bucket as a secondary

[monk420]

i have 3 batches going and need to put my barley wine into a secondary. Can i use my 6 gallon fermenter bucket as a secondary it's all i got.

 

[Walker]

if you are planning to age that barley wine for a long period of time, a bucket is probably not the best choice. It might work, but glass would definitely be a better choice for aging.

 

[Shinglejohn]

You would be much better served by a glass carboy for long secondary. Plastics buckets are more permeable to oxygen.

How long are you planning on leaving it in secondary?

 

[Shinglejohn]

Beat me to it walker!

 

[powerfreak]

A bucket will certainly work, but if you're going for a longer fermentation, glass is better.

I recently did my Toasted Coconut Porter, glass primary then plastic bucket secondary, opposite of what I usually do, but that's because it's a hell of a lot easier to get coconut out of a bucket than it is getting it out of a carboy.

Not lazy... efficient!

 

[monk420]

a year. i do have plastic better bottles i could use one of those for my barley wine and put my other batch in the plastic bucket thats only in the secondary for a month. I don't own glass just 1 six gal. bucket and 3 six gal. better bottles

 

[Shinglejohn]

Better bottle is probobly a better way to go, but for that long of a bulk aging, i would invest in a glass carboy. Nothing wrong with better bottles but with glass you can be certain there is no permeability.

 

[ChshreCat]

+1 on going ahead and picking up another glass carboy if you're bulk aging for a year. It's not that much to spend when you're investing a year on a beer. I'd hate to spend a year on something and have it come out less than what I expected it to be.