Pails...carboys..???

[Dawggy_Stile]

Obviously I'm new to this so sorry if this had already been asked.

What route should I go... a pail for primary and carboy for secondary..or can secondary be done with an additional pail..
or should I go with two carboys?

Also, can I get opinions on using Brewers Best ingredient kits?
Thanks for any replies!

 

[Yooper]

Welcome to our obsession!

And, to throw a monkey wrench into your quest, for your questions, I'll answer: neither!

Many of us stopped using secondary fermenters a while back. I found that if I just put my beer in a sanitized fermenter (I use the "ale pail"), then in three weeks I can bottle it. I don't see a bit of difference between using a secondary or not. When I was a beginner, I religiously used the secondary. But I haven't in several years. Use the ale pail, and leave the beer in there for three weeks. Don't bother buying a carboy, unless you want to add some oak or something unusual to your beer.

The "secondary" should be more properly called a clearing vessel. In a professional brewery, it's called a bright tank. That's simply a new vessel for clearing and conditioning, not for fermenting. In homebreweries, many of us have found that that's just not necessary for clear and bright beer.

I personally have liked the Brewer's Best kits I've done. They have good recipes, good instructions, and a nice end product. The key is go get fresh ingredients- don't get a dusty Brewer's Best kit off the shelf at the store, if it's not a busy store. With a pretty fresh kit, you'll find that the Brewer's Best kits are just fine and make a nice beer!

 

[nebben]

A pail is cheap, durable, and cheap and durable. A carboy is really cool since it is relatively straightforward to clean and sanitize (as long as you use oxy or caustic solution soaking on the inside to remove deposits, or use a long brush), but is a few more bucks and is prone to break if not handled with care.

Either carboy or bucket will work excellent as primary fermenters. Get as big as you can afford, at least 6G or 6.5 if you can. Headspace over a 5 or 5.5G batch becomes a concern with big krausen layers.

For secondary, which is arguably not necessary for most beers (pros and cons for secondary- do a search for more info on this), a carboy that closely matches the volume of your fermenting beer is a good idea. A bucket as a primary fermenter is fine since fermentation will produce enough CO2 to push out the O2 in the headspace. As a secondary, you will have a hard time eliminating this O2 layer above the beer if you rack from one bucket to another. If you rack into a carboy or better bottle secondary, say a 5G unit for your 5G batch, you'll be able to fill right to the neck and will have a minimum of exposed O2 in your headspace.

It comes down to personal preference mostly. I started with a bucket, moved to a 6G carboy on the 2nd batch, and a 2nd carboy after that. At one point this summer, I had the original bucket and both carboys all chugging away at the same time. I haven't put any of my beers in secondary yet, but wines that I've made and put into secondary have all gone into glass carboys or jugs for extended aging.

 

[Nurmey]

+1000 on what Yooper said!

Welcome to HBT!

 

[Wade E]

I would recommend what Yooper said and get a 7.9 gallon primary that seals with an airlock.

 

[Dawggy_Stile]

Thanks for the advice! It'll sure come in handy.

 

[HomelessWook]

secondary is only necessary if you want to dry hop or add fruit flavor - i believe

the only difference between glass carboy vs plastic bucket is you can see your beer in the glass carboy

ide say, save the 60 bucks you were going to spend on glass carboy and buy something more useful -

i recently bought a 5 gallon glass carboy because i want to make really hoppy beers and fruity beers but honestly i sort of wish i had spent that money on ingredients or a brew kettle because as of right now its just collecting dust and probably wont move for another 3 or 4 brews.

 

[Jknapp]

I 2nd the 7.9gal primary bucket (mine are made by brewcraft). I no longer rack beer to a 2ndary or bright tank - the beer clears & tastes great after being in the primary for 3-4 weeks.

They're also great because you can scale batches up to 6.5 gallons with ease - and if you get into dry hopping, it is so easy to just drop your hops straight into the primary (after initial fermentation is complete), instead of trying to get them into the small hole in the top of a carboy.

I do also have a 6.5 gal carboy as well - I use that If I want to add fruit to a beer being racked into 2ndary - but I don't use it that often.

 

[mikebiewer]

Its really interesting, as a beginner, to read a lot of these experienced posts. I'm going onto a fourth batch this weekend and I am going to give this one fermenter thing a try. I've spent the money on a 5 gallon carboy, I have a 6.5 that was gifted to me so I have been using that a lot for fermenting. I actually just bought a pail a week ago and was going to use that this weekend.

If a bunch of experienced homebrewers with 1000's of posts on these forums tell you something, you should listen...right? At least that is what that one post says.

I am going to give this a try to this weekend. Thanks!

 

[rickstar1970]

I dry hop most of my beers, so i use a glass secondary. If I didnt I would leave it in the primary. Most of mine are ales so I use yeast from the primary.(Yea I stick with the beers I like, not much variety here) I brew every two weeks so i usually use a secondary and then pour the new batch right on top of the old yeast in the primary. (good for about 4 times, then change). Thats the way I do it.

 

[RyanPDX]

I just ordered a 6gal better bottle, mostly because of my latest batch where I used WLP007 and that thing was flocculating like crazy and I really wish I could have seen it. I currently have two 8gal buckets and a 5gal better bottle. My starter kit came with one of the buckets and the better bottle for a secondary, although I only use it for afpelwein now that I don't really do secondary anymore.