Best for brewing?

[Duckman1]

What works the best for beer brewing? Bucket w/lid or carboy

Thanks!

[Northbound]

Some brewers have concerns regarding sanitation with plastic buckets.

I’ve brewed thirty batches in the same three plastic buckets and haven’t lost one to contamination yet. “Yet” may be the key word, could be I’ve just been lucky.

This year I am switching over to all carboys simply because my buckets are worn out and the lids don’t seal well anymore.

Carboys last longer, are harder to clean but offer better sanitation and you can see what is going on with your fermentation. They make handles for carboys, you’ll want one of those.

Buckets are less expensive, the lids do wear out over time causing them to lose the airtight seal, buckets are easy to clean, DO NOT use an abrasive pad, that scratches the bucket , those scratches hold bacteria, and perhaps that’s how buckets got a bad rap with some brewers.

You’ll need a “Blow off”.
Not always, but sometimes It happens, the krausen and C02 pressure rise up and over flow the airlock, it can be explosive, nothing worse for marital relations than a stream of sticky, smelly wort gushing out of your fermentation vessel covering the walls and everything else in the room. That happened with my first brew, took hours to scrub everything down.

Just starting out;

if you go with carboys purchase a one-inch tube, four feet long, to use as a “Blow off”, it’s a simple procedure, sanitize the tube, heat one end with hot tap water and stuff it in the opening of the carboy, then place the other end in a bucket full of water. This system allows the C02 to escape and the water does not allow air to flow back threw the tube.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l95/northbound448/pitched.jpg

For buckets purchase an extra three piece airlock, the type with the cap over a stem. The end of the airlock that fits into the hole in the bucket lid is tapered, cut that off to provide an unobstructed opening, then purchase plastic tubing that fits over the inside stem. Again, sanitize, then heat the tubing with hot water and shove it over the inside stem then put the outlet end in a bucket of water. You’re good to go.

[Duckman1]

Thanks for the help Northbound.

In the picture you posted, does the water in the overflow bucket get "bad" and let contamination go back in to the wort?

[Ausable Junkie]

Going with a glass fermenter is better than a plastic container. Plastic can get fine scratches in it from usage. These are enough to harbor old yeast that gets missed when you clean between batches. These old yeasties can go haywire and make your beer taste funky.

[Northbound]

Thanks for the help Northbound.

In the picture you posted, does the water in the overflow bucket get "bad" and let contamination go back in to the wort?

Not really, the only thing that might travel back to the wort is a small amount of krausen that gets pushed up the tube, that’s why it is important to sanitize the inside of the tube thoroughly.

Should some krausen make it all the way threw the tube into the water bucket you’ll want to change the water before it smells up the room.

DO NOT MIX BLEACH IN WITH THE WATER IN THE BUCKET, bleach out gasses and that will travel back to the wort.

[Duckman1]

Thanks again for the info. Now one more ? for ya.

After primary fermentation in a carboy do you transfer to another carboy?

Can this one be a smaller size due to less activity in the container?

Thanks again!

[Northbound]

Thanks again for the info. Now one more ? for ya.

After primary fermentation in a carboy do you transfer to another carboy?

Can this one be a smaller size due to less activity in the container?

Thanks again!

Some brewers transfer (rack) to a second carboy (Secondary) typically they are both the standard size. If you have smaller glass carboys and jugs, split the batch, that also allows you to experiment; for instance you could dry hop half the batch or in the case of Belgians you can add spices or even honey to make a bracket.

There are two schools of thought regarding the secondary, many believe racking to the secondary is a waste of time you can bottle straight from the primary. The other school believes racking to the secondary for a couple weeks helps condition the beer, it does help to clear the beer if it is still cloudy.

Any more I rack from the primary simply to get it off the sediment (trub) let it settle for a day then bottle. Times when I’m brewing weekly I rack the first batch off the trub so I can pitch it to a freshly brewed batch. Or when I’m busy, I let it sit in the secondary until I have time to bottle, some times for weeks.

Since we’re on the subject you definitely want to purchase an Auto-siphon! Racking canes are a P.I.T.A. to use! the Auto-siphon is well worth the extra expense