Glass carboy vs. plastic bucket

[CDGoin]

I got lucky and started with this

It was free.. and I wish I could find more like it.

 

[hoopdogg315]

thanks you guys!!!!

 

[gizmodog51]

guess i'm archaic. i ferment in glass and just don't like the happenstance possibility of polymer plastic or whatever unstable chemical mirgrating into my beer.

can't trust any corporate company that "claims" their product is safe. as for trusting the gubermint to announce what is safe or not is a joke...they ARE corporate!...
i know there are many folks who will debate the issue. fine debate if you will.
i know GLASS is safe. my clean up is not any worse than anyother clean up in the brewing hobby. carboy in milk crate with a hauler can't be beat.....folks complain about weight?...okay a carboy weights somewhat more than a plastic can but not enough to negate the advantages of glass. if ya can't handle the weight anymore and if so you probably are also challedged with the weight of brew in a plastic can , then use a wagon to move them around...or whatever you feel suits your need. also no need to worry about infections harboring in scratched plastic talking microscopic here......

use a spare 5lb CO2 bottle, some tubing, rack cane and a carboy cap to transfer....no air involved....or sludge transfer.

new car smell ? polymer migration into the trapped air in your car from the plastics and synthetics used for the interior.

debate on but infants have been find to have plastic collected in the bodies .....think about it,
plastic is everywhere.....glass needs to return for storage of food & drinks...the world would definitely reduce the need for oil if glass was brought back.
just my opinions....brew on in whatever you like ..........

GD

 

[radiodome21]

My kit came with a plastic bucket and a bottling bucket. No interest in a carboy. Buckets are easier to carry and clean. As long I hear activity in the airlock I know I'm good. Since I now keg my beer I'm going to use the bottling bucket as another fermenter.

 

[beerloaf]

I ferment in both glass and plastic, I have 2- 15 gal plastic fermenters, 2- 6.5 gal plastic, and 1- 5 gal glass and 1- 6 gal glass. They all work just fine. I usually lager in the glass but have used them for regular ale fermentations without issues. Whatever works for you. Most of the time I use the plastic buckets due to the handle and easy of handling around the house when filled.

beerloaf

 

[BxBrewer]

Im in the better bottle camp and use the BB dry air lock system. I do have a glass 5gal and a 8 gal bucket for the big stuff.

 

[b-boy]

Im in the better bottle camp and use the BB dry air lock system. I do have a glass 5gal and a 8 gal bucket for the big stuff.

Do you like the dry airlock? Ive been looking at those.

 

[BxBrewer]

Do you like the dry airlock? Ive been looking at those.

I cant tell you how much i like it. BB suck liquid using a reg air lock when you lift it. The dry air lock sovles this. I have about 10 batches using it and i like it alot. I do use Fermcaps and dont need a blow off tube anymore.

 

[arborman]

Ive been using buckets and glass, but I just received these twins! So, I will be going with these guys from now on

 

[MisterClean]

Ive been using buckets and glass, but I just received these twins! So, I will be going with these guys from now on

Let me know how you like the spiedels, I'm considering getting a few of them.

 

[ScottageCheese]

My kit came with a plastic bucket and a bottling bucket. No interest in a carboy. Buckets are easier to carry and clean. As long I hear activity in the airlock I know I'm good. Since I now keg my beer I'm going to use the bottling bucket as another fermenter.

This got me thinking... Scary, I know. Hahahahaha
But, could you use the spigot on the bottling bucket for transferring into a bottling bucket.... Or would that not work by sucking up trub?
Seems it would be easier than siphoning from fermenter to bottling bucket on bottle day.
Please advise. Thanks

 

[gwapogorilla]

Unless you scale your recipe up to 7-8 gallons and use two 5 gallon carboys.


hmmm . . . I always thought that stuff was yeast. Transfer to secondary a few days after fermentation ends and I've got plenty of fresh yeast for my next batch with no need for a starter.

Well, the 5 gallon carboy holds just that amount...5 gallons. Okay, okay, 5 gallons PLUS 4 cups. I know as I have checked. Now, depending on the beer ingredients and yeast the trub level will vary. I have measured .75 gallons of trub on the bottom of my fermentor in one batch...plus leaving a little beer behind gets you close to 1 gallon of volume not used for bottling.

