Bucket v.s. Carboy

[sutepan]

Dry hop in the keg!

Previously I have hung the bag inside the keg using a bit of dental floss, which doesn't seem to break the seal.

I do this when I'm not overly impressed with the final product! The dental floss is a great idea, thanks....usually I just chuck the bag in. I also only own 2 kegs and a 2 tap system, so usually I start drinking a couple days after kegging. Generally I like to dry hop 10-14 days.

 

[bd2xu]

You may be interested in this great new bucket-related invention:

Hahahahaha. Yes but opening that up would suck yeast and trub through it, not the best sample for tasting or gravity. Unless you're saying to drill and mount it higher up?

 

[shivalotus]

Cool! I've always wanted a store, even since I started making wine 25 years ago, and brewing for 12 years.

The other side of the coin (for a 6 sided coin, I guess), is this- buckets are CHEAP. So it gets scratched. Make it a bucket to hold grain, and get a new one. I have two buckets, just for grain crushing. They are buckets that have been "retired".

A carboy breaks, and you've got nothin', except a lot of glass shards.

You might get a shiny new hospital bill.

 

[bd2xu]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/glass-carboys-rock-until-you-drop-one-118540/index10.html

 

[BetterSense]

Unless you're saying to drill and mount it higher up?

A couple inches is usually enough to avoid the yeast.

 

[MileHiBrewingSupplies]

Wow guys! So much emotion surrounding fermenter materials! I think the bottom line is that both work fine for homebrewing as long as you understand their respective strengths and weaknesses. Each brewer will make his own decision about which is best for him/her...and I'll always carry both (but only USE glass).

 

[bd2xu]

I guess the ultimate is a glass lined clear bucket. Oh wait, "from the glass lined vats of Old Latrobe" ... Comes one of the ****tiest beers ever brewed... So I guess that's a bad idea.

 

[bd2xu]

A couple inches is usually enough to avoid the yeast.

I like this idea maybe ill install a spigot in a bucket and or better bottle. Downside of that is that I've read spigots are great places to cultivate infection and introduce into your beer...

 

[sutepan]

A couple inches is usually enough to avoid the yeast.

Zigacktly! My spigot is on hand-tight with rubber washers, so I take it out and sanitize it before every batch. No nasties!

 

[WesleyBrewViking]

Wow guys! So much emotion surrounding fermenter materials! I think the bottom line is that both work fine for homebrewing as long as you understand their respective strengths and weaknesses. Each brewer will make his own decision about which is best for him/her...and I'll always carry both (but only USE glass).

nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: This ^ (emphasis added)

 

[beerbeerbeer123]

Carboy's get my vote ..buckets are for paint

 

[bd2xu]

Zigacktly! My spigot is on hand-tight with rubber washers, so I take it out and sanitize it before every batch. No nasties!

Mine too on my bottling bucket but hear stories of infecting batches even so, the three piece spigots that you can take apart completely don't have that issue.

 

[hughmac]

Zigacktly! My spigot is on hand-tight with rubber washers, so I take it out and sanitize it before every batch. No nasties!

I'd love to get some of those BB spigots with the adjustable inlet height (just turn it), but they cost more then the BBs themselves. The whole airless 'system' of theirs is pretty sweet. But I'd rather brew more beer. Grain's expensive enough these days!

 

[BetterSense]

My favorite fermenter uses one of the white plastic spigots with a rubber washer. I take it loose and clean it every time. Its worth it because then i can take as many gravity samples as i want without sanitizing a wine thief, and when its time to rack i simply run the beer into the keg or bottling bucked with a hose. No siphon needed. I have it mounted high enough to avoid the yeast but i have a drilled stopper and piece of racking cane that i can use bot bottling to get the last bit of beer with no tipping.

 

[user 144271]

I want that!!! Sounds like it would have the longest list of pros. But ultimately I want to go conical stainless big enough to hold 10 gallon ferment.

me too any links to where we can get them?

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

This is one of those homebrew debates for the ages. Both are going to make good beer, and neither will make your beer better or worse if you use them right. But here's my take:

Bucket Pros:
Easier to clean
Easier to store (stackable)
Easier to carry
More protective of sunlight damage

Carboy Pros:
You get to see your beer doing it's thing (especially helpful if doing a lager for it's D-rest)
Very very hard to scratch and ruin
Looks more scientific for non-brewers to look at

Bucket Cons:
Easy to scratch and ruin
Can't see anything going on
Looks like a bucket

Carboy Cons:
A shattered carboy sucks, even more if it was full
Very heavy when full
Having multiples takes up more space than buckets
Needs to be shielded from any sunlight

 

[zeg]

I've been using Better Bottles from the get-go, and don't feel any urge to switch. Cleaning has not been a problem, the worst I've ever had to do is a PBW soak.

I have used a bucket once when my BBs were full. It was ok. I didn't find it particularly easier or harder.

For steeping fruit, I'll grant that a bucket wins, hands down. But I don't plan on doing that again. Dry hopping in my BB worked fine, though I imagine a bucket would make it easier. I don't expect to do that very often, though.

One small advantage of a carboy-shaped vessel is the reduced area of the opening. It's a small thing, but it means less cross-section for contamination, whether it be from microscopic dust or from a macroscopic object dropped by a clumsy brewer. This is helpful particularly during racking.

Overall, though, it's just preference. I also prefer the aesthetics of the BB, but I'm not outright opposed to buckets. (You'll never get me to use a glass fermentor larger than the 1-gallon cider jugs, though.)

