which equipment kit should i get

[yoyokid82005]

i am interested in getting into homebrewing and was wondering which kit i should get the one with the carboy or the two buckets. can you guys give me pros and cons of each so i can make a better disicion (sp?).
thanks
Pat

[jawbox]

Plastic fermenters
Pros
-Lighter
-More space for krausen
-easier to dryhop
-easier to clean
-cheaper
Cons
-use soft sponge for cleaning, if you scratch the surface you run the risk of infections.
-oxygen permeable
-only use for short term fermentation

Glass Carboy
Pros
-You can see fermentation activity
-Easier to sanitize
-Not oxygen permeable, great for long term fermentation (barley wine, Imperial stouts etc.)
Cons
-heavy
-may need to use a blow off hose
-harder to clean inside
-harder to dryhop
-can break, this is not pretty.
-more expensive

That been said I started with plastic fermenters and moved on to glass carboys once I knew this was something I was going to be doing long term. I'm now moving over to Better bottles, best of both world since I made my automatic keg/carboy washer.

My advice, get the kit with buckets, you can always expand later on by adding a carboy. I used to primary in plastic then secondary in carboy.

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I only use glass for beers i'm planning on fermenting for more than a month. The problem with buckets though, is you will most likely have to replace them more often than glass. It seems like no matter how good I clean mine, they always still smell like beer. This concerns me, but I've never had an infection or bad beer from them. Until I do, I won't change my brewing practices.

Start with plastic...move onto glass if you feel you need to. Just my opinion.

[yoyokid82005]

i can get my hands on a plastic 6 liter (one of the big ones.) water cooler bottle would that be good for a secondary or do i need to get a glass carboy. im still trying to get a feeling of what i can get and use.
thanks
Patric

[jawbox]

water cooler bottle are oxygen permeable, or are you referring to a Better Bottle? They look the same but they are made from a different material.

You would be better sticking with the buckets initially. You can leave most beers in a primary for a couple of weeks and then bottle or keg. There a lot of beer styles out there that don't need to be transfered to a secondary.

Jaw