whiskymonster wrote:i was looking for suitable fermentation bins, and as daft as it sounds, the biggest and cheapest option actually turned out to be......
25l fermentation bins!
theres a place near my brother sells em for about 8 quid complete with the snap down lid!
i couldnt find decent sized plastic pins for that price.
whilst there is a certain amount of pride in repurposing stuff to good and economic effect, sometimes the best solution is the simplest!
j
I had progressed to using a SS conical fermenter for both my wine and my beer. Price alone is the reason I do not buy similar, but sized for distillation purposes. When I win the lottery, I'll buy larger sizes to suit my new needs. I'm not holding my breath
I paid $23 CAD for each of my 4 32L fermenters which were equipped with drain spigot, drilled lid and airlock. They are $14 if you opt for the fermenter and undrilled lid alone. Made from PP (plastic type #5) they appear to have similar chemical resistance properties to HDPE.
I paid <$16 for my 121L (32usg) wheeled Rubbermaid trash cans which are
clearly marked with the #2 HDPE symbol (exactly the same as my blue food safe 20 and 30 usg barrels, which I am now using for grain storage). Since I prefer to do fewer but larger fermentations, three 9 gallon strips and one spirit run from a single large fermentation has become my preferred
SIMPLEST method.
Incidentally, 4L (or 1usg) milk jugs are also
clearly marked with the #2 HDPE symbol which is rated as having good acid resistance and I have used them for both temporary cold storage and long term freezer storage of
backset and dunder*.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES would I ever use a fermenter made from un-marked plastics. I also wish to stress that
NONE of these plastics come anywhere near my strips or final product - no matter how alcohol resistant they are listed as being.
*Edited to add "of backset and dunder"
, these appear to be equally suitable for fermenting for those of us whose finances stop short of buying stainless steel.
