That is until you slip into the inescapable vortex of sour brewing…[/quote]
I think there’s a lot of misinformation going around about plastic fermenters. Are they prone to wild yeast, bacteria, etc? Sure, any fermenter can harbor those nasties. Even if you get a scratch in your bucket…soak that sucker in a bleach water mix for an hour and kiss the wild yeast goodbye. There are many instances of brewers using plastic buckets for years without issues. Don’t buy into the hype. They are so much safer and easier to work with.
I have about 10 buckets that you can have, free of charge, that I can absolutely guarantee will result in contaminated beers more than 50% of the time, even if you use bleach, StarSan, iodophor, heat, and anything else you can think of to kill the wild beasts.
I don’t like 50/50 odds. Don’t buy the hype that plastic is just fine forever.
I have about 10 buckets that you can have, free of charge, that I can absolutely guarantee will result in contaminated beers more than 50% of the time, even if you use bleach, StarSan, iodophor, heat, and anything else you can think of to kill the wild beasts.
I don’t like 50/50 odds. Don’t buy the hype that plastic is just fine forever.[/quote]
There is no hype that plastic is fine forever. If you use soft stuff forever you are just asking for issues.
I for one am not buying any hype. I am buying ingredients with which I make excellent beer in plastic fermenters, which I also bought. Years ago. Do I retire them sometimes? Yes. Do I believe wild yeast and microbes can live and reproduce in microscopic scratches when those same scratches are submerged in sodium percarbonate and/or diluted phosphoric acid? No. Once again, I’m using the Dr. Dennis Conn school of thought that while brewing is science, experience is also science, literally. My experience tells me I can (and do) make award wining beer that both myself and others love to drink in plastic buckets.
Pietro, my experience matches yours. I’ve had infections in plastic that have not carried over to subsequent batches after I cleaned well. That said, I wouldn’t dismiss other’s experience that contradicts mine. It is well known that once infected, a wooden barrel is forever after infected. And depending on the geometry of the plastic, including gaskets, seals, ports or other features, it may be that infections could persist in a bucket because it is hard to clean well. Of course, the same could be true of glass also, though that is less likely due to the requirement that glass can’t easily be manufactured in more complex geometries like plastic.
Well, I just broke my second glass carboy last night. Fortunately, a small cut or 2 and no stitches. I basically had a glass big mouth bubbler tip over and it shattered (wasn’t even dropped). Turns out the glass is much thinner than a standard carboy. Anyway, I’m getting the plastic big mouth next. Sorry Dave!
Chet
I haven’t had any issues in 4 years with plastic, not say I never will though. I recently got 2 Spiedel tanks that I like a lot. http://morebeer.com/products/speidel-pl … 9-gal.html I wish NB offered them but since they don’t I ordered them from elsewhere. The build in handles are nice and like the big mouth bubblers they are quick and easy to clean. I also love the size, plenty of head room for when I’m making six gallons to account for trub and hop losses when trying to get a full keg. Only beer that has made it to the top with krausen was a witbier and even then a blow off tube wasn’t needed.
