Secondary Fermentation in Plastic?

I know that glass carboys are everyone's favorite for secondary fermentation, but is there any problem with doing so in a separate plastic bucket? I can't see there being any greater threat of contamination in this process if i'm not going to keep it in the bucket for more than a week or two.

Go Badgers!

Plastic is fine to use to secondary, especially better bottles, they're perfect carboy for secondarying in. The old "glass is better than plastic" argument has long been shot down.It was never very truthful anyway, more like marketing propaganda from the glass carboy industry...Modern plastics are fine to use.

Use what you want, beer does it's own thing regardless of where you put it. It doesn't really care.

The reason carboys are preferred are because they have a very narrow neck and so not much headspace. Buckets are quite wide, so they have a very big opening and so a lot of headspace.

For a week or two, it probably won't do much harm. But I'd be inclined to leave it in primary, rather than racking to another bucket.

Though I'm hoping for *Better Bottle*s for Christmas, I use plastic ferment buckets. Have for years. I secondary everything, though that has fallen out of fashion with others here. And secondary is always in an available bucket. I use those with a bottling spigot on the bottom, as life is easier all around...

Yooper said:

The reason carboys are preferred are because they have a very narrow neck and so not much headspace. Buckets are quite wide, so they have a very big opening and so a lot of headspace.

For a week or two, it probably won't do much harm. But I'd be inclined to leave it in primary, rather than racking to another bucket.

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I so love that I learn from y'all every day. Great point, Yooper, and thank you for the info. I sometimes fail to grasp the larger view. So better bottles would be an even better investment. Mmm. Another excuse...

Thanks for the feedback. Very useful. What are the disadvantages to using a plastic fermenter with spigot as a secondary fermenter? At first glance it seems like this would be the best choice for convenience but I am wondering if there are some complications as far as sediment left over from things such as dry hopping and adding ingredients (as one might do in secondary fermentation). Since I am using the spigot to bottle, I would get a lot of "stuff" in my bottles right? You're welcome to tell me that this is a dumb question...

No dumb question. The spigot sits high enough that rarely I ever do I bottle any detritus. It'll leave all the settled hops and accumulated trub, and a thin film of beer, and little else on bottom.

Yooper said:

The reason carboys are preferred are because they have a very narrow neck and so not much headspace. Buckets are quite wide, so they have a very big opening and so a lot of headspace.

For a week or two, it probably won't do much harm. But I'd be inclined to leave it in primary, rather than racking to another bucket.

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Hi! ma Freund, why would you prefer to leave it in the primary one? some say that the secondary is to prevent the lees to spoil the whole thing. I'm making some mead, not beer. Greetings!

It takes time for yeast to spoil (autolysis). If you're only going to be in the bucket for a month, it's not worth the risk of racking. For something like a mead or cider that will be around for a while, the bigger issue is exposure to air, specifically oxygen. A full carboy has very little air in it, unlike a bucket.

For my ciders (started this year's two days ago), I'll ferment in a bucket then rack to a glass carboy until the last of the yeast settles out for conditioning. For a beer, it's always bucket to bottle.

leyoung808 said:

What are the disadvantages to using a plastic fermenter with spigot as a secondary fermenter?

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Watch out for debris that collects in the spigot. I’d suggest disassembling the spigot for a deep clean and sanitize between each batch. Every time I take mine apart for a cleaning I am amazed at how much junk survives the normal cleaning process.

I primary in plastic Big Mouth Bubblers but when I secondary, only for a desired aging of >30 days, I’ll alway go to a glass carboy for two reasons. One is the necking reduction in surface area mentioned above, the other is the significant reduction in air infiltration that can permeate through plastic but not glass.

Oxygen permeates the plastic and not glass. So you would be exposing your baby to oxygenation. Not only that but plastic scuffs very easily. It may not seem like the scuffs are a big deal, but think about just how small those microorganisms are and think about how many can fit into even the tiniest scratch in the plastic. If you wind up with an unwelcome guest, chances are good that it's there to stay. You would have to buff that scratch out, but in doing so you would create even more scratches. Another thing, if you're making beer, it's kind of pointless using a secondary, and can be detrimental to your beer. Meads and wines are a different story though.

brewSJ said:

It takes time for yeast to spoil (autolysis). If you're only going to be in the bucket for a month, it's not worth the risk of racking. For something like a mead or cider that will be around for a while, the bigger issue is exposure to air, specifically oxygen. A full carboy has very little air in it, unlike a bucket.

For my ciders (started this year's two days ago), I'll ferment in a bucket then rack to a glass carboy until the last of the yeast settles out for conditioning. For a beer, it's always bucket to bottle.

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So, you recommend that a young mead should stay in a primary, and for aging one, a carboy'll work best? I've seen a lot of people arguing about the buckets or the glass containers, stating about the oxygen thing, and its 50/50, idk what to think about it. I've just done it in glass containers, but I ran out, was thinking about the bucket thing, just don't weant to spoil the whole batch (mead)

I've only made one mead, cider is more my taste. Having said that, yes, that is how I personally brew. You get the convenience of the bucket during active fermentation and the benefits of glass during the longer aging phase. The racking is also a chance to get the mead (cider) off the gross lees. Not that you can't do something different, of course, there isn't really one right answer here...

Since this thread got resurrected...how are Better Bottles for secondary fermentation? I plan to move a Saison to a secondary and pitch some Brett. I will probably leave it for 6 months or so. I do have a few glass carboys and I was planning to use one of those, but I also have a couple Better Bottles that a friend recently gave me. So far I have just used them for water. I think glass is the best choice, but I was curious. The glass should be easier to clean and sanitize after as well.