tinleymike
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Is there any advantage to using glass carboys over plastic? Plastic is obviously less expensive and therefore would allow for more money to be spent on beer.
Plastic vs. glass
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Plastic scratches easily, glass doesn't.
Glass breaks easily, plastic doesn't.
Both glass carboys & plastic better bottles work great. I use both.
Glass breaks easily, plastic doesn't.
Both glass carboys & plastic better bottles work great. I use both.
jakenbacon
Well-Known Member
How dare you bring up such a sensitive subject on the forum......
Satisfaction
Well-Known Member
Welcome to HBT..
I suggest you do quick search of the forums and read some of the hundreds of posts and debates on this topic.
Both have pros and cons.
I suggest you do quick search of the forums and read some of the hundreds of posts and debates on this topic.
Both have pros and cons.
The real answer is proof.
Go buy the best plastic cup in the market. Drink beer out of it. Wash it, and repeat. After a month, are you still enjoying beer from that plastic cup as intended?
Funny, we never argue about drinking beer from a glass cup, just because we don't give a **** if it breaks.
Go buy the best plastic cup in the market. Drink beer out of it. Wash it, and repeat. After a month, are you still enjoying beer from that plastic cup as intended?
Funny, we never argue about drinking beer from a glass cup, just because we don't give a **** if it breaks.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
That's because the most you'll probably lose is a pint. Unless you use one of the bigger glasses (22-23oz).
There's several threads at the bottom of the page under the "similar threads" heading.
This only seems to come up about a dozen (or several dozen) times a month. I'm not going to debate the values of either, since I use neither glass or plastic fermenting vessels. Haven't in some time too.
mikescooling
Well-Known Member
How dare you bring up such a sensitive subject on the forum......
Common man what are you doing to us!! Next thing I'm going to see is pictures of human bodys cut open, then I'm going to puking my guts out.
Glass is a pain in the butt, but its not flexible and cleans well, and it comes in the 6.5gal size that I like. plastic works well but if you flex it, it can suck back the air lock.
That's because the most you'll probably lose is a pint. Unless you use one of the bigger glasses (22-23oz).
Spilt ale is truly an unacceptable loss bordering on cardinal sin.
Not so great ale? Standard.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Which is why I make it a point to never spill a drop of my home brew... I have enough dings on my record, I don't need big ones on top of them.
I care far less if I break a glass that's not used for beer.
Glass is great if it does not sever arteries!
Plastic is great and unlikely to sever arteries!
Plastic is great and unlikely to sever arteries!
According to statistics, we are one hundred thousand times more likely to brew bad beer than to die in an airplane crash or to break a carboy. Even though that is true, I actually just made that up. I can't wait to buy stainless steel fermenting vessels so that I can join in this debate more loftily.
zeg
Well-Known Member
Well, if we're talking about proof... Here's mine.
For how many years has this debate raged on?
Either is fine. Q.E.D.
Seriously, if one or the other created actual significant problems, this debate would have been sorted out a long time ago. The reality is that great beers can be made in either glass or plastic (or steel or wood or probably a dozen other materials). On the list of things you need to worry about that will screw up your beer, this one shouldn't even register.
The choice of fermentation vessel is not about which material will give you better beer, it's about which fits your process and brewery situation better. There are advantages and disadvantages to either choice (which are well and repeatedly tabulated throughout the dozens of threads on this topic, so I won't bother repeating them).
For me, the choice was easy. With kids around the house, the relative fragility of glass is a risk I am not comfortable taking, so I use plastic Better Bottles. Is this the unique rational choice? No, of course not. The actual risk of a carboy breaking is small, and probably on par with plenty of other hazards I have in the house, but it's something that would worry me every time I moved a fermentor.
For how many years has this debate raged on?
Either is fine. Q.E.D.
Seriously, if one or the other created actual significant problems, this debate would have been sorted out a long time ago. The reality is that great beers can be made in either glass or plastic (or steel or wood or probably a dozen other materials). On the list of things you need to worry about that will screw up your beer, this one shouldn't even register.
