Each type has its own merits. The plastic buckets are slightly less expensive than the glass and much safer to handle. The buckets have the outstanding option of being fitted with spigots, which makes siphoning unnecessary; a real plus. The buckets are typically 6 gallons, giving 1 gallon of headspace for the fermentation, which is usually sufficient.
The spigot option eliminates siphoning and is practically a necessity at bottling time. A bottling bucket with a spigot allows greater control of the fill level. In my opinion, this is the only way to bottle. Although you will need a siphon, glass has the advantage of letting you see your beer and be able to gauge the activity of the fermentation.
The large size typically has enough headspace to contain the krausen, while the 5 gallon size almost completely eliminates the headspace above the beer, preventing oxidation during the conditioning phase. Homebrewing Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for dedicated home brewers and serious enthusiasts.
It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. The nice gent at the supply store gave us so much information that my head was swimming when we left. After reading web sites and "How To Brew" first edition, I am still confused on where in the brewing process the carboy comes into play.
The first brew I will be making is from a kit for a Belgian Ale. The gent said to leave that in the fermenter for 'about 3 weeks' then bottle it. At what stage in this do I use the carboy? Do I even need to use it? A long standing mantra of brewing was to ferment in the plastic bucket for 7 days.
Then the beer would be siphoned out of the bucket and into the carboy. In the carboy it would sit for 14 days. This step was used 1 to help with beer clarity as more stuff would settle out here post the primary ferment done in the pail 2 to get the beer of the sludge of yeast that will be sitting at the bottom of the pail after 7 days. Current more conventional thinking has won out that you only really need to do your ferment for most beers for 14 days in one vessle.
As a new brewer the buckets tend to be easier to clean and maintain at first, but a glass carboy lets you see the beer fermenting in side and is sort of cool.
I would recommend choosing the bucket and fermenting for 14 days. They are basically a food-grade plastic bucket with a lid, most of the time the lid has a drilled hole which allows you to fit an airlock or blow-off tube.
A carboy is a vessel which often comes with a narrower neck than a bucket and can be made from plastic or glass. Outside brewing they are used to store a number of liquids, even acid. However, most brewers know them as their main fermentation vessel. They are usually made from fairly thick food-grade plastic, but it depends on the brand. Another great thing about fermenting buckets is that they can also double up as bottling buckets, assuming you have two you should always try to rack your fermented beer before you bottle or even as a handy cleaning vessel if you upgrade to another type of fermenter.
So, anything that makes the job easier really helps. Buckets are generally easy to clean because of the wide access you get right to the bottom. This makes the job much easier than some brands of carboys. However, some types of plastic might absorb the smell of your last brew.
If this is the case for you, check out my article here on how to get the smell out. When compared to glass, a plastic fermenting bucket is going to be pounds lighter. This is important when you are working with yeast which is particularly active and produces a healthy krausen see my article for more details on krausen.
Rarely will you need to fix a blow off tube to a large fermenting bucket, which is normally required for almost all cases when fermenting in a carboy. Carboys work great until you break one. I've used the carboy that came with my original kit a grand total of three times until I made the move to plastic buckets. Better Bottles also work well.
A few years back I switched to fermenting in kegs, and I'll never go back. It's worth every penny of the investment, and then some. Eric B. Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer.
I like glass carboys. You can see what is going on and an unforeseen extended primary doesn't result in much risk of oxidation. I still use my original carboy from for big beers with very active yeast. It is a big carboy. I use buckets. I gave up on those lids that have a rubber grommet - a true PITA to clean. Just solid lids for me.
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