Gearing up!

[VCTFernandes]

Hey guys,

I've been reading this forum for a while and gone from a guy who had never brewed anything to someone who is eager to brew some decent mead.
Have made a couple of tries without proper reading and preparation, but the results were drinkable (except for one which got very bitter because of lemon pith... perhaps time will fix it, or i'll make it extra sweet to mask the bitterness).

The point is: To brew these poor guys I used olive jars of around 0.8 gallons, giving me a final volume of no more than 2 liters each... That's not nice... Problem is, I got addicted to this damn hobby so I wanna buy some carboys
They're not easy to find in Brazil where I live but I found these, which are rated as 34L (~9 gallons)
http://www.acquamineira.com.br/site/produto.php?n=31
http://www.acquamineira.com.br/site/produto.php?n=37
My question is, will the format interfere somehow? Is the drop-shaped one more prone to cause problems with krausen getting into the airlock?
Which one would you choose?

Thanks everyone!

[Marshmallow Blue]

Id go with trying to find a smaller container at first. You don't want to have 24+ pounds of honey to go down in a bad batch. But if you're confident and can lift the weight of it full without dropping it there shouldn't be a problem using at least the second one. I haven't seen anyone using the teardrop shaped ones but I'm sure it can be done.

[VCTFernandes]

Originally Posted by Marshmallow Blue

Id go with trying to find a smaller container at first. You don't want to have 24+ pounds of honey to go down in a bad batch. But if you're confident and can lift the weight of it full without dropping it there shouldn't be a problem using at least the second one. I haven't seen anyone using the teardrop shaped ones but I'm sure it can be done.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I have some 1 gallon wine jugs which I'll use for small batches and as secondary fermentors.
I suppose that there would be no trouble either using this big carboy for a smaller batch, let's say, 5 gallons...
Yeah, screw it... I'm gonna buy the normal one... it's just ~$7 more expensive...
Thanks, friend!

[Chevette Girl]

For any long-term aging, you don't want a lot of headspace above your mead, so you could certainly use the big one for primary fermenting for a smaller batch, but by the time you want to rack to secondary, you will want appropriate-sized carboys. I'm not sure which shape would be better but I would think the straighter-sided one would be less likely to slip out of your grip while moving it around? I think there's a 12-litre one on that site, that's a nice size to handle, should make enough mead for more than a case of bottles but isn't going to be too hard to move around. I have a 54-l demijohn (teardrop shaped) and I'm afraid to use it, I'm pretty sure it can't be moved once full so I'll be putting it up on a shelf I can rack from when I do finally get around to making a batch that big. I also have a smaller one (I think 23 litre) and have never used it, they both seem to be much thinner glass than the 23-litre glass carboys I use, although the ones on this website do appear more sturdy.

[akueck]

Some of the "carboy brush" bristled brushes you can get have 90 degree bends in them. They would work better to clean the one with the shoulder, and not work so great on the teardrop shaped one. You could of course bend the brush to the shape that works for you. Either will work fine, and at 11 kg I'm sure the wall thickness is sufficient for a sturdy container. It will be easier to estimate volume in the straight-sided one, in case that matters to you.