First this board needs polls.
But which device/devices do you ferment in? And how many do you have?
I am glass carboy guy. Four 6 gal primaries and two 5 gallon secondaries.
4 buckets, 2 better bottles, 2 carboys. I’m an equal opportunity brewer. Having said that, I’m partial to buckets. They’re just so damn easy to use, move, clean, fill, etc…
6g+6g+5g+5g
1 glass that adds too much weight IMHO. I prefer better bottles.
Do you ever worry about oxgyen with the buckets? I normally ferment for at least a month on almost all beers. And never transfer to secondary. Do you do something similar when you ferment in your buckets? And if not would you feel comfortable doing so?
My primary fermenter is a 6.5 better bottle, secondary are all glass. At the risk of giving too much information I’m still fascinated by the process, and I like to watch. Confession is good for the soul.
Do you ever worry about oxgyen with the buckets? I normally ferment for at least a month on almost all beers. And never transfer to secondary. Do you do something similar when you ferment in your buckets? And if not would you feel comfortable doing so?[/quote]
Why would I worry about oxygen? There’s a layer of CO2 that builds up in the head space. Keeping out any oxygen. Many, many, many home brewers exclusively use buckets and have for years with no ill effects. I primary for 3-4 weeks with buckets and occasionally will secondary in a 5 gal better bottle when necessary. There’s nothing wrong with using buckets to ferment beer. If there was, not every reputable home brew supply shop/website would sell them.
RDWHAHB :cheers:
P.S. You can’t shatter a bucket into thousands of pieces while taking a risk of serious injury. Glass also allows light in which is MUCH worse for beer than oxygen. I don’t have to worry about covering all my buckets with towels or other covers. Hey, to each his own, but there’s nothing wrong with using buckets to ferment.
You can make polls on this board.
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=102367&hilit=poll
Right now I have an army of five and six gallon glass carboys, a pair of buckets and four 3 gallon better bottles. Each has it’s own use in my brewing army. I’m a strapping young lad so the weight of the glass isn’t a problem and I like to look at my fermentations so I use these the most. The buckets are mostly used for wine right now and the three gallon BB’s are used for small test batches I like to mess around with as well as for dividing up five gallon batches for lagering because two of them side by side fit perfectly above the air compressor in the keezer.
Been brewing for a bit over 2 years and have done 70+ batches and I’m still fascinated by watching the beer ferment. I tend to visit my beer every day or so during active fermentation. :lol:
I use some of everything, glass, better bottles and buckets. I really like my better bottles with the racking port since I can easily rack my beer without f’ing around with a siphon, also really easy to get all the beer out without picking up much yeast or hops. Next favorite would be buckets, they are just so easy to handle and clean. Don’t use my glass much, heavy and fragile when compared to buckets and better bottles.
I’m a watcher too. Don’t think it will ever get old.
I just picked up a couple new buckets to eliminate any risk, but is it normal to see staining in the bucket after a few brews? Especially near the liquid level line? I wash as aggressively as I dare with a sponge and soap and water so as not to scratch but for the life of me can’t get it off. Not sure if it came from a darker beer or a heavier/hoppier one, but it is on there to stay. Maybe oxyclean?
Also, 3 x 6.5 gal buckets for primary (2 of them are arriving tomorrow), 2 x 5 gal glass secondaries. I was putting everything through a secondary but am starting to rethink that lately…
[quote=“althiels”]I just picked up a couple new buckets to eliminate any risk, but is it normal to see staining in the bucket after a few brews?[/quote]Rinse out the sludge and wipe off as much dried krausen as you can without scraping it and then give the bucket an overnight soak in Oxiclean or PBW and it’ll look good as new.
I am all glass.
While I was lifting an empty the other day it occurred to me that they really aren’t that heavy.
Anyone ever put one on a scale?
My reasons for preferring glass: 1) I can watch the fermentation, 2) they’ll last forever, barring any accidents.
For light protection, they just wear one of my old hoodies or sweaters or long sleeve t-shirts.
I started with carboys. After breaking 3 and losing gallons of beer, I switched to buckets and never looked back. I still have may be 15 carboys that I don’t use. Buckets are easier to clean, take less room to store and won’t injure you IF they break.
I do glass carboys, and I have never had a problem. I am still a novice though. I ferment in my basement, carrying carboys up and down the stairs may not be the safest thing, but I haven’t dropped one yet. I cover my carboys with a teeshirt to keep most of the light off of them.
There are “accessories” available that will make carrying the glass carboys safer and easier, but I just muscle them. Whatever you use, if you take care of it, there shouldn’t be a problem getting your monies worth out of it.
16 Gallon Sanke with the top of corny keg welded on top of it. Works great for 10 gallon batches. Easy to transfer to a keg. However, I can only listen to my beer ferment now and don’t get to watch. :x
