Pails -vs- Carboys

[Cpt_Kirks]

Years ago when I brewed, I used a glass carboy. I added wort that was too hot once, and the entire bottom of the carboy came off in one piece. Nice.

No, I am thinking of trying an Ale Pail or two.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of buckets and carboys?

 

[EdWort]

I ferment beer in Ale Pales with spigots and Apfelwein in Better Bottles.

I use buckets for beer at the moment because they are cheap, easy to clean and have enough head room that a blow off tube is not needed. Buy the 7.9 gallon ones and you can even do a Hefeweizen in it with ease. Spray the spigot with starsan at racking and you don't even need to siphon.

 

[Chriso]

I won't try to preach too much. I will say that I use Ale Pails (I have 5 or 6 of them) with spigots on all of them, and they work pretty well for my needs. They're difficult to break, they're pretty resilient... That said, I am pretty careful not to scratch them. I wash them with a soft sponge, and I try to store them upside down whenever possible, and don't use them to carry anything except water, StarSan, or beer.

Many people like glass carboys, and that's fine for them. I have a severe phobia of breaking glass (Car doors, house windows, drinking glasses, you name it. Glass freaks me out.) so a glass carboy would never work for me.

Glass Carboys are getting expensive due to one producer shutting down, so you may want to investigate Better Bottles. They're now pretty much cheaper than glass, they're pretty much unbreakable (but don't put hot wort in them! They will disfigure if you don't chill the wort first!) and they're high-quality plastic. MANY brewers love their BB's, and find great success with them.

Here are some links to help.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/plastic-bucket-vs-glass-carboy-12834/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/better-bottles-vs-glass-carboys-50040/
Glass Carboy vs Better Bottle - Home Brewing Wiki
Broken Carboys - Lustreking Brewing
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ale-pail-sux-half-buzzed-rant-inside-43669/

Edit: @EdWort, nice to know that Me and BobNQ3X aren't the only two using the spigot full-time for racking! You should HEAR the gasps of horror when I tell the local guys I do that.

 

[peterfuse]

plenty of headspace for fermentation in a bucket.
in a carboy you can watch the fermentation which is cool. also the glass is totally impermeable to oxygen so if you plan to age or lager for a long time there is no risk of oxidising your beer

why not try a better bottle? its like a plastic carboy, they are very strong so no need to worry about breaking them and it has all the advantages of a glass carboy. some people will disagree with this.

 

[Durangstang]

Preferences vary but see if you can find your answer here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/plastic-bucket-glass-carboy-30271/

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I am looking at the Better Bottles, and will probably try one later.

Problem is, when you add in all the BB goodies (faucet, special stopper, special CO2 lock), you wind up with a princely sum. Now, I know you don't HAVE to have all the goodies, but they do look neat.

As I said, I will probably wind up with one to use as a secondary, later.

PET plastic has been getting a lot of bad press lately, but the science behind the hand-waving looks pretty soft to me.

 

[quickerNu]

I love my buckets. However, If I secondary for any lenght of time, I do rack over to glass carboys.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Problem is, when you add in all the BB goodies (faucet, special stopper, special CO2 lock), you wind up with a princely sum. Now, I know you don't HAVE to have all the goodies, but they do look neat.

I have three better bottles and don't own ANY of those accessories, and I don't miss them one bit - and I'm sure I'm not alone. I use carboy caps or rubber stoppers, and rack with an autosiphon. Admittedly, the fancy racking valves for them are certainly cool, but just like even fancier options like conical fermenters, I don't feel the need to spend that much money on them since I can do just fine without.

Better bottles are one of my favorite additions to my brewing gear. I never had any interest in glass carboys, so better bottles finally let me see the fermentation process which is really cool. They're extremely light and really easy to clean with just an oxiclean soak and rinse. They're just great in general!

 

[beerthirty]

I have more carboys than I do buckets, but prefer the buckets. They are more forgiving across the spectrum. From being set down to hard, the neck breaking off, etc. buckets are easier to clean and are stackable in my fermentation freezer. that being said wanna buys some carboys?

 

[FireBrewer]

This is a dead horse that comes down to personal preference.

The whole oxygen permeability scare is a vestige of homebrewing days long ago. Newer food-grade plastic fermenters are MUCH less oxygen-permeable. Why would Better Bottle and Minibrew manufacture things that are meant to hold beer for long periods if oxygen permeability was that much of an issue? It's like the Boogeyman and Sasquatch.

I use plastic fermenters because that's what I've been using for the past 5-1/2 years and 73 batches. Easy to clean, easy to rack out of. They're just easy.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I've got 3 glass carboys, and no complaints yet...but this talk of using the spigot instead of siphoning has piqued my interest. However, do you ever have problems with yeast getting into the keg/secondary since the spigot is on the bottom of the pail? Or, is it far enough off the bottom that you don't have to worry about it?

 

[EdWort]

I've got 3 glass carboys, and no complaints yet...but this talk of using the spigot instead of siphoning has piqued my interest. However, do you ever have problems with yeast getting into the keg/secondary since the spigot is on the bottom of the pail? Or, is it far enough off the bottom that you don't have to worry about it?

Make sure it it off the bottom enough when you drill the hole and you are fine. When it comes time to rack, pull off a couple ounces and that will take care of any yeast in the valve.

 

[tdavisii]

i vote for glass carboys. I have four of them and wish i had ten. No oxygen, they last forever (unless broken), and are easy to clean. just my two cents.

 

[Ecnerwal]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of buckets and carboys?

Well, for you, the fact that ale pails take abuse like hot wort better than glass or better bottles is a distinct advantage. Done, use one, they are also cheap.