The choice of fermentation vessel is not about which material will give you better beer, it's about which fits your process and brewery situation better. There are advantages and disadvantages to either choice (which are well and repeatedly tabulated throughout the dozens of threads on this topic, so I won't bother repeating them).
For me, the choice was easy. With kids around the house, the relative fragility of glass is a risk I am not comfortable taking, so I use plastic Better Bottles. Is this the unique rational choice? No, of course not. The actual risk of a carboy breaking is small, and probably on par with plenty of other hazards I have in the house, but it's something that would worry me every time I moved a fermentor.
MaynardX
Well-Known Member
This is what I would do:
Use plastic for primary fermentations. Also use plastic for secondaries that are used for a month or under.
Use Glass if you are going to age a beer for more than two months.
Use plastic for primary fermentations. Also use plastic for secondaries that are used for a month or under.
Use Glass if you are going to age a beer for more than two months.
+1. ZEG, What works for each and their process. I use plastic buckets because they are cheap and easy to clean. They get screwed up i can use the bucket for other things. I also have a glass carboy but it doesn't get used much. (Ok, its only used once).
Basically its each to their own.
Basically its each to their own.
Why not spend $40 on a pinlock keg, remove all hardware and attach dual blowoffs. Won't break like glass and won't scratch like plastic. Also come with convenient handles. Unless you have really thick arms then cleaning them is also a breeze!
Uh.. if the keg doesn't break why are the handles so convenient? Tell me this!
amandabab
Well-Known Member
a burton unit would work a lot better with the small 5 gallon volume, a built in drain using the diptube and you have threaded connections to seal it up.
um,,, what?
xjbobbin82
Well-Known Member
I'm just starting out and I want to experiment with bottle carbonating, so I'm sticking with plastic (2L soda bottles) to try to avoid bottle bombs until I get it down. Easier to twist and release/check pressure and reseal than to pop and recap glass bottles IMO. I like lots of bubbly! :rockin:
I use glass jugs for primary fermenting though.
The search bar has worked wonders for my curiosity!!
I use glass jugs for primary fermenting though.
The search bar has worked wonders for my curiosity!!
Uhhh. How's that 2L bottle thing working out for you? I imagine that has to be a PITA. Any pour after the first one is going to get progressively more and more flat. Unless you drink it in one sitting...
Also, re-capping glass is no more difficult that re-capping PET. FFS, my wife caps my bottles. That's got to be saying something!
If you're worried about bottle bombs, why not just put them in a cooler or ice chest?
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Why wait??
I use adapted/converted sanke kegs for all... None of the issues from either glass or plastic there.
IME, sanke kegs are better. For one thing, you can easily get 7.75 gallon vessels.
You can even get 15.5 gallon vessels. With the center valve opening, you have additional options for what to attach. Either as low tech/cost as an universal bung, to something like the sanke fermenting caps... I ferment my normal batches in tall 1/4 barrel kegs and age them in 25L kegs. Mead gets made in 1/6 barrel kegs (I also age the mead batches in that same size). Plus, the handles on sanke kegs have 0% chance of ever failing/breaking/coming apart/off of the keg. Unlike corny kegs (rubber top)... Of course, costs of the raw kegs can vary from region to region, but you can typically find them without too much effort. Well, if you know where to look that is.
xjbobbin82
Well-Known Member
Uhhh. How's that 2L bottle thing working out for you? I imagine that has to be a PITA. Any pour after the first one is going to get progressively more and more flat. Unless you drink it in one sitting...
Also, re-capping glass is no more difficult that re-capping PET. FFS, my wife caps my bottles. That's got to be saying something!
If you're worried about bottle bombs, why not just put them in a cooler or ice chest?
Well in all honesty, I've never capped any glass bottles nor do I own a capper:smack:
So I guess I'm not standing on proper grounds to compare the two. (I'm a beginner and haven't yet invested in any bottling equipment) Just a noobie trying to toss my $0.02 for what it's worth (if at all)
But you do raise a good point sir. Maybe I should've specified that I'm making cider not beer, and that I'm not too worried because still cider is still yummy
Still beer, not so much?Would it carb well in a cooler? Or would this cold crash it?
