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Carboys
Is there a rule of thumb for when to use a glass carboy and when to use a plastic one? I've used both in the past for wine and beer.
Better beer comes from glass.... My opinion.... Also if you have good tasting water... you'll make a great tasing beer.. TheJet
Are you talking about a plastic carboy or just a plastic fermentor? The general consensus seems to be that most plastic carboys (except the better bottle ones?) are oxygen permeable and can lead to oxidization, so glass would always be prefered. If you are talking about plastic fermentors (food-grade buckets?) I'm not sure if it makes a difference.
While it is true that plastic is more oxygen permeable than glass, unless you are leaving your beer in the plastic carboy for a LONG time (like many weeks), don't worry about it.
I have left beer in a plastic bucket for 2 weeks with no problem. As for glass carboys, I have left beer in those for a month with no problem. You probably shouldn't leave it in a plastic bucket for a very long time, but a few weeks should not hurt it. I've done it.
Food grade plastic buckets have a certain compound used in manufacturing (don't know the name of it) that can leak off flavors. Some of mine are paint buckets, but they are food grade, and I have never had a problem with them.
If you have the choice, I would say glass, but as long as you aren't leaving beer in the plastic carboy for endless weeks, don't worry about it.
There is also the issue of being able to see what is happening with your beer - I personally love using the glass carboys so I can see the wort churning and fermenting.
That being said, have you seen this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3D4qYnhMzQ
That's some insane fermentation.
That guy used one hell of a starter. I've never seen fermentation like that.
With glass carboys, you either need to keep them in a cool, dark place, or wrap something dark around them, otherwise, the sunlight will affect the hops and give you skunky beer.
That has to be the coolest fermentation ever.
my blow off
Better beer comes from glass.... My opinion.
That's completely crazy. You're entitled to your opinion, but how could the quality of the beer be different from glass. For the record I use both, glass carboys and two v-vessels, there's no way I could tell which one came from glass or plastic.
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