Avoid scratching them, as scratches can harbor infections.

 

[eddie]

The valve is going to be about 3/4 of an inch above the bottom of the pail so if you're using it as a secondary, the yeast will settle below the valve anyway. If you're going to dry hop though, I wouldn't use a pail with a spigot because the hops can clog the valve.

 

[Ecnerwal]

Dry hop with spigot sounds like sanitized hop bag time. Should work.

 

[citizenlee]

i've not seen people need blowoffs for ale pales which is a plus. the big negative for me is that you can't see/tell what is going on (in my latest case, no airlock activity) and i'm just going to have to open it up to see if its finished.

 

[blk94f150]

Is there much diameter difference between the bigger 7.9 gallon ale pales and a common 6.5 gallon carboy? In my freezer, I have plenty of height, but square footage is at a premium.

Mike

 

[BeerPressure]

love the bucket. gonna get another soon

 

[Fingers]

I love my buckets. However, If I secondary for any lenght of time, I do rack over to glass carboys.

+1. My length of time is normally two weeks so I have to secondary everything into glass carboys. I got the carboys from various sources for next to nothing so I won't be replacing them with plastic, but if I were to buy new I'd buy a Better Bottle. More for the safety factor than anything else.

 

[jcdillin]

I love my glass carboy, i'm trying to get my hands on a few more. Only plastic I use is for bottling.

 

[tedski]

Do Ale Pail lids seal all that well? For use as a primary, I imagine the amount of CO2 being produced is plenty enough to not let anything in. But, for long fermentations, do they seal well enough?

 

[Chriso]

Do Ale Pail lids seal all that well? For use as a primary, I imagine the amount of CO2 being produced is plenty enough to not let anything in. But, for long fermentations, do they seal well enough?

If you get the "matched" lid that is supposed to go with it, it is very hard to pry off. I bought a handful of extra lids at a hardware store that don't seal at all, but still work great for primary fermentation. As for extended aging (in an Ale Pail)... the consensus is "just don't do it", but that's hardly any fun! I'll post back when I finally get around to racking my Raspberry Brett RIS. I brewed it 12/27, racked it 1/16, added raspberry around 2/1, and have had it aging in an Ale Pail since then. The mice tried to eat my spigot, they found some little bits of beer still on the plastic. So I need to figure out how I'm going to rack it to something else. Especially since it's Brett-infected, and the pellicle won't fall, even after adding some Campden back in May or June.

Is there much diameter difference between the bigger 7.9 gallon ale pales and a common 6.5 gallon carboy? In my freezer, I have plenty of height, but square footage is at a premium.

I hear ya on the square footage, but they are indeed shorter and fatter than a 6.5gal. Here's what Northern Brewer's site has to say:

6.5 Gallon Fermenters. These buckets have a 6.5 gallon capacity, and are printed with markings that indicate volume. Drilled buckets contain a one-inch diameter hole that accept bottling spigots or drum taps. Lids sold separately. The drilled lid is grommeted and accepts a fermentation lock. 12" Diameter, 17.5" Height

7.9 Gallon Fermenters. Large 7.9 gallon food grade buckets are printed with an attractive design, including volume graduations. The lid contains a grommet, to accept a fermentation lock. It also has a rubber o-ring for better sealing, and it is soft, pliable, and easy-to-remove. 13.5" Diameter, 15" Height

 

[FireBrewer]

Do Ale Pail lids seal all that well? For use as a primary, I imagine the amount of CO2 being produced is plenty enough to not let anything in. But, for long fermentations, do they seal well enough?

The blue lids can be a b---- to get off, so yeah, they seal well. In terms of infection, your concern is suck-back (fluid in the airlock being drawn back in due to volume changes during cooling) and making sure the whole inside of the fermenter is as sanitary as possible. No worries otherwise.

 

[tedski]

If you get the "matched" lid that is supposed to go with it, it is very hard to pry off. I bought a handful of extra lids at a hardware store that don't seal at all, but still work great for primary fermentation.

The blue lids can be a b---- to get off, so yeah, they seal well.

I hear ya on the major PITA to pry off. But when the cover is on mine, it feels like there's maybe 3-5 mm of freeplay there. I figured that was enough space for air to circulate through.

 

[Chriso]

Hm. I don't get that on my "matched" lids. Once they're on, they grip like a mofo. The hardware store ones I mentioned DO do that, where once they're on, you can spin 'em, bounce 'em up and down, etc.

 

[Homercidal]

I use Ale Pails nearly all of the time. Sometimes I move to secondary (glass carboy, or Better Bottle), but unless it's a big beer, I just transfer to bottling bucket with my sugar water for priming. I save the glass carboy for apfelwein, mead, etc.

My last batch was done in a carboy, just so I could watch it work, and unfortunately that batch was bad, so I'm back to buckets (although the reason the batch was bad is probably not due to the carboy, but the bucket is just easier, IMO because it has a spigot, and I don't have to be as careful about breaking it and cutting my fingers off or bleeding to death...)

 

[thataintchicken]

I use plastic pails for most everything in the brewery. They store well between brew days and with proper care, will last years. Depending on the brew, I will choose between a spigot pail or non drilled.
Carboys and BetterBottles are used for secondaries and long term projects.

You really can't go wrong with any of the tools available.
Maintain sanitation and have fun - and your brew will come out fine.

 

[mmb]

I have, use and like both pails and carboys. Pails for most beers and carboys for BIG beers and wine/ciders.

Although, it is fun to watch the yeast do their thing from time to time.