BeerBorg

This Christmas I received a 7 gallon wide mouth glass fermenter from Kegco so I could expand my operation to 5 gallon batches. Up until now I have only brewed 1 and 2 gallon batches. My first 5 gallon batch is currently fermenting in my new Kegco fermenter, but I'm feeling the need to brew again. I'm thinking that I'd like to have two 5 gallon batches going at one time so I'm in need of another fermenter. I'm not a fan of buckets because I want to see whats going on. What are you guys using? I'm trying to stay away from the traditional small neck carboys. Too much of a pain to clean. So I'm looking for something in the wide mouth category and I'm also trying to stay away from the big mouth bubbler because I hear nothing but complaints about the lid blowing off. If I have to put a brick on top of the fermenter to keep the lid on, it's a defective product. Sorry big mouth bubbler engineers.

I often have two batches going, but I mostly use buckets.
I think that both BrewDemon and MrBeer make fermenters for 5 gallon batches. You might also search Amazon. Good luck, let us know what you do.

I've already searched around a little bit on amazon. But it's hard to tell whats good and what isn't. From what I can gather the big mouth bubbler is just a big waste of money. I'm interested in what more experienced people are using.

Preview: Re: Primary Fermenter needed!

I have brewed a few batches in a bucket and others on here do it all the time and like it and good results. My favorite fermenter (until what I have now) was a glass 6.5 big mouth bubbler. I had no problem with the lid seal on mine and it worked super well other then being glass and heavy and I say glass again, because while rinsing it out one time in my sink, it broke and cut the crap out of my fingers. I went to a Ss Brew bucket next and that is really better in my opinion..https://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/the ... gKyEPD_BwE It's fun to see the action happening, but after awhile you know it is and just let it go....I think beerlord has the plastic version on what I had and think it works good for him..

The large fermenters Coopers and Mr. Beer and Brew Demon sell all will make good beer and you can see inside them. And they are as easy to clean as a bucket - easier actually, at least in the case of the Coopers ones as they have no sharp/90 degree edges. I'm not sure about the Big Demon in that sense, I think Louie knows more about that fermenter.

But they cost a lot more then a bucket unless you find them on sale.

I like my little 3 gallon version of the Coopers ones a lot, and the are identical to the 6 gallon ones except smaller. I got them 50% off so I didn't mind paying for them at that price, the ease of cleaning and how they fit in my space makes them worth it to me.

But the 6 gallon Coopers one is $80 at full price. A bucket is like 1/4th that much.

It also depends on if you want an airlock. You can airlock the Big Demon, but the 6 gallon Coopers fermenters are airlock free (self venting).

That really means *nothing* in reality as far as making great beer, but some people get a bug up their butt about airlocks.

Only time they really matter is if you were doing long aging in a secondary IMHO.

I now have 2 Fermonster 7 g fermenters along with 4 opaque 8 g buckets and a few 6.5 g buckets. Like the Fermonster for sure.

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Fermonsters and opaque buckets here as well. Be careful and don't over tighten the lid on the Fermonster. Sometimes getting it off is the problem.

I use a 7 gallon SS Brewbucket 95% of the time and when I have that in use and need a second fermenter, I use the plastic Big Mouth Bubble. Buckets are just fine but I would suggest you ditch them after about 2 years or so as there is a slight chance (personally I've never seen this) that scratches on the inside can hide bugs and cause infections.

Well, for my 5G fermentors I'm using two "Ale Pails" basically 6.5G white "hard to see into" buckets. However before I got those I bought a 8G fermentor off of eBay from a guy here in southeast Missouri. While it's not as transparent as the plastic/glass bottles/carboys, you can see into it pretty easily. Mine came with an airlock and a spigot too.

When I bought a new 5 gallon carboy I switched from Better Bottle to the Big Mouth Bubbler. I won't use glass because I ferment in my basement, and it has a concrete slab. But I was disappointed in the small neck of the Better Bottle. I haven't had an issue with the Big Mouth Bubbler lid blowing off. There's a lot of head room, so I'm guessing the pressure builds slowly enough to release more gently through the airlock. I use a 3-piece airlock rather than the S-bend, and whether that makes a difference or not, I don't know. But it's much easier to clean, and I haven't had any issues with it so far.