Thanks this is amazing insight. Just out of interest,as I don't have glass car boys, or any other vessels, is it ok to just leave them in the fermenting buckets with the airlock to mature further for a few weeks? Or is this a risk?
It’s a risk. There is a lot of headspace in your leaky bucket. Not a problem during active fermentation, but not it’s a risk once fermentation slows. Ideally you want to have a carboy or other narrow-mouthed vessel to minimize the headspace, and fill to the narrowest part of the carboy.