Why use carboys?

[cadarnell]

I don't understand the question. I personally don't believe head space is an issue at all during fermentation. I might be more concerned about headspace for long term conditioning, especially on lighter beers (although I have no proof to justify that statement). I would have no hesitation about leaving a 5gallon brew in a 6.5gallon bucket untouched for a couple (maybe a few) months. But if you're going to be opening the lid to peek in, all bets are off.

I guess a better question is .. how hard is it to get enough oxygen into a beer in a secondary, due to a large amount of head space? .. keeping in mind that the beer will probably be drank with in a few months after it's bottled ...

I used a 6 1/2 gal bucket as a secondary to dry hop 4 1/2 gals. of an APA for 5 days and it was bottled about 2 weeks ago now ... so far the ones I have had, have no cardboard taste .. will it show up eventually if I don't drink it fast?

 

[TwinIon]

So, it's a bad idea to use a 6.5 Gal carboy as a secondary for a 5 Gal batch?

 

[brewit2it]

Buckets, carboys, conicals, glass, ss, thermoplastics are all fine for fermenting. The choice is almost certainly not going to make any difference in your final product.

Plastic is more permeable than glass to gas and vapors however and will degrade over time with use. When I clean my glass carboy there is zero residual beer smell. When I used buckets they would take on a beer odor and it is there for life. Do you have plastic, glass, ceramic, and stainless containers you store food in? Which one gets discolored and holds odors most?

And how about all the top wineries and trappist breweries changing their packaging to plastic since it is just like glass and can be aged for years or decades...what, you mean they didn't change to plastic? I wonder why

 

[brewit2it]

So, it's a bad idea to use a 6.5 Gal carboy as a secondary for a 5 Gal batch?

No, it's fine. It would make a great primary also so there would be no need to transfer to a secondary in the first place.

 

[JohnTheBrewist]

I guess a better question is .. how hard is it to get enough oxygen into a beer in a secondary, due to a large amount of head space? .. keeping in mind that the beer will probably be drank with in a few months after it's bottled ...

This doesn't make any sense...

I used a 6 1/2 gal bucket as a secondary to dry hop 4 1/2 gals. of an APA for 5 days and it was bottled about 2 weeks ago now ... so far the ones I have had, have no cardboard taste .. will it show up eventually if I don't drink it fast?

If it's fine now, it will be fine later.

So, it's a bad idea to use a 6.5 Gal carboy as a secondary for a 5 Gal batch?

If by secondary, you mean the old, outdated, concept of transfering your beer after high krausen to get it off the trub then it doesn't matter at all.

If by secondary, you mean long term conditioning, then I would generally agree (in concept) that less head space is probably better. But only because I haven't tried leaving my beer in a carboy or bucket for months with a lot of headspace. I do know that some members here have left beers in the primary for several months with no ill effects.

I just have a presumption that if you transfer your beer to another vessel to secondary, you've opened it up to fresh oxygen and then headspace could just possibly make a difference. But that theory could just be a load of Hoooey.

 

[lou2row]

And how about all the top wineries and trappist breweries changing their packaging to plastic since it is just like glass and can be aged for years or decades...what, you mean they didn't change to plastic? I wonder why

Your comment seems moot since they use corks.

 

[cadarnell]

This doesn't make any sense...


If it's fine now, it will be fine later.



If by secondary, you mean the old, outdated, concept of transfering your beer after high krausen to get it off the trub then it doesn't matter at all.

If by secondary, you mean long term conditioning, then I would generally agree (in concept) that less head space is probably better. But only because I haven't tried leaving my beer in a carboy or bucket for months with a lot of headspace. I do know that some members here have left beers in the primary for several months with no ill effects.

I just have a presumption that if you transfer your beer to another vessel to secondary, you've opened it up to fresh oxygen and then headspace could just possibly make a difference. But that theory could just be a load of Hoooey.

how hard is it to get to get too much oxygen into the beer due to too much head space? .. I mean .. will it really happen or is it just a myth?

 

[Sharkman20]

At my local home brew shop, they want 25 bucks for a new fermenting bucket with the lid, where a new 6.5 gallon glass carboy is 34 bucks. For the extra 8 bucks, I'll get the glass and I get to see all the cool happenings inside while it's fermenting. lol Plus, the glass will last forever assuming you don't drop it.

 

[Golddiggie]

how hard is it to get to get too much oxygen into the beer due to too much head space? .. I mean .. will it really happen or is it just a myth?

Problem is, when fermentation is finished, and no more CO2 is being produced by the yeast in the wort, you might not get a thick enough blanket over the wort to protect it from getting oxidized... IF you use a smaller vessel/carboy/keg, then there's less volume to fill with CO2... You can also use a CO2 supply to top off the vessel, IF you have gas on hand.

IMO, it's far easier to simply to leave the wort/beer in primary for the duration. Not racking into another vessel means you don't remove it from the CO2 blanket covering the wort/brew that's already there.

Once you get past feeling the need to look at the wort fermenting, you can shift over to SS fermenters. :rockin: I picked up four 1/6 Sanke kegs for $100 not too long ago. I also have a 5 gallon corny keg to use as a primary (picked it up before the LHBS increased the price of corny kegs)...

BTW, you only want to add oxygen to the wort before you pitch the yeast (or in the first ~12 hours for really big beers)...

 

[tchuklobrau]

I use carboy for secondary because 90% of the time i secondary is to lager and my carboy with airlock fits in my lagering chamber with room for my beer, my fermenting buckets do not.

 

[cadarnell]

Problem is, when fermentation is finished, and no more CO2 is being produced by the yeast in the wort, you might not get a thick enough blanket over the wort to protect it from getting oxidized... IF you use a smaller vessel/carboy/keg, then there's less volume to fill with CO2... You can also use a CO2 supply to top off the vessel, IF you have gas on hand.

IMO, it's far easier to simply to leave the wort/beer in primary for the duration. Not racking into another vessel means you don't remove it from the CO2 blanket covering the wort/brew that's already there.

Once you get past feeling the need to look at the wort fermenting, you can shift over to SS fermenters. :rockin: I picked up four 1/6 Sanke kegs for $100 not too long ago. I also have a 5 gallon corny keg to use as a primary (picked it up before the LHBS increased the price of corny kegs)...

BTW, you only want to add oxygen to the wort before you pitch the yeast (or in the first ~12 hours for really big beers)...

thatnks for all the info .. sorry if my questions are silly .. I'm just asking things as they pop into my head .. this is the most helpful place ever though ...

 

[Veaderko]

I personally don’t care to see the yeast do its thing. I have a insulated box that I built to put my wort into during fermentation to keep it at a good temperature. This is because the SWMBO says that there is no room for it to sit in the corner or (my) closet. So I stash it in the basement.
Anyways, if you’re worried about scrubbing the bucket, don’t. Simple as that. I rinse everything I use out with hot water. Then take 1 scoop of Oxi-Clean per 5gal. of water and let it soak for 24-48 hrs. After that, I rinse everything with cold water and store it till my next brew day.

 

[Plinks]

And how about all the top wineries and trappist breweries changing their packaging to plastic since it is just like glass and can be aged for years or decades...what, you mean they didn't change to plastic? I wonder why

Do synthetic corks count?
Of course the wines I drink come in a box so what do I know!