Glass or plastic? does it really matter?

[N.E.Dan]

Good afternoon all,

im new to home brewing, here in new england its cold this time of year, so ive decided to take up home brewing as an inside hobby till mother nature lets her cold death grip off the north here.

been looking at some equipment to buy slowly and ive come across my first dilemma. is there a difference in glass or plastic for a fermentor ?

my first question was how much do i want to begin brewing ive settled on small batches five gallons at most , then i chose a 5 gallon ss w/ weldless ball valve as a brewing kettle.is this the wrong decision ? will this accommodate for the boiling of the wort and the rise of wort during boiling?


thanks

 

[TwistedGray]

Glass v Plastic
The primary advantage of glass is that you can ferment anything in it without having to worry about contamination for future batches. That means you could do a sour in that glass fermenter and then do a wheat afterwards without having to worry; you could not do that in a plastic fermenter because of the bugs from the sour would contaminate any future beers. The major disadvantage of glass is the potential of it breaking, and there are a few threads showing the horror thick accidents that have happened from glass fermenters (aka carboy).

If I was to go back and do it again I would get big mouth bubblers or something that has a large opening at the top to allow addictives like fruit. While you can do that on the skinny neck standard 5-gallon carboys and makes clean up a little more difficult (smaller opening, harder to clean and remove adjuncts).

Kettle question
You cannot do a 5 gallon all grain batch in a 5-gallon kettle. The volume of loan would not fit, and you have to consider that you need more than 5 gallons of water at the starter boil to end up with 5 gallons of beer at the end of your boil. You could however split it off and do 3 gallons in your 5 gallon and two gallons in another smaller pot. You could also theoretically do 3 gallons or maybe 3 and 1/2 gallons in your 5 gallon kettle, and follow that up with the difference of volume inin wat and boil that then use that water to top off.

Happy brewing!!

 

[N.E.Dan]

alright thanks. i was considering the plastic siphonless b.m.b and again small batches to start for instance buying five gallon equipment for 2 gallon batches, until i really get a firm grasp on the process and everything.

i dont believe im going to start with the all griain brewing process yet however once i get more comfortable with brewing and find some type of system.

also the 2nd fermentation process , what is the biggest thing in having the second carboy could you or anyone elaborate ? i have understood that with it you have a more probable chance of contamination too

 

[RM-MN]

alright thanks. i was considering the plastic siphonless b.m.b and again small batches to start for instance buying five gallon equipment for 2 gallon batches, until i really get a firm grasp on the process and everything.

i dont believe im going to start with the all griain brewing process yet however once i get more comfortable with brewing and find some type of system.

also the 2nd fermentation process , what is the biggest thing in having the second carboy could you or anyone elaborate ? i have understood that with it you have a more probable chance of contamination too

The best thing to do with the second carboy is to make a batch of mead. Since it takes a long time to make a good mead, that will keep the carboy out of your hands for a year.

 

[N.E.Dan]

What do you mean, we may be on two different wavelengths here. i thought there was a need for a second carboy/ fermenting bucket before bottling

 

[Zuljin]

You want a plastic boil kettle. So much cheaper and lighter. Especially with 30+ pounds of strike water or wort in it.

Butt cerealy.

I've both glass and plastic fermenters. Glass will last forever or until you break it. Plastic will last for years so long as you don't clean it with a wire wheel on an angle grinder.

A secondary fermenter has two main uses. To clarify the wort after primary. To add adjuncts after primary. Some folks feel like secondary just makes things "better".

 

[Iseneye]

If you can afford it, stainless fermenter over glass or plastic.

 

[MGamber]

If you can afford it, stainless fermenter over glass or plastic.

This. I use corny kegs as fermenters and they're great. Relatively cheap, they have a 5 1/2 gallon capacity, I use a gas connector with a blow off tube to a jug of sanitizer, you can do a sour and then an IPA without issue, they don't scratch easily, they have handles for carrying them around, they don't break if you drop them, they don't allow air in when cold crashing, they don't allow light in and they're perfect for pressure transfers.

I've often wondered why glass and plastic carboys are clear when light is bad for beer and you're making beer in them.

