Bucket vs Carboy

[jhawk4321]

I am planning on starting a 6 gallon batch of hard cider tomorrow. Everybody mentions using carboys for primary. Does it matter if the primary fermentation is done in a carboy or bucket. I make wine and always used a primary 7.9 gal bucket because the must with foam up. If I did it would be snapped tight with air lock on. I would then transfer to carboy for secondary when SG is ready. Getting low on empty carboys. Thanks

 

[snuesen]

Shape of vessel I know can affect nuances of fermentation, I would assume that vessel material can conceivably have some effect as well, but it's probably tiny enough to not matter in homebrewing.

I love buckets for primary, and glass for aging.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Oxygen permeability is potentially an issue. In primary, not so much as the yeast is utilizing oxygen in the lag phase, you generally aren't in primary for long, and there is a lot of CO2 being produced that purges the headspace. Buckets are great primaries as they are easy to clean, especially since you will have the most trub/lees in primary.

If you want to age in bulk, getting off the lees and into less oxygen permeable glass makes sense. You also want to minimize the surface area of liquid and the volume of the headspace to further minimize gas absorbtion, so a container with a neck is particularly useful for extended aging.

That is why it is so important to use a carboy appropriate for the size of your brew - if you are brewing 3 gallons and rack into a 5 or 6 gallon carboy, you have massive amounts of headspace and the surface area of the liquid is as large as it can be. These are both factors that maximize the potential for oxidation and infection.

 

[Yooper]

In primary, it doesn't matter. You can even ferment in an open container if you want (covered with a towel to keep fruitflies out). Just like with wine.

Once you get to 1.020-1.010, it's important to reduce headspace and airlock, again, just like with wine.

 

[eclecticitguy]

How much headspace is too much? If I used a 1 Gallon glass carboy for primary fermentation, and racked to a 4L (1.05 Gallon) glass carboy for secondary, is that too much headspace?

 

[LiftedAWDAstro]

You will be fine with the secondary as you will be leaving the lees/sediment on the bottom of the primary anyway.

 

[neo71665]

I ferment everything in buckets now. Haven't used a carboy for a primary since I was a teen.

 

[eclecticitguy]

You will be fine with the secondary as you will be leaving the lees/sediment on the bottom of the primary anyway.

I will definitely be leaving the lees behind. The only reason I'm using a Carboy for primary is because this is my first attempt at brewing *anything* and I want to see what it looks like. In the future, I'll probably be using fermentation buckets, as a lot of people seem to do.

Thanks for the input! Wasn't sure how much space was required for oxidation to occur and I'm trying to get my first batch correct the first time.