Fermenting in a demijohn/carboy/Better Bottle

[QED]

Hi All,
Being quite new to home-brewing, I'm reading "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" (which i'm finding a great read and well worth the buy) and in it, the guy brews in a glass carboy from start until bottling. I quite like this idea, not only for the aesthetically pleasing site of a carboy/demijohn rather than a bucket but also the fact that it's clear and I can see what's going on - which also helps with the syphoning into bottles!

I was almost at the point of buying a Better Bottle (yes, I know it's not the same glass type as used in the book however it looks exactly what I need and a bit easier to clean) and getting started however a short phone call to a supplier of said bottle today said that he'd not recommend doing that, instead he'd recommend 1st stage fermenting in a bucket and then decanting into the Better Bottle after 3 days for the duration of fermentation. This has made the Better Bottle idea slightly less appealing as I just want a single fermenting solution at this stage.

It's explained in the book that it's recommended that a larger blow-off pipe into a water filled bottle be used for the first few days then this can be swapped for a bubble fermenter.

What's all your opinions? Has anyone tried this method, is it a go-er?

Thanks

 

[Aleman]

The problem with Papazian is that he is American and this idea of fermenting in Carboys comes from there . . . it is not really required. Use a Fermenting bucket with the lid sat on loosly.

 

[Moley]

Well it rather depends upon what you're planning to make and if any solids are involved.

My country wines might start in the bucket for the first 3-7 days according to recipe (occasionally longer) but my juice wines are in DJ / carboy from day 1.

If your brew starts in a bucket or a translucent larger fermenter like the Young's ones, after straining or first racking it does need to end up in a transparent vessel for the reasons you mention. A single fermenting solution isn't usually an option, even if you are using a Better Bottle from the start you will need a second or an array of DJs or 5 litre PETs when it comes to racking and clearing.

I have never used any sort of larger blow-off pipe or water filled bottles. You may need to keep an eye on the airlock for the first few days and keep topping up the water which is blown out, but with all that CO2 belching out, no nasties would want or be able to get in.


Whoa! hang on, I've just noticed ths thread is under “beer brewing”, please clarify.
If beer, use a lidded bucket and ignore everything I just wrote.

 

[QED]

Indeed I am talking about brewing beer here and not wine

As I stated, this is the method used in "The complete joy of homebrewing" book - just wondered if anyone else uses this method as I think i'm going to give it a go.

 

[Moley]

With the head of foam a beer usually produces and all the cack which is carried on top of it, I really don't think I'd want that in a carboy or closed fermenter. Better Bottles are for winemaking, I suppose a Young's 6 gallon fermenter would be ok, at least you can get your arm inside to clean around the shoulder, but they aren't transparent so that rather defeats your objective.