Glass or plastic carboy?

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JayWV

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Hi I'm brand new to brewing and am thinking of guying a kit. Which is better a glass or a plastic carboy? Does one work better then the other or is it just personal preference? Also any other info on buying new brewing equipment would be much appreciated, Thanks
 
there are a gazillion threads on this topic and they all boil down to personal preference at the end of the day.
 
I'm a new brewer too, but I've decided I don't want to use carboys at all now. I just use fermenting buckets. I just leave my beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks and don't do a secondary. Just transfer to the bottling bucket with priming sugar straight from the primary and bottle. It's easy and works great so far. I use my carboy to make sun tea now :p
 
I use better bottles because they are easier to lift and safer. I only do ales so long term fermentation and oxygen permeability are not an issue.
 
I have a boat load of glass carboys because I got em dirt cheap. I have buckets also and use both ( mainly carboys right now) Just something sexy about a big glass jug full of beer lol!
 
It is all a matter of personal preference.

I use both in my brewing. You can scrub the glass carboys with brushes to get a lot of the crud off of them. I don't use any brushes on plastic carboys or bottling buckets since I don't want to scratch them. I have found a good soak in Oxyclean or any oxygen based cleaner works well for the plastic stuff.

Also, I always use a plastic milk crate with all of my glass carboys to make them easy to carry.
 
I have 50 55gal drums that were used to hold caustic soda. I think it's a dumb question, but can I use them as fermenter after the soda has been in there?
 
Plastic can scratch and cause infection. Glass can break and cause injury. i use glass and have for years. You just have to be careful with it but it is superior except for the safety issues. Just don't move glass carboys around when you're drinking and you'll be fine.
 
Ah the eternal debate. As said before, personal preference. I can't say one's better than the other, but I prefer Better Bottles - especially after one slipped out of my hands while washing it the other day and I chased it as it bounced across the floor. Yes, I was sober. Soapy things are slippery, especially smooth plastic and glass.

BBs easy to clean, light, and don't break. I've done almost 40 batches in mine so far. There are no leftover odors or flavors. Most of the time I don't even use soap to clean them, just hot water and a dishrag.

And unless you're scrubbing them with a stiff brush, the whole "OH NOES YOU'LL GET INFECSHUNS" argument is not one to be scared of. How many infections have we heard of being attributed to scratched Better Bottles?

I don't want to have to be mega-careful around my equipment, always fearful that I'll drop it and lose all of my hard beery work, or worse, injure myself.

/my opinion

-Joe
 
I have 50 55gal drums that were used to hold caustic soda. I think it's a dumb question, but can I use them as fermenter after the soda has been in there?

No way. NO!

Dilute sodium hydroxide (lye, caustic soda) is extremely corrosive and would love to burn your tissue. Ever had a chemical burn? It is like your skin is being evaporated into a pink swiss cheese with a nice steady stream of "smoke" pouring off of it. Water wont neutralize it . . . .

"Dilute" solutions of extremely strong acids and bases are still dangerous. In fact, the container might be controlled by RCRA (EPA nonsense), and you may be required by law to dispose of them at a RCRA landfill.
 
Plastic can scratch and cause infection. Glass can break and cause injury. i use glass and have for years. You just have to be careful with it but it is superior except for the safety issues.

Non-safety issues: Glass is heavy. Glass can break and spill beer. Glass is more slippery when wet. You can't squeeze glass to help expel foam. Glass carboys generally have narrower mouths than BBs, which is awkward for some secondary additions. Glass is more expensive than PETE. All of those count in plastic's favor to me, and I'd still use it over glass even without the risk of nerve damage.

Now, scratching issues and rigidity issues with plastic are legit, and rational people might prefer either glass or BBs. But there are real non-safety drawbacks to glass.

To me, the issues with plastic are easy to work around with almost no drawbacks (don't scrub it, use oxiclean instead, and scratching is a non-issue; pull the airlock out before moving it and the lack of rigidity doesn't matter), whereas no matter what I do glass will still be heavier and pricier and have that tiny little neck. For others, that calculus is different.
 
