i have a couple of 30L home brewing (beer) fermenters for mine, yes they are food grade plastic
i think a lot of the other aussie guys do the same
they are pretty good because they have the tap with sediment traps and an airlock on the lid of course. they are alot cheaper than glass carboys/demijons. and they are more durable than glass when it comes to handling quick temperature changes when doing your washes.
You can't beat the 30 liter fermenters that are available at every place that sells home brewing supplies. They come with measurements on the side and a lid with a hole for an airlock. It's a good size for the 5 gallon mashes and if you need more capacity, just set up more of them.
In cold weather, the standard heating belts fit them perfectly and they are easy to insulate with foil/bubble type insulation.
Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart all carry 5 gallon buckets that are great for a 4 gallon wash. Look in the paint department. They only cost about $6. Any bucket that is made from HDPE will work for fermenters. I keep several going at a time.
Personally, I'd stick with the white buckets that have had food in them, as they are at least considered (by someone, at some point) to be "food Grade".
I don't know if the same can be said of the orange Home Depot ones...
Rubbermaid trash cans are used by lots of winemakers because they are big and cheap. Certain colors are food grade while others aren't. I'd at least check for something labeled food grade.
I'm not a big fan of plastic anywhere in the process. I do like to use old kegs to make fermenters. Not too much money, and easy enough to cut out the top. And its AAA sanitary stainless. hard to go wrong with that.
so i just had one of those 'DUH why didnt i think of that before' moments.
wouldnt those 5 gallon office water cooler jugs work perfectly for this?
they are like the same price as the 'fermentation buckets' at the brewshop plus you get free spring water and they look nicer. im sure you could find old used ones pretty easy too
Sorry-my links either seem to make my whole post not show up at all, when I use the tags (sometimes), or get split up like this one does.
Or just google polycarbonate
This link may start off referring to Nalgene, but applies to plycarbonate in general...
A friend of mine ferments his wine in those water jugs. I don't see why you couldn't use one especially if you already have one. All you would need then is a bung and a air lock or blow off tube.
Zymos, while you bring up a valid point concerning bpa, many, if not most, of those water jugs are made out of a different plastic, and thus don't face those threats. In the beer and wine community, this has been discussed very regularly (about once a week) and the consensus is that if the plastic is marked "1" in the recycle triangle (AKA it is PET) then it is as safe as a glass fermenter, and is for all intends and purposes the same as a Better Bottle. If marked a "2", then it is made of HDPE, or the very same material as a fermenting bucket. Here is a visual:
As a general rule, #1 and #2 are OK, but avoid anything else.
I'd never put anything but beer or wine into a plastic fermenter. Many wineries I know of use them as well.
You guys know my stance on the subject because I yell about it early and often, I'd never let any distillate or high proof alcohol come into contact with plastic.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
Hell, I'm talking about plain old water, not even alcohol in ANY percentage.
And maybe those "Better Bottles" sold as fermenters are safer, at least they claim to be 'BPA-free, DEHP-free, plasticizer-free" , but there is plenty of suspicion that carcinogens can leach out of regular PET bottles.
Personally I try to avoid anything but good old fashioned HDPE, whether it's for alcoholic beverages in any form , or simply water...
i really like this one: http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/1120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
scroll down to the Bottling Kit 6.5 gal with Bucket, lid, airlock, and spigot. that one has everything you need and for a mere $17.
well i did the rounds today through all the stores. only found like one place that had those water cooler bottles. it was lowes and it was that like buy-the-water/return-the-bottle type deal. they were plastic #7 "other" haha so i passed and will prolly just get the standard beer kit style.
im not sure if 'real' cooler bottles would be higher quality, like from poland springs or something.
zymos wrote:Well, there's always glass- I have an assortment of carboys from 3 to 6.5 gallons, and they get plenty of use!
ye i pln i getting some eventually, but this project is already gettin over budget and they are in the range of 30 bucks a pop.
im only going to be doing sugar washes going for 95% reflux for mixing to start with anyways. will break into the glass when i start playing with pot stills and things with more flavor
Not to be paranoid, but I've seen those blue plastic barrels, at least the 50 gallon ones, used (in their original use) for everything from industrial chemicals to cow antibiotics. Not sure what kind of residues may remain.
was at homedepot the other day and those big orange 'homer' buckets used for paint storage etc. cought my eye, are these ok?
what are the requirements for 'food safe'?
or any other cheap ideas welcome my copper should be arriving next week
The cheapest of ideas is to go to any resaurant/food outlet and ask them for some of their empty 20kg mayo buckets(with lids). We go through 2-3 a week. They are food grade safe. I used these when I began, best because they are free. When you have 15 of them on the go at the same time then you will think of upgrading to a 60 litre vessel. But they are great to get a start with.
my copper should be arriving next week
