So, I bought the kit from Northern Brewer and it came with two 6 gallon buckets with the spigots and one lid. My brother wants to try his hand at this so I was going to give him one of the buckets I have and let him buy a lid and airlock. But that got me to thinking, I will only have a primary fermenter, which I have read is ok, but wondering if a carboy is a better way to go. Any thoughts on the subject would be most appreciated.
There are lots of threads on this forum about the pros/cons of various fermenters, should be easy to find. But long story short, the humble brewing bucket is a perfectly fine choice. If you do go with a carboy, stick with plastic. Avoid glass at all costs.
I started with carboys, but then switched to buckets. They work as well as carboys and are lighter, easier to store and don’t break nearly as easily.
an advantage of a bucket is skimming brown “scum”(?) off of some types of krausen as well as top-cropping some strains of yeast.
My apologies, I should have used the search function. And I appreciate the input.
I actually like carboys because the braun hefe sticks to the roof of a 6 gallon if it’s filled to around 5.5 gallons. But I only use plastic these days.
While you’ll seldom need a secondary fermenter, a bottling bucket is handy unless you plan on adding priming sugar to each bottle or using carbonation drops or tablets. Buckets work just fine and allow you to dry hop more easily, as well as being easier to clean. If you opt for a carboy, look at the wide mouth ones. Fermonster, Big Mouth Bubbler, etc.
I prefer a Big Mouth Bubbler. It’s clear and I can see what’s happening inside. I got away from the bucket because you can’t see what’s happening inside and I had too many infection issues that I attributed to the softer plastic bucket.
Speidel
Why?
Spigot.
Great seal.
Can do closed transfers with aftermarket parts, including disconnects, ball valves.
Easy to clean.
i checked the price on a speidel. much more affordable than i recalled/imagined seeing them.
thanks for that note. that could be a nice improvement.
Other tips:
NorCal Brewing solutions has very good after market parts.
If you clean gently inside, they last forever (10 years and going)
You can also do caustic / acid cycles.
If you ever get into kegging your beer, think about using kegs as fermenters. Easier to clean than buckets or carboys, last forever, and reasonably inexpensive.
I’ve done a lot of keg fermentations and to me they are much harder to clean than buckets.
I agree, kegs are great. Buckets always get scratched eventually and it’s impossible to get them really clean at that point.
Perhaps you are using the wrong kind of sponge? The risk of scratching any kind of plastic fermenter is highly overrated, unless you are using steel wool. Even so, you would have to have a crap-ton of scratches to harbor enough bacteria to ruin a batch.
I agree that kegs last forever, but easier to clean than buckets or carboys, and reasonably inexpensive? I’m all ears to those arguments.
All of this!
I never scrub plastic carboys. Since the hardest part to clean is the part above the liquid where everything sticks, I throw some “PBW” in (a homemade version that’s 80% oxyclean free and 20% seventh generation dishwashing powder), fill it with about a gallon of hot water, and put a carboy cap on and invert it in a cup. After 20 minutes or so I’ll flip it upright and fill it the rest of the way. Ready for a rinse in an hour or less and perfectly clean.
I like buckets much more than carboys. Started with plastic buckets, went to glass carboys and have since returned to buckets, though they are stainless this time around.
Easier to clean, carry when full, store better, and makes top cropping yeast a breeze. Avoid glass at all costs.
Kegs work best for me. They aren’t as cheap as a bucket, but they’re way cheaper than a conical. I brew 3 gallon batches, so a 5 gallon keg with a floating dip tube is a perfect fermenter for me. They let me pressure ferment, spund, and allow for easy closed transfers to a serving keg with minimal oxygen exposure post-pitching. I don’t top-crop, and I don’t often repitch yeast - both of these would be more challenging in a keg vs a bucket or a conical.
As far as cleaning goes, a long soak in hot PBW works for me. To be perfectly honest, I’m a pretty lazy brewer. I don’t typically break the whole keg down after each use to clean. I just make sure PBW gets run through all the dip tubes once or twice during the soak. I’ve never had an infection that I know of, but I can see obsessive cleaners (no judgement) having some OCD fits when fermenting in kegs.
Kegs may not be the ideal fermenter for everyone, but they certainly check all the boxes for me.