Ferment in bucket or carboy?

[brottman]

Sorry for such a beginner beer question, but I need to know!

Those of you who ferment for 3 weeks in primary - are you doing that in a plastic bucket or in a glass carboy? Does it matter?

 

[xandersaml]

Either. I have more buckets than carboys. I prefer carboys. They all work.

 

[MaxStout]

This is like "Mac vs. PC."

There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and there plenty of people who prefer one over the other. But either buckets or carboys will work fine for homebrewing. Use whichever works best for you.

 

[Sailingeric]

Bucket, they are cheap and easy way to clean

 

[Cider123]

Here's one disadvantage on a carboy. You would have a very difficult time slicing your arm off with a plastic bucket.

 

[CJ-3]

I use a bucket because it was less expensive than a carboy. Left me more money for supplies to brew with.

 

[jtratcliff]

Those of you who ferment for 3 weeks in primary - are you doing that in a plastic bucket or in a glass carboy?

yes...

I primary for 3 weeks in either a plastic bucket (I have several), a plastic carboy ( I have 2 better bottles), or a glass carboy (I have 1).

It only matters if it matters...

 

[AnOldUR]

Those of you who ferment for 3 weeks in primary - are you doing that in a plastic bucket or in a glass carboy?

A rhetorical question. Those who leave all their beers in their primary for 3 or more weeks have already drank the Kool-Aid.

 

[shortyz]

carboys are a ***** to clean, end of story. bucket all the way.

 

[AkTom]

carboys aren't that difficult to clean. Either work. Hey, they both work well. No, I'm not a politician. I primarily (see what I did there) use carboy. I have no problem with bucket. I usually use that for secondary as I have 6 different carboys.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I like carboys to see what's going on with the fermentation but I use buckets if I'm going to dry hop 'cause it's easier. I also use a carboy for lagering or long fermentations to reduce head space.

 

[Firewalker11]

Option #3:

Cornelius Keg

 

[shortyz]

option 4:

bathtub, open window using wild yeast.

 

[slym2none]

A rhetorical question. Those who leave all their beers in their primary for 3 or more weeks have already drank the Kool-Aid.

:beard:

 

[OkanaganMike]

Here's one disadvantage on a carboy. You would have a very difficult time slicing your arm off with a plastic bucket.

Amen on that brother. I was cleaning one of my 23 ltr glass carboys and went to tip it to drain it and sure as **** it slipped being wet and all, I juggled and fumbled it a bit and after the explosion of glass, I found there was a lot of red juice on the concrete from 4 cuts to my right hand. Nasty but now I clean on the lawn and am a bit more careful.

I use glass (check classifieds, there is always lots of ex-wine makers ditching equipment) as it is not hard to clean and offer a more sanitary surface than buckets as they will scratch and could be a problem for sanitizing them.

 

[user 141939]

I like buckets because I can use a small sanitized jar to get a sample (don't need to use a thief) and they are easier to clean. I like carboys (plastic) because I can see whats going on inside and I get a tighter seal with a cork than with a giant lid.

Also with carboys I can rack by pushing with CO2 but that's not really beginner I guess.

So I prefer plastic carboys. I just wished they made 7 or 8 gallon ones. 6 is too small.

 

[unionrdr]

I have a Midwest shorty 7.9G bucket, my Cooper's Micro Brew FV, & a 6G better bottle. I usually use the BB for secondary. Like oaking my dry stout soon. The plastic FV's I'm using have a large opening for adding things & cleaning. They also don't shatter.

 

[jwalker1140]

6.5 gal plastic Big Mouth Bubbler offers the best of both for me. Easy to clean, safe, light weight and see through.

I reuse yeast and being able to see fermentation activity clearly made it easy for me to spot problem ferments, troubleshoot, and ultimately make better beer.

 

[z-bob]

I like glass, but I'm slowly switching over to disposable plastic carboys (Menard's sells bottled water in them, cheap)

I've used a bucket for making wine and it worked just fine. I haven't tried one with beer yet (I'm chicken) but might with my next batch.

 

[fuelish]

I use carboys typically for beer, use buckets for primary ferment of meads/carboys for secondary of meads - I use the buckets for mead beings as I muck around more with meads than I do with beers, doing staggered nutrient additions, adding fruits/spices/vegetables/whatever.....beers I pretty much set and forget, other than maybe adding oak....and I don't brew much beer anymore anyway, beings as my small city now has a microbrewery/taproom, a taproom/restaurant with over 40 taps, 90+% of it good craft beer (hate that term), and a bottle store/taproom that has 22 taps, all of it good (well, at least all of it not BMC swill...sampled a vanilla cream ale that tasted like shat...in my world, vanilla goes into baked good/desserts/ice cream, and not in beer...it was wretched

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

I use my glass carboy with a blow off hose going to a small bucket of sanitizing solution for my primary fermentations. :rockin:

 

[brew_darrymore]

I use glass carboys:

- they don't scratch like plastic;

- clear walls to observe fermentation (pretty cool);

- super easy to clean - an overnight soak with oxiclean and NO scrubbing necessary.