Carboys/fermenters

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sleepygo

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2006
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
What do you guys prefer? Glass carboy, Better bottle, or the (food grade)plastic buckets? What are your reasons for your preference?
 
I like plastic buckets for primary, mostly because I have to carry them a ways, and the idea of dropping a glass carboy scares the crap out of me.

I use glass carboys for secondary due to the smaller headspace, and I only have to lift them full once.
 
I prefer glass carboys, but I will use a bucket in a pinch. I carry my carboys in a plastic milk crate for safety.
 
seyahmit said:
I prefer glass carboys, but I will use a bucket in a pinch. I carry my carboys in a plastic milk crate for safety.

Same here - Glass in a milk crate is a great option. I don't like buckets. I have one for wine and I think it's a PITA. I don't like the tops - they're kinda tough to get off and I always worry about the seal. Then, there is the whole scratching and bacteria thing.
 
I like to ferment in glass carboys (primary and secondary). I had a nasty infection in a plastic bucket once that was hard to shake. I just don't trust plastic anymore.
 
1 vote better bottle. Lighter, easier to drain and don't break. I had a buddy who poured his hot wort into a glass carboy then tried to cool it by setting it in his pool. CRASH!!! Nasty pool water and beer and carboy in the trash. But then again, I don't hang out with the smartest guys....:cross:
 
Hehehe, not the smartest thing to do, but probably hilarious if you're in the right mood. Yeah, better bottles do sound like the best of both worlds. In fact I don't think I've ever really heard anything negative about them.
 
I use plastic buckets as primary for wines and ciders where I make 6g batches. I then rack into 6g glass carboys. For beers, I use 6.5g glass carboys for primary, and 5g for secondary.

Why?
The plastic buckets are bigger than my biggest carboy, and I need them for the 6g batches.
But the glass lasts longer than plastic (I have serviceable carboys over 30 years old), so the glass works out cheaper than plastic; plus watching beer ferment is much better than watching Law and Order.

-a.
 
I use all three.

Bucket as a primary,

Glass Carboy for 2ndary (ales) and a primary for Lt lagers (to blow off fusel resins)

I have four 3 Gal PET bottles. Not Better bottle, but the type you can buy for water fountains. $5 for 3 gal of good brewing water and a dual purpose fermenter. If it gets scratched, I toss it out. Available at Lowes & HD. I usually use them for experiementing or special oddball batches. They have a recycle triangle with a "1" in the center and say PET or PETE next to the symbol.
 
Kayos said:
1 vote better bottle. Lighter, easier to drain and don't break. I had a buddy who poured his hot wort into a glass carboy then tried to cool it by setting it in his pool. CRASH!!! Nasty pool water and beer and carboy in the trash. But then again, I don't hang out with the smartest guys....:cross:


Another vote for the better bottles. Mostly because they are so light. Oxyclean will take any nasty deposits out of them without any kind of scrubbing.
 
I used to use plastic, and never really had a problem, but the buckets go beat up, so I switched to glass (what I had for secondary anyway) Now that is what I use all the time for primary, and the plastic buckets make good cleaning/sanitising solution holders.
 
Back
Top