Comments on: Glass and Plastic Fermentors

By: mark taylor

mark taylor — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:46:52 +0000

I quit using carboys years ago for large (13gal.) food grade plastic. I open ferment and have not had a contaminated batch yet. I’ve got a couple of these fermentors that I use now and both have spigots in them for easy transfer. Carboys or better bottles, I wouldn’t go back to cleaning those and having to siphon. Finally, if I need to keep the beer over a long period of time I simply transfer to a corney. Couldn’t be easier.
mark
Beer Diary…

By: Corny Keg | Brew Dudes

Corny Keg | Brew Dudes — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:09:55 +0000

[...] See these posts about fermentor choices also: Fermentor Vessels Plastic or Glass [...]

By: Lauren

Lauren — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:30:27 +0000

I’ve always used buckets. My biggest problem with the glass, or better bottles is the racking? God F*(&ing damn to I hate to rack. I just basically use bottling buckets for everything. I just drill the 1 inch hole, and put the bottling spigot in, presto instant sample taking for og reading, and I just hook up a 3/8 tubing and bam into the bottling bucket it goes.
Buckets will last forever, and I just use corny’s to age anything over a month.

By: Glass Carboy or Carboy? | How To Make Homemade Wine

Glass Carboy or Carboy? | How To Make Homemade Wine — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:55:18 +0000

[...] read a great article over at Brew Dudes talking about the decision whether to use plastic or glass [...]

By: Richard Mooney

Richard Mooney — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:38:54 +0000

I have to agree with you on the scratches point – micro-scratches? What?! Never heard of anything going wrong with plastic containers. Add to that the fact that a long enough sterilization is going to kill pretty much anything, and you’re sorted.

The great thing about plastics is that they’re great for the home brewer / winemaker – think of all the stuff you get from the store that comes in big plastic jugs! Cheap fermenters!

Having said that, a lot of these containers are not transparant, which makes them impossible to use for clearing – great for primary fermentation, but you really need to be able to see your wine to clear it.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:51:41 +0000

I looked at the website and the 10 Gall0n was $140, I thought.

BTW, Corny kegs are stainless steel. Cleaning them is very easy with PBW and a quick soak. How do you think the big breweries clean out actual half barrels with the little opening on them? I think for your money you should give cornies a second look.

By: floodx

floodx — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:07:22 +0000

The cornys are aluminum or steel – not stainless – not sure about fermenting in aluminum? guess it couldn’t hurt other than I presume that it is a much softer metal and would scratch like plastic somewhat easily? And since cornys are cheap because most of the ones you can find are used they may already be scratched? Plus I find even the cornys (what 2-3 inch opening?) hard to get liquids in/out of and much harder to clean that my milk can.

Yeah the other brewers make fun of me too when I show em the P&S fermenter – but it just works – been using it for 20-25 batches no infections – and I am not the cleanest brewer. The stuff is made to keep microbes out of food so why not a fermenter? I haven’t really thought about it until now but technically I could apply a thin anti-microbial product on top of it too – I don’t think that it is sufficiently liquid permeable according to a google search.

Just an alternative – price is always an issue – I wish I could afford the 10 gallon can…

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:36:07 +0000

floodx
Love the idea of the stainless milk cans, but wouldn’t fermenting in corny kegs be just as good? And for $140 you could get 4 cornies! And they have all the built in hardware for transfering beer aspectically with CO2 pressure.

I am not sure if Press and seal works the way you think. I would not expect it to keep airborne microbes out of the beer beer. Its pore size it to large for that I think. I would retry your drilled out lid, but get a food grade 100% silicone rubber gasket. Then there’s no worries about rubber toxins or what have you.

Great ideas though. Cheers to being innovative.

BREW ON!

By: Nate

Nate — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:32:35 +0000

I agree with you. I’ve used both plastic and glass and I always go back to plastic. The only time I do not is when I want to age it for awhile. Plastic buckets are easier to clean, the scratches myth is just silly, and it is easier to move/store the buckets.

By: Hopshead

Hopshead — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:15:28 +0000

Here Here! I have gone full circle with plastic buckets. As with most people, it was in my starter kit and I used it extensively with good results. Then the more I read, I decided I need to go with glass. Then after making beer in glass fermenters, my daughter was born and I almost immediately decided, I could live with broken glass, but not her. So I went to better bottles and loved them until they cracked on the bottom, (not sure why). Now I am back to plastic buckets and I after all my trials and tribulations with different fermenters, I don’t know why I really switched away from them. Sure oxidation will be an issue, but I brew 100% ales that don’t require longer than a 2 week primary, and I agree with your assessment that you won’t loose a batch to bacteria “in the microscopic scratches.”