Bucket vs carboy.

[alaktheman]

So as the title says bucket vs carboy. Does using a plastic bucket produce off flavors?

 

[CUrchin]

No. Buckets are fine with the exception of long term aging.

 

[Clarke]

I use nothing but buckets and even with long term aging I don't see an issue, the Co2 is heavier than oxygen so there will always be a layer of gas protecting the beer, I have gone 2 months no problem. but that is long term for me.

 

[alaktheman]

No. Buckets are fine with the exception of long term aging.

What is long term for you? Also tonight I tried two meads I was making and one was amazing (in a glass carboy) while the other was ehhh (in a plastic bucket). This got me wondering if carboys were better than buckets.

 

[alaktheman]

CUrchin what is long term for you?

Also tonight I tried two meads I was making and one was amazing (in a glass carboy) while the other was ehhh (in a plastic bucket). This got me wondering if carboys were better than buckets.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I like to primary in a plastic bucket & secondary in a glass carbouy, though I'm slowly purchasing more plastic carbouys. I like the bucket for primary cuz it's easy to deal with fruit and/or krausen.
Regards, GF.

 

[Clarke]

I like to primary in a plastic bucket & secondary in a glass carbouy, though I'm slowly purchasing more plastic carbouys. I like the bucket for primary cuz it's easy to deal with fruit and/or krausen.
Regards, GF.

So you add your fruit to the primary?, I have just started to read about this in the last couple of days, mainly in the mead section. I have always added fruit to the secondary. I turn my fruit into a syrup and it usually sinks so I would think it would get lost in the yeast cake if I used syrup in a primary, but from pictures I see the actual fruit floats. I am curious to try a primary fruit addition, I have 5lbs or so of strawberries in the freezer waiting to become beer, I am thinking of doing a nice strawberry IPA, just to be different.

 

[GHBWNY]

I like to primary in a plastic bucket & secondary in a glass carbouy, though I'm slowly purchasing more plastic carbouys. I like the bucket for primary cuz it's easy to deal with fruit and/or krausen.
Regards, GF.

Same. I find a bucket much easier to work with from start to finish. To me a "secondary" is technically a second fermentation vessel, including, but not limited to addition of adjuncts, dry-hopping, spicing, long-term storage, etc. That said, my use of a second vessel --- not a "secondary" (fermenter) --- is primarily for clearing, and for that I use a glass carboy. While that's only so I can see what's happening, in principle, a bucket would still work just as well.

 

[OleBrewing]

I like buckets for ease of cleaning, but I don't trust them for long term use and the permeability. I have numerous glass carboys including demijons. Glass will essentially last forever.

If I really had it my way it would be ss conicals but who doesn't.

 

[Yooper]

Same. I find a bucket much easier to work with from start to finish. To me a "secondary" is technically a second fermentation vessel, including, but not limited to addition of adjuncts, dry-hopping, spicing, long-term storage, etc. That said, my use of a second vessel --- not a "secondary" (fermenter) --- is primarily for clearing, and for that I use a glass carboy. While that's only so I can see what's happening, in principle, a bucket would still work just as well.

A bucket is definitely easier to work with, but once fermentation slows down, the mead really should go into a carboy to prevent it from oxidation. While mead is a bit less susceptible to oxidation than traditional wines, it's not immune to it. The wide headspace of a bucket is a problem once fermentation stops, and the mead really needs to be moved via siphon to a carboy or demijohn with very limited headspace for clearing. It should be racked whenever there are less 1/4" thick or in about 60 days if there are new lees forming. Some meads will drop a ton of lees, while others won't, but it's good practice to rack when needed.

 

[Clarke]

OOPs, I am in the mead forum... Sorry... I got lost.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

So you add your fruit to the primary?, I have just started to read about this in the last couple of days, mainly in the mead section. I have always added fruit to the secondary. I turn my fruit into a syrup and it usually sinks so I would think it would get lost in the yeast cake if I used syrup in a primary, but from pictures I see the actual fruit floats. I am curious to try a primary fruit addition, I have 5lbs or so of strawberries in the freezer waiting to become beer, I am thinking of doing a nice strawberry IPA, just to be different.

When making melomels, I usually add fruit to BOTH primary & secondary. Adding fruit to primary will give you a more "wine-like" flavor, while adding to secondary will give you more of a true fruit flavor. I add to both to get a depth of flavor you can't get with just one or the other. Of course it all depends on what you want for your end product. Sometimes I'll only put 1/4 of the total fruit in primary & save the rest for secondary, other times I'll split it 50/50.
Regards, GF.