Primary bucket or carboy?

[bradneal]

I am on my 5th kit, and so far, only one batch of skunk juice.

Anyway, I have been making wine for quite some time, but am relatively new to the brew thing. With wine, I have always used a 7.9 gallon brew bucket for primary fermentation, but am seeing that it looks like many of you are using a carboy to ferment.

So what are the advantages/disadvantages with one over the other?

Also, I have one batch that is still in the primary bucket until this coming weekend, which will be 3 weeks, at which point I will bottle. I have stayed away from doing secondary because by the time that you rack the beer off the trub, I am afraid of leaving too much head-space in the carboy and exposing my new brew to oxygen. With wine, you would simply top up the carboy with wine to close up the head-space - that doesn't seem to be an option with brewski's...

Any thoughts?

And last, I want to do a big gravity beer like a triple, but have read several posts where people have experienced blow-offs resulting in big messes. So my questions is, is it safer to do the bigger beers in like the 7.9 gallon buckets where one has more headroom in the event of an over active ferment?


Thanks,
Brad

 

[Hang Glider]

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That has been discussed here many, many times. Click the link above for every opinion under the sun...

 

[Pubwilson]

I believe one of the big advantages to using a carboy is to be able to see your fermentation to determine when its done. Also if your using a glass carboy, and your sanitation is good, then there is nowhere for bacteria to hide and get a foothold in your beer, unlike pplastic where scratches can sometimes harbor little beer spoilers. I personally still use a bucket, but I also have a better bottle for beer that I want a little clearer(my lighter ones). Lastly if your doing 5 gal. then your 7 gal. bucket should hold your triple, but you can always use a blow-off tube if you suspect a wild ride ahead of you.

 

[gunner65]

I prefer glass to plastic for cleanliness, not that plastic cannot be cleaned.