• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

How many fermentors

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Fermenters should be added to the song called " too much fun" ....lol.


I have 5 or 6 so no , thats not too much yet .
 
Ok i feel a bit better now lol. I have 2 carboys, a bucket, and fast fermentor. But came across a killer deal with 3 more glass carboys and I wanted to make sure i wasnt crazy. That being said i do have plans to sell/give away the fast fermentor and the plastic carboy i own giving me 5 total.

Just wanted some reassurance i wasnt crazy 😅🤣
 
That sounds crazy to me. Why give away the best and keep the rest?
Well the plastic carboy has seen better days and the fast ferment im on the fence. Its kinda odd shaped and doesn't fit well in my space but its a cool concept I guess lol. I like the durability of the glass carboys atm.
 
I have two 6 gallon buckets and two old 2.5 gallon Nalgene wide mouth carboys for smaller batches. I used to have four 5 gallon and four 2.5 gallon Nalgene carboys but over the years some got nasty and some I accidently left in a house I used to own. I think as long as you're using them you don't have too many.
I just got into lagers so I'm going to buy another fermenter here soon since it ties one up for so long.
 
I used to have 5+ buckets, a few carboys, and fermented in 7.5&15 gallon sanke keg too for a few brews. I also had 8 used ball lock cornies.
Got rid of ALL of that and I use 4 new cornies and ferment in one spike flex+ in its own stand-up freezer. I enjoy the simplicity and look of the equipment I'm using now.
Sometimes I wish I had another fermenter just because of the itch to brew again. This problem sorta solves itself as I just get super indecisive about what to brew next and can easily spend a week or two changing my mind or redesigning recipes.
I think this answer will vary by the brewer. My wife and I are the only ones drinking the beer (usually. We do love to share tho)
 
Glass:
14 Glass carboys, 6.5, 6, 5, and 3 gallons
3 Pyrex wide mouth glass carboys, 2.5 gallons
1 Pyrex wide mouth glass carboy, 3.5 gallons

PET:
4 PET carboys, 6 gallons

Plastic:
8 Plastic standard brew buckets, 6.5 gallons
12 Plastic buckets with (sealing) screw-on lids, 3.5 gallons
3 Plastic buckets with (sealing) screw-on lids, 7 gallons

Stainless:
1 Stainless conical (Blichmann), 7 gallons

Not counting dozens of smaller vessels for test batches, side fermentations, etc.
 
Three five liter glass carboys, two 2 liter glass jugs. Also two 8 liter big mouth bubblers that I don't use too much these days as the lid is somewhat difficult to a) seal and b) open when it gets stuck..
 

You know, that's a great idea and I flirt with the notion from time to time. Honestly, as much as I enjoy a nice Brown or Flanders Red, either will just tie up a valuable keg slot. Having bottled for a good long while prior to building my keg system, I will die contentedly if I never bottle another damned beer ever again.

Before the world went to hell this year, I was planning to build a four-slot kegerator specifically for low-velocity, big beers. As much as I enjoy Burton and Old Ales, I can't justify having them tie up a keg slot, but a dedicated four-holer with Burton Ale, an Old Ale, an Imperial Stout, and a Oud Bruin...hmmm that would be nice.
 
Let's see... two 7.5 gal brew buckets, one 6 gal glass carboy, a 4 gal brew bucket, a 3 gal FastFerment, a Speidel 30L, and one I made from a plastic Greek olives container a chef gave me - maybe 4.5 gal. Think I'm about to pick up an Anvil 7.5 too.
 
Last edited:
Anything is a fermentor if you are brave enough :)

I think I'm at a 15 gal spike conical, 2 1/2 barrel keg fermentors, 3 buckets, 3 glass carboys, and a large collection of 1 Gal glass bottles.

I still get funny looks every time I keep another 1 Gal bottle out of the recycling "just in case.."
 
Aw man for some reason i didnt realize that the carboys i picked up today weren't 6.5 gallon, even though they said they were. They were 5 gallon... i don't see the point in secondaries so I guess they wont get used much unless i split my batches up some... rookie mistake by me not noticing the size of em being smaller than my 6.5.

Only saving grace was i picked up 3 glass 5gallon carboys, 2 plastic buckets, 2 coolers( 1 with valve and braided hose setup, 3 cases of bottles, and a bunch of random equipment for 200 bucks. I just really wish they were 6.5 carboys as im doing 5 gallon batches atm. 😶
 
I have six 6.5 gallon smooth-side Italian carboys that I've owned since new.

Back (2006?) when I bought the 5th and 6th I was doing a lot of English, Trappist and the occasional big Belgian styles that benefited from more time in the glass. But last few years most of my brews are fairly short turn-around (eg: kettle to keg in ~12-14 days).

So it's rare to have all six fermenters busy. I guess that means I have too many :)

Cheers!
 
I have a bunch of buckets - a couple of which I've basically retired from active service, now just storage. Plus 2 PET carboys, 2 6-gallon and 2 5 gallon glass ones.
I usually just have one brew at a time going on, or if I do a long-term aging I use one of the glass ones, that's all I use them for. (they live in milk crates, strapped in all the time, except when cleaning after use - when I use leather gloves handling them for safety.)
 
1 7-gallon SS Brewtech Brew Bucket
1 Speidel 30L
1 Speidel 20L
1 5-gallon glass carboy (included in original Craigslist buy of my first set of brewing equipment; rarely used anymore)

I'm considering getting a 4-gallon Anvil stainless bucket fermenter for small batches.
 
So what are 5 gallon carboys generally used for? I would think they are to small for primary and i dont plan on doing much secondary transfers.
 
I use my 20L (~5 gallons) Speidel for beers I want to age a few weeks or add fruit to. A 5-gallon glass carboy would be better for long term aging as it's more oxygen tight than plastic. Glass is also better for fermenting/aging sours or cider, as it can be sanitized more easily than plastic.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top