08
Nov
The brewing purist will answer glass but the right answer is not that simple. The first thing that you ll notice when looking at plastic and glass carboys is that plastic carboys are significantly lighter and for the most part are shatter proof.
Glass or plastic carboys.
Plastic vs glass carboy. This is one of the topics we tackle quite a lot at great fermentations. Glass vs plastic carboys. Which one is better.
Glass carboys are impermeable to oxygen easy to clean don t scratch and lasts forever. Plastic breathes is tough to clean easy to scratch and wears out. Done deal then right.
A standard 6 gallon carboy weighs around 5 lb almost four times lighter than a glass carboy. Thus a full plastic carboy will weigh around 45 lbs instead of 60 lbs. Yes that s still heavy but that 15 lbs could mean the difference between dropping it and not dropping in some instances.
Plastic pet carboys are much lighter and easier to handle than their glass counterparts. Their lightweight nature makes them much easier to carry and to dump trub sediment from the bottom. Their lightweight nature makes them much easier to carry and to dump trub sediment from the bottom.
Plastic is well known to be softer than glass. When cleaning a traditional carboy you ll find that krausen and hop gunk gets stuck to the roof of the carboy. A carboy brush cannot be used on plastic carboys as it will scratch the plastic.
Pbw or a similar product must be used to clean them. While these products work well they are even more effective with a brush. Glass will not permeate oxygen through its walls.
There is a raging debate in homebrewing circles on which is better. Glass or plastic carboys. The brewing purist will answer glass but the right answer is not that simple.
Glass carboys pros cons. Glass carboys are the traditional option used for brewing throughout history and for good reason. Plastic buckets breathe more than glass carboys and as such can oxidize a brew.
Sanitation is extremely important when brewing your own beer and although plastic buckets are easy to clean since the top lid lifts off the interior of plastic buckets unlike glass can easily scratch which can make it harder to sanitize and lead to. Glass is easier to sanitize than plastic because it wont scratch which creates areas for bacterial growth. This means that with basic use they ll last longer without needing to be replaced versus the plastic bucket.
Finally the tapered neck of a carboy can reduce surface area that is exposed to oxygen. Disadvantages of the glass carboy. The first thing that you ll notice when looking at plastic and glass carboys is that plastic carboys are significantly lighter and for the most part are shatter proof.
Being light and virtually unbreakable making storage fairly easy with them. Glass on the other had is heavy and can break. An empty plastic carboy can weigh as little as 5 lbs whereas a glass carboy of the same capacity can weigh around 20 lbs.
So if you are looking to move your carboy a lot plastic can be a better choice in this regard. Glass carboys are much heavier than plastic ones so you need a bit of caution while moving them around. You may add a carboy handle on your glass vessel but you still have to provide support at the bottom.