Preferred Primary Fermentation Vessel?

Anything but glass......

 

I use Better Bottles. I prefer the BB to glass as it is safer, lighter, has a larger opening. I prefer them to buckets as I can see what is happening inside. Of course, I would give up the weight and visibility for a SS conical if I could afford them.

 

This poll demonstrates what's likely an unconscious bias against home brewers who ferment in vessels other than those listed.

 

True, but I don't think the OP wants the "turkey drippings pan" or "rat droppings in the barn kettle lid propped w/ apples" crowd weighing in on this one.

Although, Big Mouth Bubblers would be nice to see on the list too.

Go ahead and write in your choice, if the OP gets enough of them he will probably factor that in.

 

The ones that are empty.

 

BB with racking adapter. I really have no complaints, other than the complicated way of transferring under Co2...which I haven't yet attempted. It's easy to clean, easy to maneuver, and simple to store.

I don't have any experience with anything of the SS variety, but if I had the money...I'd give it a go.

 

Whoa dang.

I use glass, but only brew 1 gallon batches. I've been looking at a Big Mouth Bubbler though

 

I got a speidel for my 11g batches last year. Personally am in love with the speidel for the batches i'm going all in for. Also, now that i've got a spigot, i wouldn't go back...spigots are a good thing. But I still use my buckets when I'm splitting the batch for 2 yeasts or dry hops or whatever the case maybe. Pros for the speidel are that I like the low volume bottom to the fermenter (a scoop bottom) and the fact that it is very well built. I've dragged over 11 gallons of wort up & down stairs using the handles on the speidel fermenter and they've held solid.
At work (BYO) we got a SS brew bucket and just brewing a vienna lager with it. Got the wort down to 65F and used the ferm control to quickly bring temps down to 55F. I was really impressed with the whole system. I've brewed on the brew bucket before, but not with their ferm controller. For the price, it's definitely not something you should turn a blind eye to.

 

I use glass carboys almost exclusively. I treat them as if they will break, just in case it one does some time. No mishaps so far. @epic1856 ... assuming that's your hand in the picture, what happened?

 

I clicked buckets, with valve. But I was thinking valve = airlock, and I now realize that you (and everyone else, and me on a good day, for that matter) probably are thinking valve=spigot. So really, buckets, no valve. I sometimes won't even bother with the airlock for the primary, but usually do. Clear would be good, but I really like the easy access and safety of a bucket. I also like the shape - in addition to cleaning, easy to set up to dry, can stack them during storage if desired. While the plastic does scratch eventually, the bucket outlives it's fermentation uses. It can be converted into a useful bucket!

 

There seems to be a "change your vote" button, which I don't recall seeing before. (Maybe I hadn't been paying attention though.)

 

It does not get any better then a plastic bucket. I brew in my Garage and ferment in my basement so the ease of transport is important. Also cleaning is a breeze.

 

Thanks for posting this thread. Was about to start a thread about stainless conicals. Since we have started using ours, I cannot imagine using anything else (used to use glass carboys). Every single aspect of fermentation is easier with the conical -- from temperature control to sampling/gravity readings using the Zwickel to kegging to yeast harvesting to clean-up. Only "issue" is not being able to watch the beer ferment and/or see the clarity or color before kegging (but the samples will give you a good idea). Seriously one of the best investments ever.

 

Basic plastic bucket because it is cheap and easy. I'd love a stainless conical but I frequently do 10 gallon batches and use 2 different yeasts, so I would need 2 conicals (not to mention a way to control temps) and then my wife would kill me for sure

 

I had a similar experienced, called it 4-fingers Ale! I'm now using a Spiedel fermenter. Its lighter than glass, easy to clean and does not shatter!

 

I use my stainless conical 90% of the time. But I still love my buckets with spigots for splitting a 10 gallon batch with different yeasts. And I still use glass for long term aging of things like malt vinegar, mead or cider, but for normal brewing I won't use glass.

 

10 litre demijohns.

 

I like using a plastic bucket. It's easy to clean and no risk of broken glass. I've used the same one for about 10 batches now, and it is getting "seasoned" with the flavors of the different brews I've done. Probably not what a typical diehard brewer wants, but I'd like to think it has the lingering fingerprint of my style of homebrew. I haven't noticed any adverse carrying over of flavors into the beer (yet).

I do use a glass carboy for the secondary though.

 

Started with glass carboys, then betterbottles, then buckets, now buckets with spigots...took me awhile, but life is so much easier and there doesn't appear to be even the slightest degradation in quality for normal timespan primaries