Yes, it is yeast...and settled hops and what ever else got past your screen. A lot of folks don't rack onto a "primary yeast cake", so..it is waste. I wash my yeast to use again.

A 6.5 gallon carboy will allow enough room in it so you can get a full 5 gallons bottled. I'm pretty new at this, but I'm getting 52 bottles regularly, even with racking to a 5 gallon secondary.

 

[gwapogorilla]

This got me thinking... Scary, I know. Hahahahaha
But, could you use the spigot on the bottling bucket for transferring into a bottling bucket.... Or would that not work by sucking up trub?
Seems it would be easier than siphoning from fermenter to bottling bucket on bottle day.
Please advise. Thanks

Be careful of splashing and aerating your beer...it causes nasty flavors. Siphoning is nice and slow...easy to control the flow too.

 

[boscobeans]

Bucket for me. I do not do secondaries. I just let my beer ferment and brighten in the fermenter until it goes in the bottling bucket or if I'm lazy right into the bottles with sugar tabs.

bosco

 

[CA_Mouse]

I have 2 buckets, a 5 gallon BB and glass carboys in 5, 6 and 6.5 gallon sizes. I use both buckets and the 6.5 as primaries and always rack my beers into a secondary to clear them or to dry hop in. My 6 gallon is currently holding a Pomegranate/Cranberry Sour for next Fall, I will probably buy more buckets, because the glass carboys are difficult to move around without disturbing any trub in them.

Mouse

 

[AnOldUR]

I will probably buy more buckets, because the glass carboys are difficult to move around without disturbing any trub in them.

Milk crates . . .


Just because you can't see what's going on in a bucket doesn't mean it isn't happening. Actually the flexibility of a bucket make disrupting the trub more likely to happen.

 

[SKuyken]

Every few months I keep coming back and searching this question. I like the bucket because it is first and foremost cheap. It is also much lighter than glass. It is probably the main reason I don't at least have one glass carboy. Been working on my upper body, but I think I would probably have nightmares of broken glass and beer all over the stairs between the kitchen and the basement. Buckets have than nice built in handle and can take some dings. It's also nice that you can reach in and easily clean everything. It probably doesn't have the life span of a unshattered glass carboy, because no matter how careful you are when washing,get tiny scratches and I assume eventually enough stuff will get stuck there and cause problems. One thing I wish is that I could see the beer. That could be solved by using better bottles, but then those are more expensive than buckets. All give an take. I'll probably stick with buckets for the time being.

 

[HumanGarbage]

I'm a glass carboy man. I used to use buckets, but the occasional infection steered me toward glass. My original plastic primary is long gone, but I'm still using my original glass carboy from six years ago. Once you have had to throw out two buckets, the carboy makes better economic sense.

Transporting is easy, as the gentleman above posted milk crates work ideally. Cleaning is also easy. A quick scrub with a carboy brush and then a soak with PBW and it is sparkling clean. I like how I can verify there is no residue with glass, plastic I was never sure.

I use 6.5 gal carboys for 5 gal batches. Only had one blow off when I pitched an insane amount of yeast by accident. Never an issue otherwise.

I had to find a use for my secondaries when I stopped using them for that purpose. Glad I did... YMMV and to each their own though.

 

[XPLSV]

I use them all for various purposes. I start all of my wine in plastic buckets before moving them to glass secondaries for clarification and aging...some get to age in wooden barrels. Have tried a couple different brands of buckets and lids and have never been happy with the lid durability: they crack after X amount of uses. I never put my beer into the buckets. I used some Better Bottles in some collaboration brewing...but really don't care for them. That said...there is no question that glass is fragile and has the potential to break and slice one up! If you don't have the strength to properly manhandle a 5 or 6.5 gallon glass carboy, you may want to stick with plastic. I know a lot of people don't like the bother of a secondary...but, IMHO, this cuts corners on the quality. Depends what you want out of your final brew. A few styles may be better suited to skipping steps, others not so much.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

8 Gallon Brewcraft Fermentation Buckets > Everything

You can brew pretty much anything in them and never need a blowoff, some RIS's with certain yeast may get a bit crazy but thats rare.

