primary fermenter

So as I'm looking to expand (my first brew day was Sat. haha) what should I buy for another primary?

My kit came with the "Ale Pail" and from what I've heard/seen around here, people have carboys. While I'd probably get another better bottle, what's the advantage of a carboy to a pail? While watching the fermentation is obviously awesome, it seems like they'd be harder to clean (esp. the BB) and tougher to aerate.

Enlighten me!

Lots of people like carboys. I have always used "ale pails" for primary. that works fine for me.

Many people feel more comfortable fermenting in glass, myself included. There is less likelihood of tiny, bacteria harboring, scratches and the smaller opening provides additional protection from invaders. The plastic that ale pails are made from is also permeable to oxygen. This is likely not a big deal for most fermentations, but could have detrimental effects over long periods of time (except when desirable such as plambics). Plus, as you mentioned, it looks cool!!

It is a matter of preference.

The pails are cheaper, easier to access, and work fine for short periods, but can sometimes leak around the covers, and the beer and oxygen can sometimes permeate them over time.

Glass will never be permeated by oxygen or beer, is easy to sanitize, is easier to seal with a stopper and airlock, but can break easily (which is bad if it is full!) and can be hard to clean (requires a good large bottle brush).

I use glass, but I know a number of great brewers that prefer plastic.

Cheers!
Brad

The down side of glass is it's heavy, slippery and fragile. The O2 permeablility of plastic as a primary fermenter (7-10days) is not a BFD unless you plan to use them as a secondary fermenter.

Now if you are strictly talking about a carboy glass as a secondary fermenter then O2 permenablity is a concern.
However IMHO a corny keg blows a glass carboy away as a secondary.
Cornies are rugged, light proof, not O2 permeable, light weight and cost about the same as a glass carboy.

They blow them away as primaries too.

+1 on kegs being good secondaries, even though you are probably not kegging since you just finished your second brew

I just keep mine in the primary for 2-3 weeks to let it start clarifying a bit, then move it to a keg to age and clarify until I am ready to either bottle or put it on tap. Plus, if you buy kegs now instead of carboys, you will be that one step closer to kegging:rockin:

I do all beer primary's in an ale pail, and glass carboy's for secondary.

stuff that doesn't krausen like mead...is always done in a glass carboy, start to finish.

that's just my preference. buckets are very easy to clean the krausen ring out of.

As a fellow novice (we both brewed our first batch on the same day), I have to say after the advice of some on here I HIGHLY recommend a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. The large size does make it HEAVY (I had to very carefully carry it full from my kitchen down to the basement and its no joke). But to me the benefits easily outweigh the negatives. Having 6.5 gallons lets you be pretty confident you will never have issues with clogging (unless making a type that is expected to cause problems), having glass was very important to me since I had no idea what an actively fermenting system looks like (it's quite amazing), and it takes a lot of guess work out of "is it OK", "do I still have a large krausen layer", etc.

But by far the best thing is the cleaning. You can use any harsh chemical you want, without having to worry about damaging the glass. You can scrub it with basically anything, and be sure its exactly the same as when you started. I deal with sterilized glassware all day in the lab and its comforting to know I can use the same caustic nasty reagents to make sure there is no chance of leaving contaminants in the bottle.

Oh and as for the light, after the first day or two of staring in amazement, I wrapped the bottle in a thick black trashbag to prevent light from getting in. Boom, just as effective as the plastic buckets, but without the oxygen permeability. My 6.5 gallon glass carboy was $33 from the local brew store and of very solid construction (probably weighs 10-15 lbs empty). BTW, my seconday is a 5.0 gallon glass carboy (don't want extra head space due to oxidation issues). And finally I got a 5 gallon bottling bucket (plastic, basically what you have for the primary but with a spigot on the bottom).

Couldn't have done it right the first time without the help of the folks on here and the free online book by John Palmer.

HTH,

justin

Brew with whatever works for you.

I have 4 beers in primaries now. I'm brewing half batches to increase experimentation with different beers and different yeasts. 2 are in carboys, one of which is a better bottle, one glass. Two in 5 gallon bottling buckets.

I just bought a 6 gal better bottle and love it. It's exciting to watch the first 24hrs of your beer. I find carboys safer, less chance of infection and fun to watch. Plastic is simple though and a little cheaper, good on a budget. Either will make good beer.

Best money spent though would be in a wort chiller...irreplaceable!



ps. It's not wise to primary in a 5 gal bucket with a full 5 gal. batch.....Explosion

I used glass carboys for a long time. I gradually got over the excitement of watching the fermentation. After many near misses of dropped carboys and reading stories of glass shards and ER visits, I went to plastic buckets for primary fermentation. They cost about 1/3 of a carboy. They have a handle to carry when full. They are easy to clean and easy to harvest yeast from. The mythology of scratches and infections are simply that. A hydrogen ion (starsan = phosphoric acid) is much smaller than a bacteria. Any crevice big enough for a bacteria will be easily sanitized with star san. Also, if ya get scratches, buy a new $8 bucket and quit worrying. To me, the only reason to use a glass carboy is to watch the fermentation.

Well I think preference is going to be influenced by me being a broke college student. Looks like ale pails for now!

As always, thanks for the imput, cheers!

... unless someone wants to send me some kegging equipment and I can pay you back in 15ish years when my student loans are paid off?!