6.5 gallon glass carboy

freedgull

I'd love to get my hands on a glass carboy with more headspace for beer brewing...

Anyone have any ideas where I could find one in Ireland?

oblivious

Hi freedgull

Grape and grain sell then here is a link http://www.grapengraindublin.com/.

I have bought two of them. I do my primary in a plastic fermenter and secondary in glass, glass is not permeable to oxygen and will reduce the chance of oxidation of your beer.

But there can be two problems with glass carboys 1) there are have been a number of case of them shattering when people are handling them and cutting them up very badly. 2) Generally plastic fermenter uses an air lock, as they have a lot of room for the Kräusen to develop. In glass carboys this can be blown out and causing a mess, especially with big beers. So some people add a blow off tune to over come this, here is what one looks like,

http://www.breworganic.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=290

Hope this is of some help

bigears

An alternative is the 'Better Bottle' seen here:

http://www.hopshopuk.com/cgi-bin/browse-no-frames.cgi?view=group&group=vessels

I haven't tried this so I can't vouch for it but I've seen good reviews on forums. I use water cooler bottles for secondary which are similar. If you work in an office it should be fairly easy to borrow one. They only hold 18.9 litres though (5 US gallons).

oblivious

They seem to be gaining popularity in the states. Just to add glass is not totally impermeable to oxygen it just more resistant than plastic. I have heard of people using these with no problems, although I don’t known how they would compare if you have a very big beer in the secondary for many months.

Hendrixcat

I'm keen to get one but a home brew writer once compared using a full wet one as similar to juggling live grenades.....

oblivious

They can be dangerous, but why not do you’re primary in a plastic and secondary in glass, and you can get the best of both worlds

freedgull

I guess sticking to primary in plastic and secondary in glass will do me for the moment - I would prefer to go all glass though. Not sure why. Just look and feel I suppose. A more aesthetically pleasing method for the co-habitants...

I think the girlfriend is happier with the carboy then the Big Plastic bucket

I also like to get a look at whats going on inside...

Hendrixcat

I've been using a plastic bucket and 4 or 5 small 1 gal glass demijohns for the secondary. I just like the idea of a large 5 gal glass fermenter for logistical reasons. I'm planning on sticking with the bucket because I think the idea of a semi open primary fermentation is traditional and I've yet to pick up any infection or contamination from it. All the American homebrew books seem to reccommend a glass primary but if an open system is good enough for the Marston's brewery in Burton-upon-Trent it's good enough for me!

oblivious

Sounds good, just be wear that commercial breweries have a very quick turn around in the brewing process. The conditioning phase can be as short as 2 day but generally a week. Very few beers are aged any more and there conditioning vessel would have a small free space to liquid ratio to reduce the contact with oxygen. Those beers that are subjected to long condition time are usually blended with younger beer to produce old ale’s.

guildofevil

I use a plastic bucket for both primary and secondary.

The oxidation issue, with plastic secondary vessels is a lot less dangerous to your beer than people (usually American home brewers) seem to think. Yes, the plastic is somewhat permeable to o2 and yes, over time, this can cause oxidation. But for most beers, you simply won't be leaving them in secondary for long enough for this to happen.

I have left beer in a plastic bucket for up to ten weeks without ending up with the wet cardboard, or sherry like flavour oxidation causes.

If I were to, for example, try ageing a barley wine in secondary for a long time, I might go over to a glass demijohn, but, come to think of it, I would probably not bother and just let it age carbonated in the keg or bottle.

oblivious wrote:

Very few beers are aged any more and there conditioning vessel would have a small free space to liquid ratio to reduce the contact with oxygen. Those beers that are subjected to long condition time are usually blended with younger beer to produce old ale’s.

Sorry oblivious, but that is simply not the case. Some beers are blended, but most aged beers are not. Chimay Blue anyone? Even if you are going to blend an old beer with a young one, you certainly wouldn't use and oxidised old beer.

The head-space is also not all that relevant. A bucket with a lid on it is enough to stop stuff falling into your beer and it traps a layer of co2 resting on top of the liquid. This forms a barrier, preventing oxidation and helping to protect it from infection. The real advantage that commercial breweries have is stainless steel conditioning tanks, which, like glass, are not even slightly permeable to o2.