Well in all honesty, I've never capped any glass bottles nor do I own a capper:smack:
So I guess I'm not standing on proper grounds to compare the two. (I'm a beginner and haven't yet invested in any bottling equipment) Just a noobie trying to toss my $0.02 for what it's worth (if at all)
But you do raise a good point sir. Maybe I should've specified that I'm making cider not beer, and that I'm not too worried because still cider is still yummy
Would it carb well in a cooler? Or would this cold crash it?
Carbs great in a cooler. A cooler at room temperature is... room temperature. Just don't put ice in it.
Still beer, not so tasty. Messed up the mouth feel and wrecks hop aromas.
I started brewing with the Northern Brewer Essentials Brewing Starter Kit, which comes with a capper and caps. Got it on sale for something like $55 shipped, with a free Polarware 5 gallon kettle in each kit, so I picked up two (one for a gift for my father).
Too bad you're not closer. Don't need two cappers and have hundreds of extra caps.
lgilmore
Well-Known Member
Use what ever floats your boat. I just want you to make sure you have health insurance "if" your glass breaks and cuts up your hands or legs. Don't care what you use, just don't want to pay for your accident if it happens.
Both methods make beer, one is just a bit safer than the other if you drop the carboy.
Over on the reddit homebrew section you have "brewers transfering boiling wart into glass carboys to set out in the snow. To their "amazement" the carboys blow up. Then others do the same to plastic carboys which melt. the brewing world contains a wide variety of brewers.
So to each their own. My hope is if you use glass be smart about it. That's all.
Both methods make beer, one is just a bit safer than the other if you drop the carboy.
Over on the reddit homebrew section you have "brewers transfering boiling wart into glass carboys to set out in the snow. To their "amazement" the carboys blow up. Then others do the same to plastic carboys which melt. the brewing world contains a wide variety of brewers.
So to each their own. My hope is if you use glass be smart about it. That's all.
This. I wear steel-toed combat boots and blue jeans when moving my 6 gallon glass carboys. They're moved in Brew Haulers, never more than 3" off the ground.
Looks silly, but I don't need questions asked about how it happened if I ended up at the base MTF with glass in my leg. There's probably some high risk safety briefing for moving glass items that they'd say I was required to attend.
I made little furniture dollies for my three glass carboys. I never lift them and I use a transfer pump to fill and empty them.
I use glass. It just seems right. Natural and 100% airtight. I have one better bottle I got to see if I'd like it. I've used it maybe twice. It is much easier to move around but I don't trust it. My only infection was in the better bottle.
The yeast doesn't care what you ferment in. It's all a matter of preference in the 21st century, plastic is just as acceptable to use these days as glass. It's really NOT a "-vs-" issues, it's purely a "choose what to use" and make beer in it. As you can see by the threads in the similar threads box below. This is a long discussed and debated topic that really just comes down to what YOU the brewer of YOUR BEER prefers to use.
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
Fermenting in either glass or plastic isn't going to have any real impact on the outcome of your beer. Plastic is lighter and cheaper but less durable over time than glass. Glass is more durable and "easier" to clean but is expensive, heavy, and can seriously injure you if you break it. Temperature control and pitching rates are far more important than choice of fermentation vessel material.
With all of the sanitizers out there and the dependability of plastic, I think plastic is hard to beat. Sure, it scratches occasionally but you really have to throw something sharp inside in order to make that happen. There may be micro scratches that occur when you clean but it's nothing significant. IMO keep using a good sanitizer and differences will sort themselves out.
Get real. Nobody has ever made an award-winning beer with plastic fermenters.
LandoLincoln
Well-Known Member
That's a good point. If you're a butterfingers, then you definitely need to avoid glass carboys.
zeg
Well-Known Member
The BB's also save a non-trivial amount of weight. I was really glad for that when I lifted a 6 gallon BB out of my chest freezer. My back would have been sore for at least an extra day if it had been glass!
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
I sold my one remaining glass carboy...and bought another better bottle.
Using PBW as your cleaner, there is no reason to scratch up the insides of the better bottle with a carboy brush.
Using PBW as your cleaner, there is no reason to scratch up the insides of the better bottle with a carboy brush.
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