Is HDPE #2 Ok for a fermentation vessel?

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Bradsa

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A friend of mine gets 25l buckets of this sort from his hatchery. They are used to transport vaccinations for the chicken eggs that they hatch.

I can pretty much get as many as I'd like for free, but are these okay to use as a fermentation vessel?

Apologies if something like this is somewhere on the forums, but I can't find it.

Cheers,

Brad
 
Google has it. HDPE #2 is the most food safe of the plastics. So, yes they should be fine for brewing beer. Try to inspect them internally for scratches and don't use anything harsher than a paper towel and PBW to clean them out. Avoiding scratches with plastics is where it's at.
 
Then they would give plenty of head space for co2 & krausen exapnsion. I soak mine in water with 3TBSP of PBW with the water up to the top of the krud line. Takes a few hours to soak'em clean. Then rinse & sanitize before storage/use. I also don't advocate using anything harsh to scrub'em with.
 
Great!

Infinite fermentation buckets for us then? (He gets about 5 of them per week).

Just need to stick in a spigot at the bottom and ready to go?

Only on my second batch but the more we can do, the better we are for the experience.

Thank you for the quick replies.

I am also currently looking into alternatives to caustic soda as a cleanser and bleach as sanitizer. Live in a smaller farming town and no LHBS to run to nor the awesome sounding Starsan.
 
You can order Fivestar's PBW & Starsan from any of the online supply sites & have them delivered to your door. The 8oz bottle of Starsan has lasted me over two years so far. Hardly more than an inch used at this point. I started ordering 2/1lb jars of PBW every couple months so I can make a max strength gallon for my wife to use in the kitchen as well as my lil brewery. That stuff'll clean anything. And both are deemed food safe in the correct dilutions.:rockin:
 
Ah. I was thinking NW Province was Cananda or something. Search brewing supply sites anywhere near your country. There are a couple more members on here from there that might be able to help...:mug:
 
Thanks to both of you,

Am looking into using the cleansers and sanitisers used in the farmers community here. There is a no rinse sanitiser used for dairy bottles, but will look for more info before I will ask for advice from you guys.
 
Can you get OxyClean or a similar Oxygen-based cleaner over there? That is essentially what PWB is. You can also look for Sodium Percarbonate (ProxyCarb).
 
Also you can use an iodine-based sanitizer like iodophor as a no-rinse. You may be able to get that type of thing at an apothecary or hospital supply. Cheers!
 
Have tried but nothing under those exact names, only similar. Next time I will take note of the ingredient/chemical breakdown on the tubs and repost here. Hopefully they are the same product under a different name...
 
What color are the buckets? Does the original product come in a bag inside the bucket?

Most plastic colorants are not FDA approved for direct food contact. While HDPE is safe, the low pH of wort/beer could leech some chemicals out of the colorant in the plastic.

Most, if not all fermenter buckets I have seen are white which is colored with titanium dioxide (pulverized rock) which is food safe.

I would not use them if they are any color but white as you never know what is in the colorant formulation.
 
The buckets are semi see through opaque white, the plastic looks very similar to the fermentor we got with the starter kit.

The product isn't bagged in the buckets but apparently they rinse them with sanitized water to get everything out.

Have visited the hatchery and it looks more like a laboratory/bakery than a Chicken Farm.
 
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