What to use as a secondary?

[maxbing]

I currently have 2 glass Carboys and 1 plastic fermenting bucket.

I have been using the carboys as primary so that I could watch the magic happen and the bucket as secondary. From reading threads it seems that many do the exact opposite; bucket primary, carboy secondary.

Pro's, Con's?

thanks

 

[Homercidal]

Generally people use a bottle as a secondary because it is considered less apt to allow bad stuff into the beer. A bucket makes a good primary because it's easy to clean the heavy gunk out of, and the high positive pressure of the initial fermentation works well to keep the bugs out even if there is a poor seal on the lid.

I agree that it's nice to watch the fermentation, but after a few batches, the novelty wears off, at least for me. I have had an easier time using a bucket for primary, and lately have even stopped using a secondary altogether, except for certain batches.

 

[flowerysong]

Buckets are often made out of HDPE and unsuited for anything other than short-term conditioning due to significant oxygen permeability. In addition, the probability of a bad seal between lid and bucket is much higher than between carboy and stopper.

 

[bdnoona]

Buckets are often made out of HDPE and unsuited for anything other than short-term conditioning due to significant oxygen permeability. In addition, the probability of a bad seal between lid and bucket is much higher than between carboy and stopper.

Doesn't this become a non-issue unless you're letting it sit in primary for months? I have left beer in the bucket for three weeks and had no issues. I usually move to glass secondary before then though. The bucket is just so much nicer to clean and handle.

 

[HoppyDaze]

The five gallon better bottle (BB) is great for a secondary fermenter. I like to use the bucket or a BB for primary fermentation. The bucket is very convenient in many aspects and the BB is concaved at the center in the bottom so that all waste falls to the sides. This makes racking much easier since you can just put the siphon right in the middle of the bottle without worrying about getting into all the crap at the bottom.

 

[maxbing]

leave it to me to do it backwards.....

Thanks for all the info

 

[abracadabra]

The best secondary IMHO is a cornie keg! That being said I think the gas permeablilty of HDPE is completely overblown unless you are making a barley wine and plan on leaving it in the secondary for a year then it might be as issue. People fermenting wine in plastic buckets complain that the newer HDPE buckets are not gas permeable enough many beer brewers think they are too gas permeable. If you are having good results using a HDPE bucket as a secondary the results speak for themselves

 

[boxerbrew]

I use my belly as a secondary!!