Please critique/advise me on my technique

[NHAnimator]

I'm new to this and am a bit confused. Here's the deal:

I have both a glass carboy and a 6-gallon pail (w/o a spigot). I have been adding the wort to the pail, then adding the additional water. I then wait for the temp to cool enough using a floating thermometer (if necessary) and add the yeast. Fermenting starts in a day and runs for a few. Once I'm sure it is done, I add the sugar mixture to the carboy (via a funnel), then transfer the wort from the pail to the carboy via a gravity feed tube. In doing this, I usually leave (most of) the sediment in the pail. I then lift the carboy up and gravity fill the bottles. So far, no real problems that I see and I've been happy with the results.

My question is this (and please feel free to comment on other issues as well): I think I've seen carboys used as the primary fermenting vessel. If I were to do this, it would seem as though I would have to funnel the initial wort and additional water through the small opening of the funnel. It would also seem harder to add the yeast and give it the initial stir, and would make it tougher to take the temperature to know when to add the yeast.

The appeal of using the carboy would be to see the fermenting process in action. But as stated, it seems more difficult than the method I currently use.

Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
NHAnimator

 

[buckeyebrewer]

I really don't like using carboys as the primary....too hard to clean. I like my 6 gallon plastic buckets. I would buy another plastic bucket. There isn't any real advantage to using a glass carboy for primary besides being able to see it work. I leave my primary sit for 2 weeks and then rack to bottling bucket.

 

[egrimmer]

I'm still new at brewing myself, sticking to extract for now. However I can say I've started with buckets for primary and racking. I don't see a need to go to a glass carboy. They are more expensive, can be dropped and explode and harder to clean.

With that being said they last forever, assuming you don't drop them and you can see the "action" during fermentation.

Sounds like you are off to good start, I'd use whatever you are comfortable with and have already purchased unless money is not an issue.

 

[trevorc13]

Here's how I work it: after the boil and it cools to room temp, I whirlpool the wort and let it settle in the kettle (hey! it rhymes). I then rack from the edges into my plastic bucket. I'll top off to 5 gallons and give it a stir. Take my reading and then rack into a carboy. Aerate for 5 minutes and funnel the yeast in. I love the glass carboy because you get to see your beer at work. It's also easier to clean and you don't have to worry about scratches that may harbor bacteria. Just my two cents.

 

[Dogphish]

here's Revvy's A+ thread on how to bottle https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

 

[bonzombiekitty]

IOnce I'm sure it is done, I add the sugar mixture to the carboy (via a funnel), then transfer the wort from the pail to the carboy via a gravity feed tube.

Just to be pedantic, it's not wort by this point; it's beer. Once you add the yeast, it's beer.

The appeal of using the carboy would be to see the fermenting process in action. But as stated, it seems more difficult than the method I currently use.

While your way will work fine, you're not really using the carboy for what it was meant for. If you bought the carboy, that's a relatively expensive purchase when you could have bought something that would work better for a fraction of the price.

I use a bucket for fermentation, then I transfer the beer into the carboy for a while (more than a week) for use as a brite tank. The decreased head space in the carboy is good for keeping air away from the beer while it clears up. I use a bottling bucket (a bucket with a spigot on the bottom) for bottling.

A good number of people do their fermentation in carboys. I never have, as a bucket works just fine. My qualms with using a carboy for primary fermentation is mostly that they're harder to clean. They wash out easily for me when used as a brite tank, but I wouldn't want to have to try and scrub off dried krauzen with a carboy brush (although scratches are less likely). Also, I worry that the decreased head space and such would increase the chance of things going boom.

But whatever works for you, as long as you make tasty beer.

 

[ajf]

What size is the carboy? You need some head space in it to leave room for the krausen.
I usually use 6.5g carboys for fermenters, but find I need a blow off tube if I ferment in a 6g carboy. If your carboy is 5g, then you would have to cut down the batch size to 4g or less.

-a.

 

[NHAnimator]

Thanks for the replies so far. Please do be pedantic as that's how I learn.

I certainly do understand that my use of the carboy is not optimum - thus one of my reasons for posting. I have two which were given to me. I believe they are 6-6.5 gal as a 5 gal transfer still leaves plenty of room at the top.

I only have one pail (no spigot). Thus my method.

Thanks again.

 

[Cranapple]

Hey, another n00b here, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

It seems to me like people are split on the carboy as primary thing, try them both and do what you like. I'd second the advice about reading Revvy's bottling thread, having a bucket with a spigot is awesome.

The way I do my wort cooling is different from your method. I cool directly in my kettle because you'll get better heat transfer through your metal kettle than through the plastic bucket. Secondly I don't add the rest of my water right away because the rate of heat transfer is greater when the temperature differential is higher. I submerge my kettle into a rubbermaid bin full of cold water (the water level should be lower than the height of the wort so it doesn't float, since you'll want to whirlpool without the pot moving around) and let the temperature drop a bit. I haven't figured out the optimal temperature at which to add the extra water, b/c frankly I don't care enough, lol. If you're in NH too then you should have snow to throw in the bin as the water warms.

The reason I add the water to the kettle at all is to dilute the wort as much as possible before whirlpooling and final cooling. My boil volume usually ends up at about 2.5 gallons after I'm done, so my wort is at 2x it's final gravity. So if I leave an inch of that at the bottom of my kettle it's like losing 2 inches of beer. I figure that if it's diluted I'm losing less.

Of course, everyone here who's not a n00b will just tl;dr this and say "get a wort chiller."

 

[ajf]

I like using carboys for fermenting, and I think that most people who have actually done it, also like them. They are easy to clean (fill with an oxi-clean solution, wait an hour or so, and then rinse). This works with better bottles as well as glass carboys. I like being able to see the fermentation without having to pry off the lid, which makes it pretty easy to tell when it is ready for kegging.

I'd use the carboy for a fermenter, drill a 1" hole in the bucket, and install a spigot to use the bucket for bottling. Alternatively, if you are scared about drilling the hole, you can buy a bottling bucket for very little money, then you can use the bucket as a second fermenter. (I would hate to be confined to a single fermenter, and so would many of my friends.)

-a.

P.S. Although I like the carboys, there's nothing wrong with buckets. They just aren't quite as convenient for me.