Secondary - Glass Vs Plastic, and size questions

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RangerG

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Naples, FL
I once heard that plastic was porous at a molecular level. So - for longer secondary fermentation, as in meads and stronger beers, I plan to use glass, but can I get by with a Better Bottle for a shorter secondary, say three weeks or less?

Also - would anything bad happen if I racked a 5 gallon batch into a 6.5 gallon glass carboy, thus creating extra empty space at the top? What if I purged out the oxygen using a steady trickle of CO2 from one of those hand-held chargers?

I was planning to play the secondary shuffle with staggering the racking cause I only have one extra glass carboy, but the temp in FL has dropped and would like to gently move some ales to the porch into the lower temps we are now experiencing - that's why I may want to use the Better Bottle.

Comments?
 
The plastic buckets are fermenters that you need to worry about O2. Better Bottles and Glass Carboy O2 permeability is negligible. You can use both for a secondary. I don't worry about racking into a 6-6.5 gallon fermenter there is going to be some CO2 knocked out of suspension so it will give you enough of a blanket.
 
Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear, after all, this is supposed to be naturan and those CO2 cartridges are 2 bux.
 
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