Bigger Better Bottles.. or "the next step is what again?"

[Tw0fish]

Kind of a discouraging trip to the LHBS (well, one of them) today.

I've brewed in a Mister Beer, helped a buddy with a batch of partial mash and have made cider and mead in gallon batches. I think I'm ready to step it up - I wanna do bigger kits, but beer AND wine. I've accumulated most of the stuff that comes in the Brewer Brewerson's Beginner Brewer Kit, so I figured I'd just go get some better bottles or a set of buckets and let that be that. While I should have anticipated the upsell, I was basically told that I couldn't just buy a larger set of vessels to make everything, and should a) buy both or b) pick one.

Is this so, brethren of the HBT? Do I have to choose? Can't I do 5 gallons of beer primary in my 6 gallon wine secondary?

If you were in my position, how would you do it?

 

[lumpher]

i do both beer and wine in 5, 6.5, and 7.8 gallon buckets and carboys. it's better to do wine in glass, as it'll stain plastic but won't hurt anything, but it all works, my friend

 

[janivar123]

I have heard many times that you need to separate everything plastic between beer and wine

I dont know but i think it might be obsolete after starsan became common practice

 

[Airplanedoc]

I make both beer and wine with my equipment.

Red wines will stain the plastic stuff better bottles and buckets, but it is in there for a long time.

I interchange my equipment all the time.

 

[Tw0fish]

Thanks for the quick replies, gents!

I've heard plastics can take on the hops oils, and I have also heard that better bottles don't have that problem. Worst case, I'll be classy and do it all in glass

Now beer kits round hereabouts come in 5-gallon size, and wines in 6 gallon size.. so what would you recommend for primary and secondary sizes? This is where crazy homebrew store lady got me all turned over, talking about headspace and whatnot.

 

[Airplanedoc]

Headspace is not a problem with beer. Just go with the 6 gal carboys.

 

[RM-MN]

You can do a 6 gallon batch of wine in the 6+ gallon fermenter because you don't get the krausen from wine. Beer does krausen and you need somewhere for that to go so you only get to do a 5 gallon batch or it will foam all over (sometime it still will). A 5+ gallon batch of beer will also fill about 2 cases of bottles so that is a plus for it too.

 

[Tw0fish]

I don't mean to flog dead horses but- wine doesn't krausen? Or, it doesn't significantly krausen?

I see now that it's going to be a question of what's appropriate for the 6g wine kit, as the beer will go happily in whatever so long as it (better bottle/glass) isn't permeable to all the funky hop bits.

 

[wooda2008]

Wines form a cap during the primary, but you leave that behind when you rack to the secondary. Wine needs to breathe for a couple of days, and you can't get that in a carboy.

 

[ThreeBrothersBrewery]

We have both 5 and 6 gallon better bottles and brew make and make wine. We bought a 7.5 gallon bucket to do the wines but have used it for several batches of beer as well when we got more than expected with no ill effects so far.

 

[Rowdy]

The reasoning behind this is most wine kits are 6 gallons and headspace is a big nono when making wine. Can you make wine and beer in the same equipment yes. Do you want to tie up your beer fermenter for months at a time no.

 

[RM-MN]

I don't mean to flog dead horses but- wine doesn't krausen? Or, it doesn't significantly krausen?

I see now that it's going to be a question of what's appropriate for the 6g wine kit, as the beer will go happily in whatever so long as it (better bottle/glass) isn't permeable to all the funky hop bits.

Good point about the wine forming krausen. I made a batch of white just for cooking and didn't have wine yeast on hand so I thought I would just use some US-05 since I wouldn't be drinking the wine. Only a gallon of the wine but it krausened up through the airlock, down the jug, and make a mess in the plastic container I put it in. :cross:

 

[D_Nyholm]

I had a similar.problem and wasn't sure what to do. I ended up using my 6.5 gallon buckets for wine primary and my 6 gallon better bottles for wine secondary. I could use both the buckets and the better bottles for beer. Just remember that wine in the carboy will tie up that carboy for a longer time than beer would.

I would say if you already have buckets, I would buy 2 better bottles or glass carboys in 6 gallons. You will be racking your wine from one bottle to another a few times throughout the process and you will only need your bucket for a week or so of primary wine fermentation.

 

[Yooper]

I use my buckets and carboys (both plastic and glass) interchangeably- you need a 6 gallon carboy for wine kits, but you can also use those for beer. The thing is, beer sometimes forms a huge krausen, and a 6 gallon better bottle may not be large enough. I almost always use an "ale pail" for primary for wine, and almost always for beer.