What type of carboy

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noobrewer

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I am fairly new to brewing and I need to purchase more carboys (1 to make apfelwein :mug: ). Right now I have 1-8 gal plastic bucket w/ a spigot on the bottom. I like this style (because of the siggot) except I cant see clearly what is happening inside. What does everyone else use?
 
noobrewer said:
Right now I have 1-8 gal plastic bucket w/ a spigot on the bottom. I like this style (because of the siggot) except I cant see clearly what is happening inside. What does everyone else use?
If you prefer buckets for primary fermentation, those sold by MoreBeer are translucent. You can easily see the churning of fermentation, and the trub line down at the bottom.

Bucket w/spigot
 
Also, when mounting spigots. How far off the bottom do you put them? I would assume you want the hole drilled above the sediment layer, so how much sediment do you usually have on a 5 gal batch?
 
I have about every kind you can think of except a better bottle. But if I had it to do it all over again from the beginning I would modify a cornie keg by removing the poppet from the gas in post and putting a blow off tube over the post for my primary and just use regular cornie kegs for the secondary.

But if watching the yeasties put on a show is important to you then a glass 6.5 gal. or better bottles are probably your best bets
 
The sediment is going to depend on a number of factors, the type and amount of hops, what if anything you did to contain the hops, any filtering or straining you may or may not do. The crush of your grain bill and even the amount of your grain bill.

IMHO you'd be better of just locating it an inch off the bottom and draining off what ever sediment you get into another bucket then when it runs clear move the racking tube to your secondary.
 
noobrewer said:
I would assume you want the hole drilled above the sediment layer, so how much sediment do you usually have on a 5 gal batch?
It will vary a lot, with different recipes, yeasts and brewing methods & practices. When my last all-grain batch went into the bucket, the trub (mostly cold-break at that point) was above the 1st gallon mark! By the time fermenation was complete, it was compacted down to a 3/4" layer, with just a tiny bit of trub sitting on the spigot itself.
 
I've got one glass carboy, many Better Bottles, a plastic bucket and some PET 1 gallon fermenters that used to be apple juice bottles.

I prefer using the bucket because I can pour the wort in and get a healthy froth going, assuring my wort is aerated. This, however, is JUST as much mental as anything else in my experience, since other than my first batch, I have yet to have active fermentation in more than 6 hours.

I use, but avoid my glass carboy simply because it's heavier and I feel less confidant moving it around, especially considering that I seldom move it with totally dry hands.
 
The buckets with the bottom spigot are for bottling. If you use it for primary, then when you go to transfer or bottle you will suck some of that up - or mix it all back up defeating the purpose.

How many carboys do you need? For primary's use 6.5 or larger Better Bottles, for Secondary 5 gal better bottles. I think 1x 6.5gal for every 2x 5gal is a good ratio.
 
I have both plastic pails and glass carboys. I really like the glass but even though I use a brew hauler I feel somewhat unsafe when forced to move them.

I am defiantly going the better bottle route. I will keep my glass for secondaries and I don't have to move the secondarys.
 
The only thing about using a primary with a spigot is that I often times use a water bath to control temperatures and never liked the idea of the spigot being underwater. I use both glass and Better bottles for primary.
 
If you are careful, you can open the bucket and take a look, but you won't see the trub line that blindlemonlars mentioned.

I use the 7.9gal "wine and beer" buckets for primary fermentation and 6.5 gallon glass carboys for 'secondary fermenters'(conditioning).

The buckets are cheaper for me w/ more capacity. The glass is impermeable to oxygen. Better bottles are much safer, though depending on your area may be hard to find or expensive.

If you are going to primary in a carboy, you should also set yourself up some equipment to thief(BTW, should be added to WIKI) AKA, get a sample to test (usually for specific gravity readings).

IMO, if the valve will hold liquid in, it will hold liquid out(probably more likely due to an equalization of hydrostatic pressure when the bucket is submerged.
 
5 Is Not Enough said:
IMO, if the valve will hold liquid in, it will hold liquid out(probably more likely due to an equalization of hydrostatic pressure when the bucket is submerged.
I agree. When I use a water bath, I do throw a splash of bleach in there, just because I don't like the idea of untreated water sitting still for weeks.

I'm enjoying the (rare) cool weather here in SoCal, no need for waterbaths or frozen apple juice jugs!
 
I have a plastic bucket that I probably wont replace, 5.0 and 6.5 gal glass carboys that i am moving away from, and a few corney kegs.

For now I still like the glass so I can see what is going on in there.

With some more experience and more confidence I will be able to do everything in cornelius kegs. 1 standard container FTW!

EDIT: I will keep a bottling bucket around for those special brews that need to be shared and aged...
 
abracadabra said:
But if watching the yeasties put on a show is important to you then a glass 6.5 gal. or better bottles are probably your best bets

It's been damn near fifteen years, and I still love watching the yeasties' show. :rockin:


TL
 
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