Is this set of equipment going to work?

[microbrewswhoo]

Hank's Hefeweizen w/ White Labs Hefeweizen Ale 300

My friend has a 5 gallon glass carboy and a 6.5 gallon bottling bucket. He does not have a 6.5 gallon bucket dedicated to primary fermentation. He has never brewed a batch of beer using this equipment. The way I see it, we have two options:

1) Use the 5 gallon carboy with blow-off tube, no secondary
2) Use the bottling bucket for primary, rack to glass carboy for secondary

Suggestions?

 

[Shaneoco1981]

What are you going to do with a hole in the bottom of the bottling bucket?

 

[cclloyd]

No need to secondary a hefe unless you are adding fruit or something. You'll get varying views on this but for the most part secondary is not necessary unless you want to bulk age or clear or add fruit etc etc. If you are making 5 gallons (I'm assuming you are) I would use the bottling bucket for primary and then when ready to bottle rack out of it into the carboy, clean the bottling bucket and rack back into it with priming sugar to bottle. There are multiple variations on this of course - you may want to consider getting another bucket (w/o a spigot) while the hefe is fermenting so you don't run into this issue again. You could use the carboy for primary realizing that you will likely lose some to blow off and trub giving you a smaller yield in the end.

 

[thewurzel]

either option will work fine
I used bottling bucket as primary for years

 

[Shaneoco1981]

To answer your question, it kind of depends on the size of the batch. A 4 gallon batch in the 5 gallon carboy will work nicely. Ideally, you want a 6.5 gallon carboy for primary fermentation, or a designated bucket. The 5 gallon carboy is for secondary fermentation which quite a few people on HBT will say is not necessary. I would say do a little smaller batch and use the 5 gallon carboy and leave it there till you bottle it.

 

[microbrewswhoo]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

OK so I think we are going to just use his bottling bucket, and when it comes time to bottle, we will use my bottling bucket. Getting a lid/airlock on the bucket isn't going to be a big deal, but what do I do about the spout on the bottom? Should I fab up a plug of some sort, or can I use my bottling spout to get a reliable seal during fermentation?

 

[SilentAutumn]

One of my primaries has a spigot. I close the spigot and turn the valve sideways. Have never had an issue. Just make sure you clean it out really well afterward. Trub likes to hide out in there.

 

[davel57]

I had a bottling spigot on my first fermentor. Makes it very easy to rack or bottle from.

Disadvantages:
1) Some people have had leaks. A tiny bit of silicone grease on the gaskets and on the moving parts (take it apart to clean) will help.
2) Easily contaminated. If you sample out of it (and it's hard to resist), you must clean and sanitize as best you can. I fill a piece of tubing with StarSan or OneStep, attach it to the spigot, and position the valve such that the cleaner will run out the vent.

The buckets I use now don't have spigots. I use and auto-siphon to go directly into a corny keg, and even directly into bottles if I have a liter or two left after kegging.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Don't know what your friend's finances are like, but he may want to check CraigsList. I'm always seeing carboys for sale there...cheap

 

[jmendez29]

Don't know what your friend's finances are like, but he may want to check CraigsList. I'm always seeing carboys for sale there...cheap

To expand on this... I don't remember where I saw it, but someone on here (Revvy, I think) recommended going to a local bakery and seeing if they have old frosting buckets laying around. They're obviously food grade and you could probably pick them up pretty cheap - maybe a buck or two. Otherwise, and I personally wouldn't recommend it because it's not food grade, members around here have commented on picking up a new Home Depot bucket to use as primary. It will work, but there is a lot of debate over how safe non-food grade materials are. There are options available, but if you are REALLY hesitant to spend any money at all, then there's nothing wrong with primary in the bucket, transfer to the carboy to clean the bucket, then transfer back to bottle. But remember, the more you transfer from one container to another, the more you are likely to invite infection or oxidation.