 

[CaptnCully]

The next time that you brew.... take your bucket, clean it, rinse it, and sanitize it like you normally do. Then turn it upside down, put it over your head... take 3 DEEP breaths and tell me that it does not still SMELL like a bucket.... then maybe, just maybe i could think about switching from my carboy's. I have a big problem with plastic. I have not even enjoyed a tall glass of milk since it no longer comes in glass. Stainless steel i can deal with but plastic.. you have got to be kidding........

 

[MileHiBrewingSupplies]

Too funny!!

 

[bd2xu]

The next time that you brew.... take your bucket, clean it, rinse it, and sanitize it like you normally do. Then turn it upside down, put it over your head... take 3 DEEP breaths and tell me that it does not still SMELL like a bucket.... then maybe, just maybe i could think about switching from my carboy's. I have a big problem with plastic. I have not even enjoyed a tall glass of milk since it no longer comes in glass. Stainless steel i can deal with but plastic.. you have got to be kidding........

It smells like hops

 

[IanJ]

In regards to buckets, just picked up a new one today after losing a previous one during moving... and it was $16 with a lid.

Come on LHBS, what a rip off*... probably should have paid 27 for the BB instead. Maybe it's just a problem for me, but at that price I'd rather get something I can watch the yeast have sex in.

Edit: * Last time I bought one, it had to be around $11

 

[WesleyBrewViking]

In regards to buckets, just picked up a new one today after losing a previous one during moving... and it was $16 with a lid.

Come on LHBS, what a rip off... probably should have paid 27 for the BB instead. Maybe it's just a problem for me, but at that price I'd rather get something I can watch the yeast have sex in.

I do enjoy watching writhing blobs of yeast having their alcoholic fungus orgies. It's hypnotic.

 

[MileHiBrewingSupplies]

So...if that's the case, Captncully would argue (correctly...) that your bucket is now likely harboring bacteria, as well as odor. That odor indicates that chemical compounds have attached themselves to the plastic...and it's time for a new bucket. Or how about a carboy!?

 

[bd2xu]

So...if that's the case, Captncully would argue (correctly...) that your bucket is now likely harboring bacteria, as well as odor. That odor indicates that chemical compounds have attached themselves to the plastic...and it's time for a new bucket. Or how about a carboy!?

Yep, but I recently went better bottles, got 2 of the 6 gallon and 2 of the 5. Only complaint is harder to clean than a bucket but I think its plastic is harder and retains less.

 

[MileHiBrewingSupplies]

In regards to buckets, just picked up a new one today after losing a previous one during moving... and it was $16 with a lid.

Come on LHBS, what a rip off... probably should have paid 27 for the BB instead. Maybe it's just a problem for me, but at that price I'd rather get something I can watch the yeast have sex in.

Now that I AM one, I can assure you that the prices you pay at your LHBS are not the fault of the owner (in most cases). Wholesale prices, shipping, rent, etc...add up fast. Believe me, most of us would LOVE to lower prices, but we can't!

 

[zmad2000]

I have one 7gal bucket as my primary. 3 glass carboys as secondaries. I have a few other buckets but they are for grain and starsan.

 

[m_stodd]

I'm all bucket, and even somewhat regret getting Better Bottles when there was a 2 for 1 sale.

The common knock against a bucket is that "once it gets a scratch, it's impossible to sanitize." That's 100% wrong. In fact, you can sterilize a bucket by boiling water, and dumping it in. Every microbe in/on/touching the bucket = dead

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

The next time that you brew.... take your bucket, clean it, rinse it, and sanitize it like you normally do. Then turn it upside down, put it over your head... take 3 DEEP breaths and tell me that it does not still SMELL like a bucket.... then maybe, just maybe i could think about switching from my carboy's. I have a big problem with plastic. I have not even enjoyed a tall glass of milk since it no longer comes in glass. Stainless steel i can deal with but plastic.. you have got to be kidding........

Are you saying that you're able to fit your head inside a carboy?

 

[bdkelly]

I've got them all - SS conical, buckets, glass carboys, and PET carboys. The conical is my favorite for ease of use, cleaning, trub purging, bottling, etc.

After that, it really just depends on my mood. For a while I was all glass all the time, but now I'm seeing myself just going with buckets quite a bit. I've made good beers in all of them. What I've actually got my eye on is one of these: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/6-GALLON-VINTAGE-SHOP-CARBOY-WITH-SPIGOT-P2826.aspx For half the price of a BB with spigot, you can get one of these with smooth sides. Or $25 without the spigot. I'm all about making my life easier, and if I can eliminate having to clean and sanitize a wine thief or autosiphon, even better.

 

[pwkblue]

I recently sold my carboys. Even though I am fit, and not a small man...handling, moving, and cleaning glass carboys was awkward. As much as I brew, it seemed that an accident was just a matter of time.

I sold 3 of them for enough cash to buy: a 5 gallon better bottle, an 8 gallon bucket, and 2 new 7 gallon buckets.

I use 5 gallon food grade buckets for 2.5 to 4 gallon batches, and a 3 gallon better bottle for any of these that need secondary.

I use 7 gallon buckets for most batches, and a 5 gallon better bottle for any that need secondary

The 8 gallon bucket is awesome for 6 gallon batches, or high gravity 5 gallon batches..no need for a blowoff!

No right or wrong on this question...there are many paths to good beer!

edit: I almost forgot: Odor is not really an issue: the same cleaning method most use for carboys takes care of buckets and better bottles, the advantage is you can pre-clean easily with a soft rag or sponge: 24 hour soak in PBW or Oxyclean, hot water rinse, Starsan= clean with no odor.