I’ve seriously considered replacing my glass primary carboy with this.
Any downside to this over glass? I have a creeping suspicion that one day the glass carboy will drop, break, and cause a number of issues.
It looks to be the same type of product as a Better Bottle PET product and IME they work very well with no issues. I do find that being only 6 gallons instead of the 6.5 gallon bucket, head space can be an issue and definitely require a blow off tube!
I’ve primarily gone to only using buckets as I find them easier to deal with, head space is better and since I dry hop in primary, access is much easier as well as cleaning. I really don’t care what my beer looks like fermenting:D
+1 on the size deficiency, at least for use as a primary…for that purpose, 6.5 or 7gal would be much more useful. I use a 7 gal carboy and a blowoff tube has never been necessary.
As others will undoubtedly state. a bucket is the simplest solution.
Really, I only continue using the carboy because I’m a stubborn bastard.
Which buckets are you using?
I use 6.5 gallon Ale Pails and true Blue pails that I get from my LHBS, $16.00 with a pre-drilled lid.
Buckets! I don’t own a carboy
Brewer’s Best wine fermenter buckets. They’re just under 8 gallons, which lets me stay in plastic and not be limited by the size of Better Bottles. They’re pre-drilled too, and I get them for under $20. I use Better Bottles for long term secondary on occasion for RIS, Barleywine, etc.
In my opinion, the downside of the plastic carboy is cleaning it. I’ve had gunk that wouldn’t come off after 24 hour soakings with PBW. A brush really isn’t an option due to scratch potential.
I started out using a bucket.
Then moved to a glass carboy, till it broke.
Then bought a couple Better Bottles. I have been using them for a few years and they do work just fine.
Recently I bought a bucket, because I wanted an easy way to top crop yeast, and might start using them for all my beers.
They are inexpensive, easy to clean, easy to move around, and easy to add dry hops or top crop yeast.
I’ve used Better Bottles for years and they are all I use these days. I got rid of all my glass carboys last summer after one cracked with my kids nearby.
You do need to use care in cleaning them. I put an old sock on a bottle brush so that I don’t scratch them but I’ve found most gunk will come off with a good long soak.
I’ve never really used buckets, but I can see where they’d be convenient.
Another Better Bottle fan here. Extended soak tends to clean everything out for me. I also have a keg/carboy washer that I built for those really stubborn stains. I have mostly 6 gallon BB but do have a couple 5 gallon ones (from my silly secondary days), which did come in handy for mead and cider aging.
I always use a blowoff tube so the headspace issue doesn’t affect me much.
I just started using these Speidel fermenters and they are great. http://morebeer.com/products/speidel-plastic-fermenter-30l-79-gal.html?site_id=9
They are hard plastic with handles built onto the sides. At just under 8 gallons, I have plenty of head space. The wide opening makes cleaning a lot easier than regular carboys. The spigot valve makes racking a breeze. They are a little pricey compared to regular carboys, but well worth the money in my opinion.
Wow! Those look awesome. I am going to have to look into those. Thanks for sharing.
I fell in love with Cambro buckets. I paid $12 each but just found them on line for $9.70
I drill a 1" hole for my spigot and 5/8" for my airlock or blowoff
Sturdy, foodgrade, easy clean, plenty of head space, marked for volume, see through enough you can watch your sea monkeys lol
Bumping this again to see if anyone will reply. After my last brew (only my second) I think I’m done with the glass carboys. The danger and weight is enough to give them up.
Is anyone using a plastic fermentor that doesn’t hold in odors after cleaning?
My Speidel fermenters and Better Bottle plastic carboys all hold some of the odor from the previous brews, but soaking them in some cleaner (I uses Oxiclean) overnight usually gets rid of most if not all of the odor from the previous brew. Even if there is some odor left from a previous brew, especially from hoppy beers, I don’t get any carry over into the next beer.
You can do an overnight soak with bleach water, oxyclean solution or PBW and the smell will be gone.
the biggest downside to what your looking to buy is two thing #1 they are not scratch resistant do not I repeat do not use a carboy brush in this only soak with pbw or oxiclean trust me it will scratch if not the bristles the metal center if you rub to hard will mar the plastic and you can harbor bacteria. #2 the dry time you are not supposed to turn these upside down to dry as all that happens is condensation builds up and it takes forever. They recommend laying it on it’s side to dry it taks me in a semi dry area 3-4 days before it’s completely dry. Actually there is another downside they are flexible and if you try to pick one up the sides cave in and suck the airlock liquid into the beer/wort/must whatever so you are delegated to use a milk crate to move it around and yes this will scratch the outside of the carboy but that is less of a concern only cosmetics for this point. I use them for my dry hopping or fruit additions but besides that I prefer glass 99% of the time even though it’s heavier and could break those cons do not out way the con’s of a better bottle type style fermenter. but to each their own I know people who swear by them.
I haven’t had any issues with the BBs holding odors. I typically give them a long soak after emptying them, though.
I think the concerns about scratches are overblown. Yes, you need to be careful. You can’t scrub them like you would glass, but with a good long soak I’ve found this to be a non-issue. Buckets and BBs are the same in this regard. Good sanitation is important, but it is anyway.
After 20 years or so I’ve moved away from glass. I don’t find keeping fermenters in milk crates to be an issue, and I would recommend it with glass also so that you protect them from cracking accidentally.
You can’t scrub them like glass, but you don’t really need to either. Gunk doesn’t stick to them the same way. Usually all it takes is a gallon of lukewarm water, a tablespoon of PBW, and some shaking. If it’s really gross then I’ll stick a soft rag in there too, and with the rag they’re always spick and span within a minute or so.
Soaking works too, but I prefer the shaking because a) I’d rather just get it done and b) I’m a teensy bit worried that excessive exposure to caustic chemicals would shorten the life of the plastic.
As far as relative merits, to me it comes down to this: Both kinds require lots of careful treatment. The difference is in why they do. With plastic, if you aren’t careful you might need a new carboy. With glass, if you aren’t careful you might need a new carboy and a new hand or foot.