Should I buy a BB or another bucket?

Hi all new to the forum, although I have read alot. My 3rd batch is sitting in the primary, my first two are sitting in bottles, and my ingredients for my 4th are spread between the pantry and fridge.
I want to get started on another batch before my AHS Double Chocolate Stout is finished fermenting, but can't decide if I want to buy a 5 gallon better bottle or another Ale Pail. The buckets seem to be very over priced at my LHBS (more of just a cooking store that as some homebrew stuff), probably around $25 for a bucket and top, so I am considering just going with a 5 gallon BB that are near the same price.

I know the trend is for long primary no secondary, but if you only had a bucket would you first get the capability to secondary or just get another bucket? If it matters my next batch will be a AHS California Common. The Stout would be transfered to a secondary probably after sitting in primary for about 2-3 weeks.

Sorry for a long post, and I know it is going to be a personal choice based on what I want to brew, if I would rather skip secondary etc etc, but I just wanted to know what you guys would do in my situation.

Well, a five gallon BB or carboy is ONLY for secondary for a 5 gallon batch. So if you're planning on racking all of the beers anyway, that will free up your primary.

I ferment just about everything in plastic "ale pails" and use the carboys only for wine, oaking, or lagering.

It's really up to you- I personally would find an ale pail far more useful, since I may have two or three beers in the primary at one time.

5 gallons is a bit small for a 5 gallon batch not any room for krausen and most likely you will get a nasty blowoff. They do make 6 gallon bbs. I use glass 6.5g and have one 5g for secondary for the rare occasion. The buckets are nice because there is a ton of headspace and very unlikely to blowoff. They can also be stacked staggered and store away inside of each other. Your call they all work and work well. I like to see my fermentation and I like the glass but that is just personal preference.

Same time Yooper same time!!!!

I've debated the better bottle as well, but I'd definitely go with a 6 gal ported for a primary. The spigot seems a bit pricey though for what it is.

I use buckets with spigots and have for years but I'm wondering if they need to be replaced over time.....anybody got a life or batch usage recommendation on buckets?

Bucket. Easier to clean and much easier to top crop from.

Also, you probably dont need to secondary the stout, after 3 weeks in primary, just bottle that bad boy. I rarley secondary anything unless its big (>9% alcohol) or I am adding something to it like fruit or oak

If I bought the 5g Better Bottle it would be strictly for secondary, and since I would still only have one bucket for primary, chances are every one of my beers would get a secondary. I want two vessels for fermenting (primary or secondary) so that I am less anxious to bottle. My wheat beer went to bottles after 10 days, and I am sort of regretting it.

I personally like to see what's going on, even in the secondary. I believe all of the ale pales are 6.5 gallons, giving you the option to always have two primaries going (plus).

One reason you go to a 5 gal for secondary is there's less headspace, which means less air, which means less oxidation of your brew. The bad side is that bb's (or glass) are a pain to clean, but they are easier to clean when used for secondary because you don't have the dried krausen mess at the top.

But as said before, all personal preference. I personally use two 6.5 bb primaries and one 5 bb secondary.

Bucket!!! You could get 2 for the price of a BB. It could be argued that a BB is better than a bucket but I say 2 buckets is definitely better than 1 BB. You may even get 3 buckets for the price of a BB. I feel like the count on Sesame Street now.

itsme6582 said:

Bucket!!! You could get 2 for the price of a BB. It could be argued that a BB is better than a bucket but I say 2 buckets is definitely better than 1 BB. You may even get 3 buckets for the price of a BB. I feel like the count on Sesame Street now.

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+1. The more buckets, the better. You can never have too many fermenters.

The only downside to the bucket is that you can see into the BB or the carboy, which is amusing when there's a lot going on. Well, that and it's marginally easier to do certain things with a carboy (removing the lid without shaking things up, pushing beer/wort with a CO2 line, etc). On balance, though, I'll take the cheap flexibility of a bucket primary any day. I use glass and BB for secondaries (too many fermenting containers in my workshop right now, ) but use the ale pail for the primary.

Plus, with a bucket it is a LOT easier to get your wort into the primary in the first place. That constricted neck on a carboy can be a real pain in the neck.

Why is everyone so fascinated with seeing the fermentation? You sure can't see it in a 500 bbl stainless fermentor.

Go to one of the online stores and order 2 or even 3 buckets with lid and grommet. If you have the buckets you can have 3 batches going at once and leave the beer on the yeast cake long enough to clean up well. When (if) you aren't using the buckets, they stack and 3 take little more room than 1.

itsme6582 said:

Why is everyone so fascinated with seeing the fermentation? You sure can't see it in a 500 bbl stainless fermentor.

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If I had a 500 bbl stainless fermenter I may have reached the point where it is no longer fascinating to me. For now I like to watch. I have several glass carboys several buckets and when the carboys are in use I will use a bucket but if the glass is available that is the one I go for. I really hate these ferm vessel threads.

For primary I like to know when the fermentation is starting in its infancy. For the secondary I like to see when dry hops etc have settled out.