone help me out and give me your opinion on this matter.

I suggest the better bottles because they don't break. Just the risk of having a carboy shatter from a slight bump scares me. There are lots of posts here about people who swore off glass because of the inherent danger or actual experience that left them scarred and bloody. So, I recommend better bottles.

I'm a big fan of glass but I think it is a personal preference really... carboy, better bottle, bucket... use whatever you think would be best for you. The biggest downside of glass is you have to be careful with it. Dropping or mishandling a carboy can end up in a trip to the hospital or at the very least a very big mess.

The beer doesn't know one from the other... So go with what makes you feel happy. Glass shatters. BB has a tendency to scratch if cleaned too aggressively.

I use better bottles. I have 4 and have never had a problem. I make beer, wine and barley wines.

I think that carboys are probably a better long term investment compared to better bottles. Treat the glass with care and they will probably outlast you.

With that said I have 5 glass right now and I am planning on picking up some plastic ones from my local menards (5 gallon jugs with spring water for $5, PETE plastic)

I'm a 6.5g glass carboy fan, and I've had four in rotation for a few years without incident - or infection. I'm also wicked careful when handling them.

Respect with a touch of paranoia goes a long way

Cheers!

Better Bottle . . . "Respect with a touch of paranoia goes a long way" when cleaning'em.

I use Better Bottles and buckets. I don't care about the longevity of glass. I don't want the weight (getting old!) and do not care to risk a trip to the ER. If that happens once any savings of longevity are out the window.

Just take care cleaning your plastic and it should last a very long time. Throw away your carboy brush, or use it for anything else.

I vote Better Bottle, all the way. The 6 gallon ones are great. I treat them with no respect whatsoever, and I've never been afraid of them. I've never used a bucket, but lots of glass experience. But here you go:

This vs. That

carboy... If going plastic--just use a bucket... cheaper to replace when need be. US Plastic has cheap 6 gallon food grade.

Personally, I use corny keg as secondary when fermenting with either. Buckets then are just easier to clean--and no need for stopper or airlock in primary. Just a lid. And stackable if you make a few batches.

kh54s10 said:

I use Better Bottles and buckets. I don't care about the longevity of glass. I don't want the weight (getting old!) and do not care to risk a trip to the ER. If that happens once any savings of longevity are out the window.

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+1 I hear ya brutha!

Just be careful not to soak your BB longer than overnight with a caustic solution like PBW. It will make the BB brittle.

I made the mistake of leaving a couple BBs out on the deck for a week with PBW when I left for a trip. I came back and they both had cracks in the bottom and were leaking. Lesson learned.

I honestly don't understand why buckets aren't the preferred vessel. I don't understand what better bottles or carboys do better, and I don't understand the point of that tiny opening, and they aren't any cheaper, and buckets take spigots...

Buckets.

I do lager in ale pales....

BetterSense said:

I honestly don't understand why buckets aren't the preferred vessel. I don't understand what better bottles or carboys do better, and I don't understand the point of that tiny opening, and they aren't any cheaper, and buckets take spigots...

Buckets.

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Glad you asked.

• Buckets are far worse than BB at sealing the container.
• I see a lot more infections in buckets.
• Can't see inside buckets without opening them.
• There's about a $15 difference between a bucket and a BB. Are you serious? Expense? Give me a break.
• What's your bucket made of?

I know you can ferment fine beer in a bucket, but IMO a BB is, well, better.

I use food grade 2.5 and 5 gallon buckets, and I use 5 Gallon blue water jugs from Walmart. Have never had a single issue. Put them in milk crates to help carry them around, and be glad they aren't glass because if those break it is uggggly.

Everyone has their own opinion, except the alcohol, it don't give a damn.

nukinfuts29 said:

Everyone has their own opinion, except the alcohol, it don't give a damn.

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That one is going in the sig line.

BetterSense said:

I honestly don't understand why buckets aren't the preferred vessel. I don't understand what better bottles or carboys do better, and I don't understand the point of that tiny opening, and they aren't any cheaper, and buckets take spigots...

Buckets.

Click to expand...

I love em! I put spigots in them so racking is a breeze.

passedpawn said:

Glad you asked.

• Buckets are far worse than BB at sealing the container.
• I see a lot more infections in buckets.
• Can't see inside buckets without opening them.
• There's about a $15 difference between a bucket and a BB. Are you serious? Expense? Give me a break.
• What's your bucket made of?

I know you can ferment fine beer in a bucket, but IMO a BB is, well, better.

Click to expand...

I don't bother sealing any more and I don't use airlocks.
I have never had an infection in a bucket since I began in 1987.
I just lift my unsnapped lid and peek if so desired.
It's about convenience, ease of cleaning, ease of lowering into a fermenteezer and ease of getting out with the handles.
Food grade plastic.

To each his own. I drink to that.

Here's 15 gallons with no airlock and solid lids just resting on top of the bucket.

You can brew in the pale with the lid unsnapped instead of having an airlock? I brew with cleanliness in a clean place....so this interests me. Because I have 40 5 gallon pale's that are doing nothing because I'm out of airlocks.

Hmm.

Get some kegs and use buckets for primary. Kegs beat carboys in almost every way.

passedpawn said:

Glad you asked.

[*]Buckets are far worse than BB at sealing the container.
[*]I see a lot more infections in buckets.
[*]Can't see inside buckets without opening them.
[*]There's about a $15 difference between a bucket and a BB. Are you serious? Expense? Give me a break.
[*]What's your bucket made of?

I know you can ferment fine beer in a bucket, but IMO a BB is, well, better.

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I dunno about all that. I have both and while I find myself using the BB more often, it isn't because I think ale pales are inferior. All of them hold liquid all of them are easy to clean. You can make great beer in any of them.

The only reason I don't have glass they are heavy and I'm clumsy. And I fear SWMBO's wrath if i break one and 5gal of wort spills in the house. She would probably stab me to death with a shard of carboy glass.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

EdWort said:

I don't bother sealing any more and I don't use airlocks.
I have never had an infection in a bucket since I began in 1987.
I just lift my unsnapped lid and peek if so desired.
It's about convenience, ease of cleaning, ease of lowering into a fermenteezer and ease of getting out with the handles.
Food grade plastic.

To each his own. I drink to that.

Here's 15 gallons with no airlock and solid lids just resting on top of the bucket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJmchDK46mY

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Ed, way to go...

That's what krausen is for to protect the beer


I got a question for you though, do you secondary? I guess you do but in the keg right?

While cleaning my better bottle today it slipped out of my hands. It now has a Permanent dent in it.
However It did not shatter and I was not hurt.

Also you may want to listen to the Basic Brewing Radio podcast for 12/1/11

basicbrewingradio.com