Carboy's Or Fermenting Buckets? Why Use One Over The Other? Carboy

[manticle]

demijohn's are just bigger versions of carboys right?

You can have small demijohns too. Just a different name for the same thing although you can also get ceramic demijohns. Synonyms essentially (you can also have a plastic carboy)

unless ur a serious all grain brewer

Many of us are

i dont see them being any better then a plastic fermentaion bucket with a spigot tap, for me as a partial grain brewer im still leaning toward me good old plastic fermenter. im only fairly new to the sport lads so any and all info is greatly appricated.

They're not better. They're different. If they don't suit your current purpose and a plastic fermenter does, then your decision is made. If you have reason to buy one, based on the qualities they do have then your decision is also made.

 

[Blueweb]

Mantical and u have a good point!! Iv only recently made the change from amature extract brewer and bottling my brew to semi confident partial grain brewer and kegging my brew so what I wanna know is is there a point? Will I make noticely better beer or should i have just gone all grain?? Is it hard to brew a good beer with partial grain method? I may have mentioned earlier that a mate of mine has been a partial brewer for about 15 years now and he brews some of the best beer iv ever tasted and I traveled europe and spent many hours at micro brewies across australia.

 

[manticle]

My opinion and experience only:

You can make decent beer with all methods (kit, extract, partial AG) and shit beer with all methods.

All things being equal, I think the better and fresher the ingredients, the better the result will be. Therefore the more grain you use (caveats aplenty but I did say all things being equal), the better the beer should be.

Nothing wrong with doing partials - I made some great partials that were better than most of my extracts. Some brewers go through every step, some go straight to AG, some go straight from kit to AG. Find what works for you. None of these are wrong or bad.

There's a point to every step you choose to take as long as you learn from mistakes and successes alike and stay passionate, curious and creative.

 

[DUANNE]

my 2c(if its really worth that much) if you are doing partials then you may as well be doing all grain. all the steps and time are equivelent but can make a better beer all things being equal. thet being said i still make the occasainal can beer and with what ive learnt along the way they can come out pretty damned good, not as good as my equivelent ag beer but freshness of ingredients most likely have a large part to play. but if you feel confident in your procceses doing the partials then have a go at biab. if its not for you then nothing is stopping you from going back to extract or partials after all.

 

[freezkat]

Have never paid more then that in UD$ for any of mine. I have a small one that worked great for a Barley Wine that I talked someone in to making. I have lots in the 5 gallon (20 liter?) size and one large one that is 6.5 gallons. I had so many of the 5 gallon ones that I gave one away as a raffle prize. All of the 5 gallon ones I have are old water bottles that have turned blue with age. I also have one fermenting bucket that I use as well as a bottling bucket that I have fermented in. I like glass, just don't trust plastic. It is not natural.

I bet I have a better chance finding used carboys in second hand stores, as there must be more floating around in the USA. You should be able to find old water bottles unless you never used them.

they were always blue. It was a marketing ploy to make the water more appealing. Or if they were left in the sun trace elements of cobalt or copper could turn them blue to green

 

[lickapop]

I used a Better bottle carboy for the first time last brew. If you believe the hype on their site it should be 'better than glass' lol
I like it. I can see that fluffy foam stuff on the top of my brew, its light and I can fit 2 no problem in my fermentation chest freezer where I couldnt fit 2 square cubes.
Also they are suppose to be non air permeable.

 

[muthead]

Side note, anyone see Bunnings now have square 30L drums with the large round opening, they are only just a bit taller, and still under $20. When ever I need to replace mine these are the new puppies.

+1 - I do the same. Coupled with gladwrap. No frills fermenting but just as effective :icon_cheers:

 

[stux]

I switched to use 25L pail style fermenters a few years ago. I just got pissed off with cleaning the barrel style ones

they look like this



Benefits, all my fermenters stack inside each other, which means I can store 3 in virtually the same space as 1, and they're so easy to clean... I just use a bung to block the tap hole, then put everything, even the lid and spoon in, and fill with PBW.

drain, rinse then I toss a few L of starsan in and seal the lid and shake.

I also use a 60L fermenter, which has a two part lid so I can seal it easily.



Will be much easier to clean once I get some fermenter bags from craftbrewer

 

[wynnum1]

What about large champagne bottle 28 L

 

[homebrewkid]

Ok so glass seems like the logical step if you are worried about infection?! So 316 stainless sheet metal sounds like it would be perfect to make a fermenter! Lucky I'm a boilermaker lads! Think I'll have to add a sheet of stainless to my next job order!

But in all seriousness it sounds like plastic is just fine for me as an amateur hobby brewer at the moment.

if you are looking at making one you should look into a conical fermenter it wouldnt be hard to make and the benefits are HUGE.

thats what i use as a hlt. just put a couple of kettle elements in and it works a treat.

so you heat up in plastic? can you post photos please i think you might have saved me some cash here........

 

[ekul]

What about large champagne bottle 28 L

Where do you get these from?

You could just cork it, add some sugar and age indefinitely!