Extra $45?!? How much are they charging for better bottles at your LHBS?!?
And where are you finding glass carboys for under 10 bucks?!?
Ahh ok. I was gonna say that carboys are more than better bottles at my shop.
The port isn't worth the money if you ask me. Hard to keep clean and sanitized. 5 gallon better bottles are only $25 and 6 gallon are $28 at my LHBS. Good deal compared to new carboy prices. Then an autosiphon to transfer makes it easy.
I'd say.... get both! You're just gonna want more fermenters once you start anyway. Pick up the carboys from your buddy and then expand with better bottles. Just make sure the carboys are in good shape and be careful with them. They have a tendency to kersplode when dropped and throw shrapnel.
btw... if those are 5 gallon carboys, you're going to need a larger fermenter anyway. If that's the case, get the carboys for secondaries and pick up a 6 gallon Better Bottle for your primary.
Sometimes I don't pay attention to what I'm typing. I was thinking in terms of batches. The carboys are 6 gal. And he's including the autosiphon. He's never used his equipment. I see your point about the valve being 1 more thing to keep clean. As far as expanding, if I like the brewing hobbie, the plan is to move to a conical fermenter.
I don't think I need anything for secondary if I'm kegging, right. When it's done fermenting put it in a sanitized keg and force carbonate? Just thinking this thru off the top of my head.
Conicals are good, but they only hold one batch. If you get one, you're still going to want to do some brews alongside it. Especially if you do some big beers that need a long primary. You might want to do something else while that barley wine is spending a few months in a fermenter. No worries... if the brewing bug bites you like it's bitten most of us, you'll see in time. Most of us said "Oh, I'll only need one ____." at least once and then laughed at ourselves later.
You can use a secondary, or not, depending on your own tastes. Many of us don't use them most of the time, but they still come in handy if you're doing a fruit beer or you're dry hopping. I like to secondary most of my beers for a week or so just to make sure they're clear.
Anyway, sounds like a good deal on the carboys. Go for it and expand later if you want.
Hadn't thought about 2 brews at the same time.
Yeah, neither had I, but I realized after the second batch that one at a time wasn't going to cut it.
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