 

[RM-MN]

What do you mean, we may be on two different wavelengths here. i thought there was a need for a second carboy/ fermenting bucket before bottling

That's a misconception based on what a commercial brewery does. Unless you are adding fruit for a true secondary fermentation or plan on long term aging you don't need a secondary for your beer.

I've often wondered why glass and plastic carboys are clear when light is bad for beer and you're making beer in them.

People who insist on the glass or clear plastic fermenters "need" to see the swirling mess. The rest of us just use time and our hydrometers to tell when the beer is done.

 

[Lefou]

Glass is great for the visually oriented brewer, but I'm convinced 304 stainless is better.
My glass collection is one 6gal, one 5gal, and two 3gal carboys. At some point I will trade in the larger carboys and buy a 7gal SS Brewtech Brew bucket.

 

[Calder]

Go with wide mouth plastic fermenter (BMB or Fermonster, or similar). Glass is great at times (I have some), but it is heavy, and there are a lot of stories of serious accidents with it. Wide mount fermenters are easy to use and to clean.

Boil kettle, keep simple if brewing on a stove indoors. If you are not planning on boiling a full batch (and will add additional water to the fermenter, called partial boil), go with a simple 5 gallon kettle, without any taps or connections. If you graduate to bigger boils on burners outside, you can re-purpose the 5 gallon kettle to boiling crabs legs or other large cooking purpose.

For most beers there is no need to use a secondary fermenter. I often secondary as I like to harvest yeast before I make any additions. If I didn't harvest yeast, I would secondary very few beers, maybe 10% (max).

Enjoy the adventure.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

In my mind plastic is better in almost every way including value compared to stainless steel. I do find this Brülosophy exBeeriment troubling though. http://brulosophy.com/2016/05/16/fe...stic-pet-vs-glass-carboy-exbeeriment-results/

I use glass because my carboys are 1 gallon ones and therefore in my mind are more safe than the big glass carboys, but of course my capacity is then only about 1.75 gallons per batch bottled. I could use more one gallon carboys but I think more than 2 would get cumbersome.

 

[jturman35]

I went from glass to a stainless conical. Seems like. Brulosophy also did an experiment comparing glass/plastic and over time plastic did develop a “house taste” when compared to glass.

 

[Dland]

I think a good way to start is inexpensive plastic fermentor. If you find out you are into brewing, you will probably want to expand your gear and brewing options. But it does not make sense to drop many hundreds of dollars, or in many cases thousands, unless you are sure you are going to continue brewing regularly.

The way to go in the end is all stainless, kegs, kettles, conical fermentors etc, in my opinion. There are plenty of people who make good beer with a lot less though.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

There are plenty of people who make good beer with a lot less though.

I agree with this except that in my opinion, you have to have several compounding factors in homebrew to not make GREAT beer.

 

[Lefou]

From my point of view, a minimalist approach works well, but can either be frugal or expensive. It depends on your method and the amount of money you're willing to invest to get the beer you want. I'm looking at ways to streamline my storage footprint by reducing extra brewing tools. Multiple glass carboys take up space and although steel is comparably more expensive, one 7.5gal steel fermentor saves space. I started with plastic, BTW.
Not only that, hot wort can go right into the steel where plastic or glass may fail. By using a steel Brew Bucket with a spigot, I can also eliminate the racking cane when bottling.
There are a lot of different choices and methods to getting where you need to be to get the beer you want. I was exploring homebrew back in the mid-90's but didn't have the time or space to do it. Over twenty years later there are so many good options to throw money at it can be confusing for new hobby converts.

 

[4of7]

Good afternoon all,

im new to home brewing, here in new england its cold this time of year, so ive decided to take up home brewing as an inside hobby till mother nature lets her cold death grip off the north here.

been looking at some equipment to buy slowly and ive come across my first dilemma. is there a difference in glass or plastic for a fermentor ?

my first question was how much do i want to begin brewing ive settled on small batches five gallons at most , then i chose a 5 gallon ss w/ weldless ball valve as a brewing kettle.is this the wrong decision ? will this accommodate for the boiling of the wort and the rise of wort during boiling?

I say start with glass caboy,be careful with glass ,use a little rubbber sticky mat under it,used these and still do.The keg is ss kegmenter,,just keep things simple for yourself
thanks