Okay to Use Plastic Beer Fermenter for Cider?

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Hello all, I’ve got a little three gallon carboy I’m using for cider. It’s about the right size for me as I’m primarily making beer. However, I’m curious if most people consider it okay to use plastic beer fermenters with cider. I’ve got a five gallon Better Bottle which is used as a beer secondary for dry hopping and such. I’m wondering if it is possible to use it as a primary for a small batch of cider and then transfer the batch over to the glass carboy after the main fermentation to clear? My main concern would be any lingering beer odors effecting the cider or the cider effecting the beer when it’s used as a beer secondary. Also, if most people don’t see it being an issue, would three gallons of cider in a five gallon primary result in too much headspace? I tend to think not for primary purposes, but wasn’t sure.
 
About a little over a year ago, I got a Mr. Beer kit to learn how to brew beer. I graduated from that real fast but kept the kit for sample batches and making cider. It work great for that. It's all plastic and I've had no troubles.
 
I do all my cider in plastic, some that has been used for beer for years, with no problems. You are right that headspace is the main issue, you have to be very careful to avoid oxidation, handle it as little as possible.
 
I asked the same thing a while ago here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/fermenter-types-cider-105531/
I got allot of mixed answers.

From what I gather some of the award winning cider producers swear that they can taste something that is imparted to the cider from the plastic. Of course they are more likely to detect it "if" something is there, especially since they leave cider in the secondary for a few months. However, if you like you cider sweeter and want to keg and force carb before fermentation is totally done then obviously it's not going to take anywhere near 3mo in your secondary ... in which case plastic is probably fine.

Or if you are like me an don't have the most distinguished pallette ... it's probably also fine. I am still toying with the idea of using a 4gal water jug from Sam's club. At some point I probably do one side by side a glass carboy to see if I can taste the difference.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

My main concern would be that the Better Bottle might become unuasable as a beer secondary. However, I have a feeling the beer taste would leech into cider more than any cider flavoring would leech into a beer, but I could be wrong. Since I'm not going for anything competition level at this point, I'm thinking I might give it a try. I would probably only primary in the plastic bottle for a couple of weeks and then move to a three gallon glass carboy to age. So, I don't know if time on the plastic would really be much of an issue. I do have a headspace concern, since I would only be doing a three gallon batch and the Better Bottle is five gallons. Man, everytime I think I have enough carboys and buckets I start thinking maybe I need more!!! :D
 
I have a plastic conical that I ferment my beer in. Last year I did a batch of wine in the conical, and the next two batches of beer came out tasting a little like wine. I now ferment all of my wine in glass, and save the plastic exclusively for beer. Although the glass can still be used with the beer since it doesn't absorb any flavors. I never noticed any beer flavors in the plastic fermented wine/cider...
 
I have a plastic conical that I ferment my beer in. Last year I did a batch of wine in the conical, and the next two batches of beer came out tasting a little like wine. I now ferment all of my wine in glass, and save the plastic exclusively for beer. Although the glass can still be used with the beer since it doesn't absorb any flavors. I never noticed any beer flavors in the plastic fermented wine/cider...

I wonder if it's an issue with fermenting acidic liquids in plastic? If so, I probably should avoid cider in my beer fermenters. May not matter anyway, I realized today if I did do a three gallon batch it would not only leave a lot of headspace, but I begin to wonder how I would ever get a hydrometer sample out with my turkey baster. Since the top of the liquid would be a lot lower than if it were filled normally.
 
I asked a very similar question to my local brew store peeps. They said that plastic is fine, but reserve a cider only plastic fermenter, because hop flavor from beer brewing has a tendency to "soak" into the plastic. Didn't seem very technical, but they have way more experience than me.

Also, I was doing a 2 gallon batch in a 5 gallon ale pail, and they said it should be fine for a quick primary fermentation. If its a quick start fermentation, the pressure from the escaping CO2 will keep the must from oxidizing greatly. Just transfer to a appropriately sized secondary (or multiple secondarys) quickly. I hope that helps.
 
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