11/17/2009 -- I have been looking at a lot of different home brewery kits on the internet. What is the difference in the performance between plastic and glass (carboy) fermenters?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: The selection of fermenters is entirely a personal choice. Some like to make larger batches, some smaller. Usually a home brewer or winemaker ends up owning several carboys, fermenters etc in order to properly age his brew.

Plastic has the advantage of being rugged and light weight. It CAN become scratched, however, and doesn't seem to . . .

7/17/2009 -- Is a 5 gallon carboy big enough to secondary ferment a 5 gallon batch of beer?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: As a secondary fermenter, yes. This assume that the bubbling has slowed down considerably by the time you transfer into the carboy.

I would not use it as a PRIMARY fermenter, however if you hope to yield 5 gallons.

1/26/2008 -- I live about an hour (if traffic is good) from the address on your website. Do you have an actual store or is everything here based solely online?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: Yes, we have an actual brick-and-mortar store in Everett, WA. People actually walk in and buy stuff!

Our address is:

Homebrew Heaven
9109 Evergreen Way
Everett, WA 98204

Here is a video of our shop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1a5fKvv8XI

Heck, you can actually call us on the phone, too! It's 425-355-8865. A person will . . .

5/12/2007 -- What type of plastic are the 6 & 11 gallon plastic carboys made from?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: High density polyethylene

5/16/2005 -- i am new to this, and i have seen and heard of people using plastic buckets for final fermentation, their purpose for doing this is so they can attach a spigot to the bucket for bottling, is this ok to do or is glass the better choice? thanx again and i find that you question and answer part of the site to be very helpful

Response From Homebrew Heaven: Yes, that can be done, but we prefer to use the plastic "bucket" type fermenter for the primary fermenter, and using glass for the secondary. We like the bucket for ease of cleaning, and besides, your beer is only in there for a few days to a week or so. We find glass to be better for clarifing your beer, however. This is not to say you CAN'T . . .

3/13/2005 -- I'm just getting started brewing and I had a question. As a primary fermenter which is better, plastic bucket, plastic carboy or glass carboy. Then for secondary fermentation, plastic carboy or glass carboy?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: You will find that brewers have different preferences. Personally, I like the plastic bucket for a primary. It's inexpensive, and easy to clean. For the secondary, I like glass carboys. Glass seems to cause the beer/wine to clear better. If I had a lot of money, I'd probably get a stainless steel Fermenator.

2/2/2005 -- Im looking for a carboy to hold 20-30 L of strong acid or base with clear and legible graduations of at most 1 L,
no gallons please. The 20 L and 50 L nalgene carboys we use now could use graduations that are easier to read, and lose the gallons.

Response From Homebrew Heaven: We have nothing like that, sorry. I see no reason why you can't mark the carboys with tape, on the outside, at 1 L increments, however.

12/13/2004 -- What are the dimensions for the 6 gallon platic carboy?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: It is about 11.5" in diameter, and 17" high.

12/19/2003 -- I am having trouble keeping the temp in the room I am making wine between 70 and 75 degrees as specified in the wine kit I have. I live in Colorado and often the temp at night dips way down, and in the day it can get quite warm. I am not around at all times to adjust the thermastat. Could I solve this problem by wrapping the carboy with . . .

Response From Homebrew Heaven: Sure. We have a Brew Heat Pad that works very nicely. It's basically a hard plastic heating pad for carboys. If it's too warm during the day, just get a cheap lamp timer, and have it turn on only at night.

Here is a link:
http://www.nexternal.com/hombre/?Target=products.asp&ProductID=1129

11/20/2003 -- Can your Brew Heater Pad be used on a plastic carboy?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: Yes! It works well with them. I have one on the floor of my unheated garage right now, and it's COLD in there. By throwing a t-shirt on my carboy, it maintains about 68 deg F. Works will with plastic "bucket" type fermenters too.

10/23/2003 -- I noticed most of the malt extract brew kits are 5 gallon batches. Will a 5 gallon carboy be sufficient for fermentation, or will I need a 6 gallon carboy to allow for foaming? Thanks, I'm new to this.

Response From Homebrew Heaven: We recommend going larger for the primary. That's why we put 6.5 gallon plastic fermenters in our equipment kits. You can use a larger carboy of course, but the 6.5 gallon "bucket" type fermenter allows for the foaming, doesn't break, cleans up easier, and is less weight for shipping. Hey...we were all new to this at one time. No shame in . . .

8/20/2003 -- I just bought 2 6 gallon plastic carboys. I need to order the rubbber stopers and airlock. Can you recommend??

Response From Homebrew Heaven: You will need a #11 stopper for the 6 gallon plastic carboy.

8/13/2003 -- Is this item good for long term secondary fermentaion and storage? I've found that alot of people advise not to use plastic for the finishing process. Is this lore or truth? If I use a plastic container will it effect the wine, and in what ways will it be effected?

Response From Homebrew Heaven: We believe this plastic carboy is a good alternative to glass, and can be used for long term secondary fermentation. It is a very heavy, food grade plastic and it's difficult to imagine air passing IN thru the walls of the fermenter.

You MAY find that it takes a little longer for sediment to "fall out" in plastic, however. It doesn't seem . . .

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