First and secondary stage fermenters

[Colin86]

I just purchased a home brewing kit and I am ready to make my first batch!

I have a question though:

My primary fermenter (the 12 gal food grade bucket) does not have an airlock attachment to it, e.g. a place for the stopper and airlock to sit in. Will this be an issue? Should I just use the carboy for fermenting and purchase another carboy for any lagering/secondary fermentation that I want to do?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[plaidpaint]

I'm tempted to say that your 12 gal food grade bucket is actually a bottling bucket, not a primary fermenter, and the carboy would be the primary fermenter Does the bucket have a spigot attachment at the bottom?

In which case, yes, use the carboy for fermentation and purchase a second one if you want to do any secondary fermentation.

 

[Colin86]

Thanks for the reply.

The bucket does not have a spigot on it. It is just a food grade bucket with a locking lid.

 

[Mrtickel]

You could just measure the bung you have for the airlock and cut a hole in the lid to suit the bung so that the bung fits tight and no air can get in or out around it.

 

[Colin86]

That's probably what I'm going to do in the future as I really want to try secondary fermentation some time soon.

 

[JonK331]

There is absolutely no need for a secondary. Jamil Zainasheff, one of the most successful homebrewers ever (in terms of medals won, etc.) does not use a secondary. THe use of a secondary is an outdated technique, people used to believe that leaving the beer on the sediment would lead to autolysis and off flavors. This is no longer the case, through testing and many discussions we now believe that autolysis is not an issue. The transfer also increases the possibility of infection and oxydation so just skip it.

With your particular equipment, it sounds like you picked up the wrong lid for the bucket. What I would do is use the bucket as a sanitation bucket and use the glass carboy for your primary. Just leave the beer in there for three weeks or so. You can cold crash, dry hop, and add finings all to the primary. There are many threads on here on this topic if you wish to look into it more.

 

[scottieo2]

What size is the carboy? If it is only 5 gallons I would not advise using it as a primary fermenter.