6.5 gal big mouth bubblers

[Berry Juice]

My local beer supply is selling out his stuff. He made me a deal on his 6.5 gal big mouth bubblers for $40.00.
I bought 2 of them.
Am I crazy not to swing by there and pick up a few more? He's got 4 left.
I only have 1 big carboy because I'm just getting started in this hobby.

 

[Boatboy24]

It really depends on what you make. If you're making 6 gallon kits with grape packs, 6.5 gallons probably isn't sufficient for primary fermentation.

 

[Grabo]

In addition to what Boatboy said, it depends on if it is plastic or glass. The plastic ones are a little easier to find at or less than $40. For glass ones, that is a good deal.

For what it's worth, I keep only 1 Big Mouth Bubbler around, and I use it for melomel or any other ferment where I want to age on the fruit and be able to airlock it. That way, when I rack off the fruit, I can fill up a 6 gallon regular carboy.

 

[Berry Juice]

Yes its a glass one, but why are the normal carboys preferred over the big mouth?

 

[Grabo]

For me, the main reason is that I have been sticking to kit wines and the occasional bucket. Those are usually measured out fit into a 6 gallon carboy, so I don't want to have the extra 0.5 gallon of headspace.

I've also slowed down my wine and mead making, so I have started to age the brews in carboy for longer. While I age in carboy, having a smaller area for oxygen to enter at the opening is preferred. Even though there is a bung or a closure, there is still going to be oxygen permeation, and the larger the opening, the greater the potential permeation.

Another reason is that I like to rack my wine under vacuum, and the Big Mouth Bubblers don't have a way that I'm aware of to rack safely under vacuum. I can rack from them under vacuum, but not to them, so having 1 in my case makes sense because of my limited use cycle.

However, Big Mouth Bubblers are great to clean and when you want to add bulky items! It's so much easier to fish out the oranges from my JAOM batches.

 

[bkisel]

If you can put an airlock on them they could be used for "secondary" fermentation.

 

[Berry Juice]

Yes, these have the hole in the lid for a bung to add the air lock.
Thanks for the info

 

[Grabo]

Even with an airlock, you get permeation between the airlock and the bung, the bung and the carboy opening, and (in the case of the wide mouth) the carboy opening and the threaded closure. With a narrow neck carboy, you have fewer modes of permeation and a smaller surface area in contact with other materials to allow permeation. It's up to you if that's too many variables to try to control oxygen permeation, and how long you intend to keep your brew in your wide mouth. My day job is in pharmaceuticals, so I might think about it too much

 

[tjgaul]

I was under the impression (possibly erroneously) that the Fermonster and Big Mouth Bubbler are intended strictly for primary fermentation. Yes, you can put an airlock on them, but even if filled as full as is practical, you'd still have at least double the airspace you'd have in a normal carboy. Aging in a BMB through an extended maceration is practical, but beyond that I prefer to be in a nice solid glass carboy with as little head space as possible. As noted above, in addition to the implicit extra head space you also have to deal with air permeation through multiple points of contact over a much larger surface area related to the method of closure.

 

[mainshipfred]

You can buy 8 gallon fermentation buckets with a lid for under $20.00 and as Jim said they are only good for kits with no skins. I personally would pass and search Craigslist for regular glass carboys.