Do any of you just mostly use buckets for fermenting?

[Beerbeque]

I've used glass carboys and mostly Better Bottles but lately I've tried buckets for my ale and I've got to say that they are easier to store,clean and transport full and it's so easy to dry hop in buckets because the hops are so easy to put in, stir around and remove.
Buckets are so old tech but my ale comes out just as good in them, and they are cheap to replace so I see no downside to buckets. I drilled a hole in one of my buckets so that I could use the racking adapter from my Better Bottle. This lets me rack without siphoning. So who else likes fermenting in buckets?

 

[Clonefarmer]

Buckets are great. Drill a hole in the lid and you can fit them with a bung.

 

[Yooper]

I use buckets most often. I secondary in glass, and all of my wine is in glass after primary. Otherwise, it's almost always in buckets.

 

[david_42]

All buckets for fermenting. I use gallon glass bottles to secondary meads.

 

[bradsul]

All buckets here too. I have a few better bottles for the odd beer I like to secondary (usually to dry hop or lager).

 

[jonp9576]

i use buckets for beer and my bbs for apfelwein. i just dont like cleaning the bottles. the buckets are so easy, i've never really wanted to try anything else.

 

[Picobrew]

I use buckets most often. I secondary in glass, and all of my wine is in glass after primary. Otherwise, it's almost always in buckets.

Yoop is there anything meaningful to using glass for wine/secondary? I use a variety of plastic/metal/glass for both stages, but am just doing my first wine kit and was planning on using a Better Bottle for secondary.

Also, can you link to your favorite wine recipe/kit?

 

[Yooper]

Yoop is there anything meaningful to using glass for wine/secondary? I use a variety of plastic/metal/glass for both stages, but am just doing my first wine kit and was planning on using a Better Bottle for secondary.

Also, can you link to your favorite wine recipe/kit?

Well, a Better Bottle is fine for secondary. I use them, too. They are great for dryhopping beer, and aging it a bit.

When we're talking about wine kits, the longest you would leave the wine in the carboy would generally be under 90 days. That is not enough time to worry about oxygen permeability issues. Now, that doesn't mean that the BBs ARE oxygen permeable, I just don't use them that long as a rule. My glass carboys are definitely trustworthy long term (I'm talking at least 6-12 months here) for bulk aging.

I've never thought about using stainless with wine. It just never occurred to me, to be honest. Wine is very acidic, but I know we ferment beer in stainless conicals (if we can afford them) all the time.

My favorite wine recipe/kit? That's a hard one. My favorite "homemade" wine is my oaked chokecherry. I'll have to type that one up. My other favorite is my crabapple wine. It's excellent. For kits, I've become a big fan of the "crushendo" kits. They are bigger wine kits, with more juice and with grape skins to ferment on. My favorite so far was a Cru Select tannat/merlot blend. It was a limited edition, and while it's still very young, it's a fantastic big bold red wine. It's inky dark purple, and oaked, and wonderful. For the cheaper kits, I've had very good experiences with the Winexpert kits, but I do detect some "kit" tastes in them.

One of the best tips I can give for wine, regardless of glass or plastic, is to top up as instructed in kits, and always in country wines. You want almost NO headspace (ullage) once primary is over in wines. That will go a very long way to protect the wine from oxidation.

 

[QueenCityALER]

I've used glass carboys and mostly Better Bottles but lately I've tried buckets for my ale and I've got to say that they are easier to store,clean and transport full and it's so easy to dry hop in buckets because the hops are so easy to put in, stir around and remove.
Buckets are so old tech but my ale comes out just as good in them, and they are cheap to replace so I see no downside to buckets. I drilled a hole in one of my buckets so that I could use the racking adapter from my Better Bottle. This lets me rack without siphoning. So who else likes fermenting in buckets?

I like the ideas you have. I'm gonna try your bucket system. That DOES sound easy.

 

[weirdboy]

Same here as many others. Bucket for primary, better bottle for secondary. Buckets are much easier to work with IMO. I also have a separate bucket with a hole drilled in the bottom and a spigot that fits it to do bottling and other assorted tasks.

 

[Picobrew]

Oh and I really dig buckets. The small neck on carboys seems very silly to me for beer. Dry hopping, cleaning, everything that was mentioned is better in bucketville. If I could get a stainless steel bucket with a plastic lid I would use that.

 

[Jaysus]

Buckets here too... I've got a couple beers in my arsenal that wind up in glass for secondary though.

 

[Picobrew]

Buckets here too... I've got a couple beers in my arsenal that wind up in glass for secondary though.

Why? because you like to look at them? I am just curious, not trying to question your technique

Lately I have just been doing primary only, but I do really like to watch the fermentation, so I do enjoy being able to use a better bottle. A clear better bottle material bucket would me magic, or a 7-8 gallon better bottle.

 

[Jaysus]

Why? because you like to look at them? I am just curious, not trying to question your technique

Mostly, yeah... but also for timing reasons.

 

[KayaBrew]

Buckets only, here. I don't brew any beers that need to bulk age, and I am one of the many brewers out there who just leave the beer in the primary for 4 weeks then bottle. It's a great system!

 

[FlyingHorse]

I used to use carboys, but sold them before our last move. I now use buckets for primary, then straight to corny. Will use a corny-to-corny transfer if there's anything I want to rack again (remove sediment, etc.) but mostly they go in the keg, age a bit, then on tap.

