looking for the communities input. i plan on getting another carboy this weekend and im contemplation about getting glass or plastic. i currently have 6 and 5 gallon glass carboy. i know glass is better to clean but plastic is cheaper and gets the job done too. if you had extra money what would you get?
For years I always used glass but because I need to carry my wort down stairs I changed to plastic buckets I’m very satisfied.
I had a couple of the better boy plastic carboys and I didn’t care for them at all.
I have tried just about all types of fermenters - I now use buckets exclusively. They are just so easy to clean and handle. The only exception is if I am going to secondary a big beer for a long time (like a barley wine) then I use glass carboy for secondary. Also, when I do lagers, I primary in the bucket and then I transfer to kegs and lager in the keg.
Just do a search. You’ll find TONS of threads about this topic. It’s probably the most discussed topic in home brewing… EVER.
If I had to choose now I would chose a plastic bucket. I have a ton of glass carboys and I like them but I’ve been thinking about getting a bucket to top crop fresh yeast from rather than having to rinse it from the bottom of a carboy. Something to think about. Maybe you will want to do yeast harvesting to save some money down the line.
Buckets are easier to work with; however, I like the little bit of assurance that the glass wont scratch. I use glass right now, but wouldn’t rule out getting some new buckets in the future. I like using the buckets for storing star san in…works great for carrying up and down the stairs.
Personally, I like to be able to visually see whats going on in the fermentor. Part of the whole “six grade science project” experience that gets me excited while brewing.
I’ve been using a bottling bucket for fermenting. Sometimes, maybe more so in the future (?) I will use a plastic secondary and rack back to the bottling bucket for priming if I’m not going to keg. Haven’t used the Better Bottle… I’ve found the clear one that looks like a carboy works just fine and is easy to clean cuz it has no ridges or handles to mess with. My cleaning process is so easy… 2-3 gallons of warm Oxy with a good shake or overnight sit removes all the krausen and other junk… then a simple rinse on the bottle/keg washer and I’m done. Nothing to scratch the insides with… no harm, no foul…
I’ve been thinking about this as well and I’m going with a couple more buckets because I plan on lagering and can stack in my fridge.
I have and use all three. Most of the time I use plastic carboys. I like being able to see what it going on in my beer. Would switch to buckets if they would release a clear bucket, that would be ideal. Don’t use my glass carboys very often, just to damn heavy, though I do use 3 gallon glass for smaller batches. As for cleaning, plastic carboys work pretty good in this department. I just fill with hot water and oxy clean (or PBW) and let sit for a couple hours, sometimes overnight (usually because I am lazy).
In the end they all work and all work well. Just use whatever works best for you. :cheers:
im really surprised to see how many people use buckets. yea i like to see whats going on in the carboy. im in biotech and really love doing lab work and working will cells,bacteria and yeast. so getting a bucket to harvest is something i want to do eventually.
You forgot “does this look contaminated?”.
You forgot “does this look contaminated?”.[/quote]
Blue or Red?
You forgot “does this look contaminated?”.[/quote]
I thought it was “is my fermentation stuck?”
You forgot “does this look contaminated?”.[/quote]
I thought it was “is my fermentation stuck?”[/quote]
For me it was all three.
First one. Then the next a week later. Then the next a week later.
It’s looking like I’ll be due for “Why is it flat/exploding/both?” in another couple days. 
after that it would be is my beer still good because X happened.
Well we’ve all been there at one point. The best advice as always is to RDWHAHB! :cheers:
