My setup and questions for fermentation!

[Ludesbrews]

Hi guys,

I’m a about a week into the first fermentation of my cider, and I am looking forward to my fiery brew, which should take place this weekend. If you have a second, let me explain what kind of equipment I have, as I have a few questions as to what setup I should use.

My wife got me two kits for my birthday, both from Northern Brewer. She got me the “brew, share, enjoy” kit, as well as the deluxe kit. A list of my equipment is below:

-(2) 6.5 gallon fermenting buckets with lid and bubble air lock
-(2) bottling buckets with spigot
-(1) 6 gallon glass carboy with bung and airlock
-(1) 5 gallon glass carboy with bung and airlock

Both kits came with beer extract kits that I am very excited to try. I guess my questions are these:

1) The kit from brew share enjoy only calls for a single fermentation. Should I do a second as well? Is it OK to do a second in a 6.5 gallon carboy?

2) What is better for primary fermentation, a glass carboy or a plastic fermenting bucket?

I would love to boil both and have them fermenting at the same time if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Ludesbrews

 

[AkTom]

Typically..., you don't need to do a secondary. If you are adding fruit or lots of hops then a bucket (or big mouth) is good.
Your choice for fermentation. I like glass , so I can watch. Again, typically 2 weeks in primary then bottle.
Do you have a hydrometer? If not get 2. 1 for a spare.
Cheers

 

[GrimBrewer]

Yea, backup hydrometer is not a bad idea. Same goes for thermometer, if its glass get a backup.

Dont bother with secondry unless you using fruit or making high gravity beer.

It takes longer than you think ,when you brew for the first time. You could plan to make both but just double check when first is done to see how long it took you and how much time is left in the day.

From a learning and beer quality its probably better to brew them a few days appart. So you have time to take 1st at least through start of fermenting. This gives you time to review what you did and how to improve or adjust your process.

Dont forget that you also need to bottle, so you need to consider what time you have available 2 or 3 week later. I would rather bottle 5 gallons on different days than 10 gallons on same day!

 

[RM-MN]

My inclination would be to use the buckets to ferment beer, the 6 gallon carboys to make wine, and the 5 gallon carboy to make mead. The mead will tie up the 5 gallon carboy for a long time so you won't be tempted to use it for secondary which is very rarely necessary and its use nearly always the cause of infected batches of beer. If you do decide that you need to secondary beer, it goes into the 5 gallon carboy so the beer comes clear up to the neck which then excludes most of the air and allows the outgassing CO2 to completely fill that small portion of the neck. Since most organisms that can infect beer require oxygen, this will keep them at bay.

By asking which is better for the fermentation, bucket or carboy, you opened a can of worms. My 2 cents worth is that the bucket makes the most sense. It has a wide opening so getting the wort in it is a simple pouring. When the beer is done the cleanup is also easy since you can use a soft sponge to wipe away any residue. The bucket comes with a handle for ease of moving it and if dropped it won't shatter and send you to the hospital. Many bucket lids leak a little so you may not see bubbles in the airlock but bubbles aren't the only evidence of fermentation and can be a false indicator too. If you really want to see what a fermentation looks like, put a little bit of wort in a glass jar and add a little yeast. That little jar isn't nearly as heavy as a carboy full of beer so you aren't likely to drop it. When the fermentation is done you can just discard it.

 

[Mothman]

I agree with using the bucket(s) for fermenting.

When I started I already had a 6 gallon glass carboy, but after reading about potential hazards of using glass, chose to get a bucket and give it a try. My glass carboy is still packed up in storage and I've never felt like I needed it.

I do sometimes wish I could more easily see what was happening inside the bucket while it's fermenting, but ultimately, that really doesn't matter.

 

[GrimBrewer]

Its fun to see beer fermenting. But big glass carboys are expensive and harder to use. I get my viewing fix from making small experimental brews in glass jugs.