I rarely use my carboys now, really only use them for long term aging for things like Ciders or other things that take 6+ months since I keg.

 

[m3n00b]

I love my 6.5 gallon glass. They're only around 50lbs full. I curl that with one arm. When they're wet they can be slick but you just gotta be careful. I like that I can see in and even judge clarity. I love that don't have to worry about scratching them.

 

[kitchenbeer]

I love my 6.5 gallon glass. They're only around 50lbs full.

I like carboys too, and a bucket is still 43-44.
People say carboys are so heavy, but they forget most of the weight is the beer, not the container.

 

[m3n00b]

I like carboys too, and a bucket is still 43-44.
People say carboys are so heavy, but they forget most of the weight is the beer, not the container.

:rockin:

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I would think it comes down to cost and space, at least for me. Right now I use my brew bucket with a spigot for fermentation, and for bottling. I didn't want to purchase a carboy for 2 major reasons. They cost more than the bucket, by a lot. And I knew I could snatch my dad's carboy since he can't really do much brewing lately (and his back is bad enough so carrying it empty can really kill him).

If my carboy is empty I'll use it to rack and clarify a little and get the trub out of the bucket so its nice and clean for bottling. Otherwise I'm going to mostly be using it for aging of barley wines, belgian styles, meads, ciders of the sort.

I think the best thing is to have both around, but the way I always looked at it is the big brew buckets with spigots are best for beginners (and, if it turns out you don't like brewing, then its not like you invested a butt load on all nice equipment).

 

[dizzyfun]

I do things a little bit backwards but with good reason. IF I'm going to be dry-hopping I will use the carboy for primary, then bucket for secondary so I don't have to deal with trying to get a bunch of hops out of a carboy. If there is no secondary, I will just use a carboy.

 

[MindenMan]

I may be over simplyfing here, but has anyone thought about putting some of their wort into a clear plastic soda bottle? I realize the rate of fermentation may be different, but it will give you an easy and
cheap fermenter. by the way, leave the soda lids slightly loose or you will find out what a plastic bottle bomb sounds like.

 

[nubnumber]

You could use either. If your planning on fermenting over a month, then I would use the carboy as the secondary

 

[avm221]

i use glass carboys, i don't like the idea of all the chemicals in plastic getting into my beer, if i will dry hop ill do primary in a 6 gal carboy and then into a bucket because its easer to get hops out of a bucket then a carboy. i think that the only thing here that does not hold bacteria is glass, stainless steel or copper, so i think the choice for me has to be glass

 

[ras07]

I'm all in with the PET Better Bottle-type plastic carboys, for both primary and the rare times that I secondary. Even being careful, I've dropped a (fortunately empty) glass carboy, and the shrapnel was scary. Nobody hurt, thankfully, but I had shards embedded 1/2" deep into the hardwood kitchen cabinet doors. I'll make a lot of sacrifices for good beer, but bleeding to death isn't one of them.

PET is light, indestructible, transparent, easy to clean, and won't transfer flavors. With just a very little bit of precaution, you'll never scratch them and they'll last forever. Best of all worlds, if you ask me.

 

[avm221]

I'm all in with the PET Better Bottle-type plastic carboys, for both primary and the rare times that I secondary. Even being careful, I've dropped a (fortunately empty) glass carboy, and the shrapnel was scary. Nobody hurt, thankfully, but I had shards embedded 1/2" deep into the hardwood kitchen cabinet doors. I'll make a lot of sacrifices for good beer, but bleeding to death isn't one of them.

PET is light, indestructible, transparent, easy to clean, and won't transfer flavors. With just a very little bit of precaution, you'll never scratch them and they'll last forever. Best of all worlds, if you ask me.

its still plastic if it scratches it can cause off flavors in your beer, i feel like the people that are choosing plastic are sacrificing making a better beer with no extra chemicals in it because you don't want to pay a little more... i just think that is sad, i don't have a lot of extra money that i can spend on brewing and i wont brew till i have the right tools to make it work