Another advantage glass has over plastic is sanitation. Plastic gets scratched very easily and this can give little nasties places to hide and survive your sanitation process. Again, this can happen, that is not the same as will happen.

I have never had a beer become infected in secondary.

I would say that if you have glass, use it, it's better. If not, don't worry about it. I could get some 5 gallon glass demijohns and use them as secondary vessels and my beer would be safer from infection and oxidation than it is with my current set-up. However, I could get a brix refractometer, a digital Ph meter, an insulated mash tun, or a host of other cool toys, for less than, or the same price as, one or two of these and I know what I would prefer.

oblivious

What I mean by long conditioning is a year or so, whereas modern commercial brewing techniques allow for a much reduced secondary/conditioning stage. It just the economics of brewing, the faster you can get the beer in to the bottle the lower you’re over heads are. Even some potent barely wine’s these day are allowed to conditions in bottle as opposed to been aged in the brewery.

I don’t think chimay has a long conditioning stage; from what I found the beer is cold-aged for a week at 0 degrees after primary. It is then carbonate with the addition of fresh yeast and sugar then shipped out. Although they do suggest you can lay it down of up to 5 years where it will develop a port wine character.

Olde Suffolk English Ale is a blend of between 2-5 year old ale (around 10%) with a fresh ale to produce the strong ale, they are generally not oxidized but will have a sour not to them.

If secondary works in plastic bin great, one big disadvantage of glass is trying to cleaning the yeast out of them, it's a real pain!

rubadub

I used to brew in s/s kegs. If brewing in glass make sure it is covered from light as it affects the taste

oblivious

Hi rubadub

Yea I always keep them covered up, I also keep my primary covered just in case. What are s/s kegs?

noby

s/s: stainless steel, I presume.

rubadub, did you ferment in kegs too?

rubadub

Sorry, yes S/S is stainless steel. Just regular beer kegs. I had 2 of them, one was landed in a mates garden, somebody must have taken it home from a pub and got tired, the other was from my mates neighbour who had it in a skip. Scrap steel places should have nashed ones (leak proof but volume may have changed or pressure capacity comprimised so they are not suitable for commercial use). I just drilled a hole in it and stuck a bung in. Advantage of glass is you can see what is happening, s/s it not going to allow much gas exchange and there is no shatter risk, also has nice handles.
I would ferment in one, rack to the other, then syphon to bottles.

I also used 25L washing up liquid containers, get them in resturaunts, chippers get oil in 20-25l plastic containers. I also had a metal 15L veg oil container with a wide screw on lid, eddie rockets use them, took it from round the back in stillorgan shopping centre (empty).

beardybrewer

I can't figure out the appeal of a carboy compared to a good bucket. Is it simply to see the yeast churning the first day or two? I'm using a 6.5 gallon wine fermenter with a 4" screw-on cap with gasket. Makes a strong seal and is very easy to clean and transport.



I believe mine is from the homebrew centre, limerick

Hendrixcat

I have a fermenter just like newkie's but I had a problem for a while, mainly due to reading too many American home brew books. The American books state that there should be no headspace in a secondary fermenter and hence the one pictured on Newkie's post is no good because you can't fill it right to the top. I started using 5 litre demijohns, filled right to the top and airlocked as secondary. But then I checked out a video podcast on homebrewing and they guy racked off his IPA into a secondary glass carboy and left a gaping great gap in the top of it. Apparently this is fine and makes secondary fermentation alot easier to do. Who to believe? I'll be leaving a gap in the next one if it turns out that way.

oblivious

My glass carboys are 6 gallon, I brew 5 gallons and I always have a gap. Their will be a little fermentation in the secondary and this will produce some carbon dioxide that will purge your carboy of oxygen

beardybrewer

Exactly! I wouldn't worry about headspace. I know when I read Papazian I was intruiged at the idea of using a blow-off tube in the primary. But then I brew mainly dark beers, which tend to be more forgiving anyway.