 

[tofuguy]

I would use a bucket first just because of the ease of use. You can easily dump the wort into the bucket after the Brew.

The only downside to the bucket is longevity, they tend to last a year or so. I would not use of scratched on the inside since it could harbor bacteria. At that point I only use that bucket to hold sanitizer for the brew day.

If you go with the 6 gallon, put a blow off tube in for the first week. Research a blow off tube it if you need to 😀 what I use personally is an airlock with a hose attached to it. You do not need a 1-1/4 inch tube.

 

[mxstar21]

You received an awesome wife!!!! No input other than what has already been said.

 

[RM-MN]

I would use a bucket first just because of the ease of use. You can easily dump the wort into the bucket after the Brew.

The only downside to the bucket is longevity, they tend to last a year or so. I would not use of scratched on the inside since it could harbor bacteria. At that point I only use that bucket to hold sanitizer for the brew day.

If you go with the 6 gallon, put a blow off tube in for the first week. Research a blow off tube it if you need to 😀 what I use personally is an airlock with a hose attached to it. You do not need a 1-1/4 inch tube.

I have a bucket that is 10 year old that still gets regular use. They don't get scratches on their own, you have to scratch them. I use a soft sponge and Oxiclean to wash mine.

 

[tofuguy]

I have a bucket that is 10 year old that still gets regular use. They don't get scratches on their own, you have to scratch them. I use a soft sponge and Oxiclean to wash mine.

I agree it's the Brewer's doing on the scratching part. Either way, I am recommending one keeps an eye out for scratches.

 

[NeoBrew]

Asking about fermenting in buckets vs carboys is just inciting a fight! This is a point of great debate and (too much) passion! The truth is that all of them will make good beer. My $0.02 is for glass because it is better at keeping oxygen out and you can see it fermenting. Seeing the yeast doing their work was an especially awesome moment for me on my first brew! You do have to be very careful with glass carboys. Especially the cheap ones that NB puts in their kits. There are MANY MANY threads on here about people getting stitches from carboys that broke while carrying them. I'm 4 1/2 years into the hobby and still choose glass carboys, but I've upgraded to acid carboys which are a bit heavier duty.

I would suggest you don't do the batches on the same day. You learn so much with each brew. You might benefit from getting through a whole fermentation before you start the second one.

As has been said, the secondary fermenter is pretty much unnecessary. They really should stop including them in the kit. I would clarify that secondary fermenters DO NOT cause infections. Poor cleaning and sanitation cause infections. Each time you transfer your beer introduces a chance for contamination. If you clean meticulously, don't used scratched plastic, and sanitize with Star San or a similar product you will not get an infection.

I also wanted to share one of the most important things about making good beer. They do not mention it in the NB kit at all. The temperature of fermentation is critical to good beer. If the ferment is too hot you will get lots of esters in your beer that in most styles is not good. If it is too cold your yeast will not be as successful and your beer will end up sweet and not fully fermented. Lastly, you don't want the fermenter to do big swings in temperature. This can stress out the yeast and cause it to do unwanted things with your beer.

The temperature that makes sense for your beer depends on the yeast strain and the style of beer. For most ales you want to be between 65 and 68. You can go a little cooler, but I would try hard not to let it get above 68. This can be challenging if you don't have the proper equipment. I'm not sure what part of the world you live in, but if you are lucky you can find a nice cool spot somewhere in your house. It's also important to know that the yeast create quite a bit of heat early in the fermentation process. It will typically be a few to several degrees warmer in the fermenter than the air temp around it.

Some would say that fermentation temperatures are a more advanced topic. I learned the hard way myself when I was starting. My first brews were in the winter in Minnesota. My basement was cool enough that it put my ferment into a decent temp range. By my third beer spring had come and all of a sudden I had a crappy batch of beer. It was then that I learned the importance and techniques to control temp.

If you tell us a little more about what beer kits you have and what kind of conditions you have in your home we might be able to advise some strategies to get a good ferment.