 

[mmb]

Buckets for beer and wine in primary, glass for beer and wine in secondary but I'm moving to better bottles or secondary in Corny kegs.

I love buckets. Keeps me from monkeying with the process as I can't see it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have a couple of tall 7 or 8 gallon buckets that have a gasketed "spout lid" . There is a pull up screw off cap on teh bucket lid. This is quite handy and can be drilled for an airlock, etc. You can also just remove the large cap on the bucket lid to see if fermentation is active. see link

White Round and Square Lids - US Plastic Corporation

 

[homebrewer_99]

Primary = bucket, unless it's an applewein/cider or mead...then carboy...
Secondary = carboy...

 

[Memorex88]

Another vote for the bucket. The only way I would change is with a stainless conical but that's not in my budget.

 

[Fingers]

I primary in buckets and then everything goes into a glass secondary. I don't like to leave a beer in the bucket for more than two or three weeks before it goes into glass.

 

[ChshreCat]

I primary in a bucket for 3+ weeks and do a short secondary in a better bottle. My only regret is not being able to ogle my beer, so I may get some more better bottles in the near future. But you can't beat buckets for easy cleanup and storage.

 

[jolleyphoto]

Buckets for primary and glass for secondary.

On deck IPA
Primary: APA
Secondary:
Drinking: Pale Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Orange Honey Wheat, IPA

De`ja`-Brew
We have all been beer before.

 

[Jaymo]

Buckets for primary, glass for secondary here also.

 

[Saccharomyces]

15 gallons in primary, all buckets. Irish Red from Monday is in the "chambers" and a batch of house ale is in the bucket in foreground which is about to go into its water bath.



I use 6 gallon BBs, 5 gallon glass carboys and corny kegs for secondaries. I used to use the BBs as primaries but I don't anymore if I have free bucktets because they are a pain to clean.



L-R 10 gallons of Imperial Stout, Saison, Berliner Weiss, Berliner Weiss w/ wild lacto culture.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I can't be trusted around glass.

 

[flyangler18]

I use whatever's empty - could be an ale pail, glass carboy or BB.

 

[Trubadour]

I like buckets, but use whatever is available - sometimes glass.

For those who secondary in kegs, do you keg as usual and then just let condition under pressure? Or do you let it sit with an airlock on the keg?

 

[Saccharomyces]

When I secondary in a keg (which is rare since usually I go straight from primary bucket to serving keg) I do a keg-keg transfer using a black-black QD jumper. I purge the destination keg with CO2, bleed both kegs, hook up the jumper, unscrew the pressure relief on the destination keg, hook up the gas with the regulator set at 0psi on the source keg, and turn up the regulator just until the beer begins to flow.

 

[JPicasso]

+1 Buckets only, long primary. (4 weeks, avg)

I do have a carboy, but haven't used it in years. It has dead spiders in it right now.

 

[magnj]

I have 5 HDPE containers, a 6 gallon BB and 2 Home Depot Buckets. I like the buckets the only thing is the lids are a pain in the ass and I always break them. The BB is great with the racking adapter but expensive and a pain to clean when I don't have anything to re-pitch onto the cake. The HDPE containers are the best so far but probably suck to clean and will need to be drilled for racking adapters/spigots.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I am one of those rare breeds who saw the glass carboy as a health risk from the start.

I only use buckets. But, I also use liners too.

At least until that glycol chilled conical mysteriously arrives on my doorstep.

 

[maho]

Another great thing about buckets is that you can put the hot wort in the bucket and cool the wort directly in the bucket, and thereby sanitize the equipment further.

Dump all the near boiling hot wort right out of your brewpot into the bucket put the chiller in and lid on top, leave it for 5 mins will kill any germs left after cleaning bucket, lid and chiller. Then turn on the water and the wort is cooled. Afterward it is just removing the chiller, pitch and put the lid and airlock on again.

I have used this method repeatedly and newer had an infection. Compared to a carboy of BB where it is kind of hard to get the chiller into the wort.

Hommel Homebrew

 

[Arkador]

2 buckets and 1 glass carboy. I primary ales in the buckets every time.

 

[koolmonk66]

Buckets rule for all the reasons you stated. Just use a sponge to clean (right after they are emptied) and they will last.

I only use glass for lagering.

 

[ifishsum]

Primary = bucket, unless it's an applewein/cider or mead...then carboy...
Secondary = carboy...

Same here...I've got 3 primary buckets and 2 glass carboys for secondaries. I just find the buckets easier to tote around, clean, etc. When full the carboys rarely move more than a few feet up to the bench for racking.

 

[BrewBrain]

I haven't seen my carboys in at least a year.

 

[mmb]

I am one of those rare breeds who saw the glass carboy as a health risk from the start.

I only use buckets. But, I also use liners too.

At least until that glycol chilled conical mysteriously arrives on my doorstep.

Something has to keep that BrewMagic company.

 

[BioBeing]

Primary in buckets. My kit came with a 5 gallon glass carboy, so I use that for secondary. I'm about to need a second secondary though, as I bulk age an old ale for 6 months or more, so I might pick up a better bottle at the LHBS next visit.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Something has to keep that BrewMagic company.

Mommah?.....