two beginner questions

stompin

For a primary fermenter .... is a plastic bucket with lid better than a Better Bottle or a glass carboy? Is there a reason?
The extract kit I have says to start preboil with 3 gals water then add 2.5 at end of boil. If I have a large enough pot, can I do the whole 5.5 gal boil. Any advantages either way?
Thank you DWH

bracconiere

wel glass carboy are dangerous, and have hurt people...yes you can use a plastic bucket...
and if you start with a more concentrated solution, might make avoiding stratification easier to get a OG reading? not sure? if you have a big enough pot i'd probably boil the whole thing? just plan for boil off....

BrewnWKopperKat

with a 3 gal boil, it's faster to heat/cool 3 gal water (vs 5.5 gal water).with a 3 gal boil, assuming the kit adds 1/2 the extract at the start of the boil and 1/2 at the end, this is a reasonable way to make many styles of beer. Very high IBU styles probably can not be made this way.with a 3 gal boil, brewers often chill the 'top-off' water to help with the wort cooling process.If you have big enough kettle to do a full volume boil and your heat source (stove?) can boil that much wort, a full volume boil can be a good choice for high IBU styles. Be aware that it will take longer to cool 5 gal of wort (than to cool 3 gal wort).
Depending on the specific kit, there may be other insights that can be offered. Can you post a link to the kit recipe?

BrewnWKopperKat

... and welcome to HomeBrewTalk @stompin !

CascadesBrewer

I have not used plastic buckets for years. They are good starter fermenters and some people use them for decades. I moved to glass because it was easier to clean and sanitize (maybe not "easier", but plastic buckets get harder to fully sanitize with use). A few years ago I moved from glass over to PET based Fermonster fermenters. They are nice fermenters I like that I can get my arm down in there for cleaning...vs the narrow opening on the Better Bottle.