Wondering why if people are going plastic there not just getting a 6.5 bucket.Cheap and are a breeze to clean.And have a handle,which as silly as it sounds is hugely important for moving around and getting out of the ferm chamber.And when your ready to replace you have your old bucket for whatever.
Im actually really wondering.Is there something about these plastic fermenters that are better than buckets?
Im wondering the same thing myself, the only upside to the BMB i can see is there clear so you can see whats going on. I can buy 2 buckets for the price of 1 BMB. Not knocking them just wonder what the draw is. I will add though i cant ever see getting rid of my glass carboys for long term aging.
A LOT of people ferment in a bucket. But it's not sexy, so you don't hear too much from them.
In seriousness, though, there are trade-offs for any fermentation vessel. I use buckets mostly. BUT, they can leak more than most other solutions, and they are not clear enough to see what the yeast is doing if you are so inclined.
Technically they are easier to manage. Cleaning is pretty easy.
I also have a plastic BMB and I like it. It's the smaller size so I use it mostly for smaller batches or for a short secondary like if I'm dry-hopping outside the keg, or adding other things that I don't want in the keg (I usually dry hop in the keg the entire time it's being served...)
With a plastic BMB I can easily see what's going on without having to pop the lid. They are as easy to clean as a bucket, IMO and I think you can more easily see when it's clean than a bucket. With some minor improvements they can be sealed up airtight, unlike most of the buckets I own. This isn't a deal breaker for me, because any long term again I do in a glass carboy.
I haven't heard of any problems since they improved on the first generation of glass BMB's, but I haven't really looked too hard either. For me, the plastic version is suitable for my beermaking, unless I'm going to bulk age for months, then I'll use a glass carboy.
IMO the plastic BMBs are worth the price premium over the plastic carboys for my needs. I'm not sure I'd trust the glass version yet, but it's moot point to me since I own 2 glass carboys and they cover my needs, so I don't have any reason to buy a glass version anyway.
For most primary fermentation I'm not really that picky about the vessel. I've even used an 8 gallon SS kettle with plastic wrap on top for a couple of batches and it worked fine. I'm more picky if I plan to bulk age. In that case I will choose glass where there is less O2 permeation. Others are perfectly happy bulk aging in plastic carboys and I doubt there is really any concern (but I own glass carboys, so no need for me to worry about it either way.)
