1 gallon containers - plastic buckets or glass carboys?

[avibayer]

I am brewing up a tasty stout that is happily fermenting under my kitchen table. My original plan was to add some hot peppers to the secondary, and make a spicy chocolate stout. This morning i woke up feeling more experimental.

I want to divide it into five one gallon batches, and add different amounts of peppers, maybe vanilla bean or cinnamon. the point is i want each of the five to be different, so i can see what works and what doesnt.

I currently use 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets, and am very happy with them. So i thought i would try 1 gallon plastic buckets, but can't seem to find them. Carboys are available, but i have no experience with them. Any one have experience/suggestions?

if i went with carboys, do they need to be covered to prevent exposure to light? a dark closet i suppose?

are carboy handles necessary for 1 gallon, and can bungs and airlocks be used instead of blowoff tubes?

these are noob questions, but my brewing experience over the past year has not exposed me to the world of carboys.

 

[wyzazz]

Gallon growlers, wine jugs or even gallon pickle jars are an easier cheaper possibility if you've got them. You shouldn't have a really active fermentation in your secondary so the airlock should work fine, or even just a sanitized piece of tinfoil.

 

[devaspawn]

The glass carboys are normally $3 to $4 each. They are nice to have around for future experiments. Carboy handles are not necessary for the 1 gallon version. They are easy to manuever around by hand with no worry of the neck fracturing. You will have to get a smaller drilled bung for them though as I think the universal is a smidge too big.

 

[BillyBroas]

Yes you'll have to keep your carboy out of the light. Put it in a dark closet with something around it. I put hoodies on mine - they look like little people.

 

[conpewter]

I found some apple juice at Whole Foods that came in glass 1 gallon jars for around $6. I figured I'd pay almost that much for the jar. You won't need a blow-off tube for them, you are using them as a secondary.

 

[devaspawn]

And the extra benefit Conpewter is that you can make cider with the AJ!