I always wondered the difference myself between the glass carboy or plastic bucket debate. Only reason i figured it would be any different was I've noticed if i drink beer from a glass bottle, it tastes slightly "better" or "cleaner" to me than say if it was in a can...
 
Non-safety issues: Glass is heavy. Glass can break and spill beer. Glass is more slippery when wet.

Uhhhh. Those ARE safety issues as they are all ways that could cause the glass to break.

So one time when I first started brewing my buddy and I were cleaning out a really old 13 gallon glass carboy that my dad used to use for wine making. We filled with sanitizer, let it sit, siphoned out most of it and rested it on the edge of the sink to pour out the rest. As we were both holding the carboy, the weight of the glass on the counter caused the glass to crack like lighting bolts. We both hollared and jumped back as the giant glass shattered all over the place. The thing nearly severed my right pinky finger and cut up our legs pretty bad. The whole floor was covered with blood and several gallons of iodophur. After a trip to the ER for some stitches in my finger we stopped by the brewshop and brewed anyway. So believe me, plastic does sound pretty good. However, i just can't get myself to ferment in something that's made from oil. I still use glass despite my previous disaster, I'm just SUPER careful now as everyone who uses glass should be. I also learned to NEVER rest a carboy on anything while dumping it out.:mug:
 
Uhhhh. Those ARE safety issues as they are all ways that could cause the glass to break.

They're also non-safety issues, though--e.g. even if you're not going to drop it, weighing more is a pain in the butt.

So believe me, plastic does sound pretty good. However, i just can't get myself to ferment in something that's made from oil. I still use glass despite my previous disaster, I'm just SUPER careful now as everyone who uses glass should be.

Words to live by! :mug:
 
i prefer buckets over better bottles. i prefer glass carboys over them all. but for ease of use and price, buckets simply can't be beat. I admit i love my glassware, all of it, from tulip glasses, to 6.5 gallon carboy to my starter flask to my growlers. They are all cool, and something classic about brewing in glass.
 
Only reason i figured it would be any different was I've noticed if i drink beer from a glass bottle, it tastes slightly "better" or "cleaner" to me than say if it was in a can...
That is all in your mind, modern cans don't add anything to the flavor, back in the days of tin cans there was a difference. It is the can that gets you... there is no difference when you drink it from a glass and I'll challenge anyone to do the taste test.
 
That is all in your mind, modern cans don't add anything to the flavor, back in the days of tin cans there was a difference. It is the can that gets you... there is no difference when you drink it from a glass and I'll challenge anyone to do the taste test.

There is a very definite difference, but it may not be one you can taste (although I still say I can tell the difference, but whatever). Aluminum cans are lined with bisphenol A or BPA. BPA is now being recognized for its toxicity. Chances are there isn't enough BPA in the lining to pose a significant risk, but nonetheless, it's there and I'd rather not be exposed to it.

Also, the reason you CAN'T taste a difference anymore is because of this lining.
 
That is all in your mind, modern cans don't add anything to the flavor, back in the days of tin cans there was a difference. It is the can that gets you... there is no difference when you drink it from a glass and I'll challenge anyone to do the taste test.

The proper way to do this taste is to have 3 samples: 1 of each, plus 1 more that you don't know which it is.

Taste the 1st, taste the 2nd, then taste the 3rd and see which of the other two that 3rd beer sample tastes like. If you do this to a significant number of people (30 is a good number) you will most likely approach a 50-50% distribution.

It's called a triangle test, and it's pretty hard! :)
 
I have found that using a glass carboy for my primary is better because I usually have to scrub the heck out of the carboy to remove the hops residue left on the inside of the bottle. Then I use plastic carboys for my secondary because they are lighter.
 
Some people will say the plastic for secondary isn't good because it allows a small amount of oxygen in. I guess if you are doing a short secondary it won't matter much... but plastic is more oxygen-permeable than glass is.
 
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