Glass carboy or plastic pail fermenter?

[Stinkfist]

I use Iodophor, but bought some PBW today so that might work better on stubborn stuff.

Iodophor is a sanitizer not a cleaner.....I would be surprised if you could get it clean at all....and I see why you think it would be a pain....wait till you try the PBW..

[spiderwrangler]

+1 to siwel

My reasoning behind using the bottling bucket was instead of racking to bottles, it would be easier to just pour straight to bottles, and minimize the extra O2 exposure I would get from racking to a bottling bucket...

However, this brings up issues of bottling yeast and trub, as your port will likely pull some of this over as well. Additionally, you would then have to dose each bottle individually with priming sugar (carb tabs would be the best way around this), rather than mixing it in your bottling bucket as that would dislodge all the sediment.

[crashlann]

Oh, I definitely understand the difference between a detergent and sanitizer, I have only had a couple instances where I needed to clean grime off brewing equipment so that why I use Iodophor primarily, and Bicarbonates for scrubbing. Thanks for the tips.

[Stinkfist]

Oh, I definitely understand the difference between a detergent and sanitizer, I have only had a couple instances where I needed to clean grime off brewing equipment so that why I use Iodophor primarily, and Bicarbonates for scrubbing. Thanks for the tips.

umm I am going to say you don't know the difference.....you can not get it sanitized unless it is clean....you must use a cleaner before a sanitizer or you are wasting your time....

[crashlann]

Actually I do know the difference, this post went way off topic...I never asked about cleaning vs. disinfecting...my question was about ferementation vessels, I pointed out at the beginning that I understood the problems with scratching...and I mentioned iodophor only to give information about my process. I have never had a sanitation issue. The question was solely related to fermentation vessels, but I was trying to be gracious because I appreciate the feedback. So...ummmm, thanks for the feedback,

[linuxelf]

I'm a firm believer in the Better Bottle. I love mine. That said, I have had several fermentations that left some stuff that wouldn't come off with a hot PBW soak. PBW did a great job of loosening stuff up, but it doesn't always knock it completely off the sides of the bottle. My solution is, after PBW has had its turn, I put a wet wash cloth into the Better Bottle with about a liter of water, then just move the Better Bottle around in a circle whipping the cloth around the inside. It knocks everything off. Pull the cloth out, rinse and sanitize. I wouldn't recommend shaking a glass carboy like that, but for a Better Bottle, there's no problem.

[LukeD23]

I use Plastic Buckets and have used them for 3+ yrs now. I like how easy they are to deal with. I have never had any bacterial infection problems I am just super careful when cleaning not to scratch, then I replace them once a year. I have medaled in a few comps recently and even won a Best of Show at a BJCP sanctioned comp. So you can make good beer in plastic.

However, I do occasionally get some slight oxidation in my beers. It is normally really minimal if at all, but I think that is probably the biggest suck factor of buckets. I am thinking of buying a Better Bottle and giving that a try, I have always been intrigued.

The positives of the Buckets is that they are really cheap, thats the main reason I use them. I think it doesn't matter all that much what you are fermenting in, or at least it isn't the #1 thing to focus on, it is more important to pay attention to your yeast.

Cheers!

[grainman]

I have been using the same 2 buckets for 2+ years now and the only infection was from my 1st brew due to other issues .I never let anything touch the inside of the bucket that can scratch it. I did buy 2 better bottles recently and tried them, but was not happy with them because of the 6 gallon capacity. I was losing some beer through the blow off so I went back to the buckets for primary and use the better bottles for dry hopping / secondary.I prefer to get 5 gallons of beer into the keg rather than 4.5. I don't think there are any more oxidation issues with buckets than there are with carboys as long as you are not doing a beer that needs a long secondary. As far as glass goes......the last thing I need is a shattered carboy full of wort all over my house on brew day just because I tripped over something or bumped into something. I'll stick with the plastic thanks