jww9618
Well-Known Member
Is it possible to use a bottling bucket as a fermenter? What problems could arise using a bottling bucket as a fermenter with a lid?
He also had made a wooden wedge for each bucket that tilted it back around 10 degrees, which enabled him to drain out nearly all of the beer with no trub
tedclev said:Yeah, it works great. I always wrap the spigot in the aluminum foil from my starter. As far as sucking trub through, I just drain the first bit into a separate container so I get the trub out, then I finish transferring the beer into the keg or another bottling bucket for bottling.
I have 8 bottling buckets that I use for fermentation - one of the best changes I ever made - never need to siphon. A few considerations though-
*The biggest potential negative is that the spigot has the potential to introduce infection. I always totally take spigots apart for cleaning and sanitizing. I actually assemble the spigot and put it in the bucket while it is all submerged in star-san. Maybe overkill, but that is the price of peace of mind for me.
*When I take the bucket out of star san, I lean it upside down while I am finishing chilling my wort. I close the spigot and put a plastic sandwhich bag over it with a rubber band to keep dust etc. out of it for the 2-3 week ferment.
*When it comes time to drain for kegging or bottling, I spray a bunch of starsan up into the spigot to sanitize it.
*I usually set the bucket up on the counter the night before I want to transfer to keg - lets trub/yeast settle a bit from any movement.
*Sometimes you can get a little leaking around the spigot if the seal is not tight. Has never been a "big" deal for me. If it does leak a bit, it always stops pretty quickly and I just spray the seal area really good with starsan. Sometimes you need to use a gasket on the inside and outside of the bucket to get the best seal.
I almost never have any problem with trub, etc. I only use primary, but I go for 3 weeks, so everything has settled well.
Also, besides no siphoning - it is absolutely a great way to harvest yeast. Just leave a bit of liquid in the bottom, swirl up the bucket a bit and pull a mason jar out of your star san, fill it up half way with beer/yeast and put the sanitized lid on. Put it in the fridge and you are good to go.
Been using bottling buckets for 4 years or so - almost bought some SS conicals. Best decision I ever made to just use bottling buckets instead.
Reviving an old thread.
I am having issues with oxidation so I've thought about using my bottling bucket to ferment in as well. My question is, how are you priming the beer and not disrupting too much trub while bottling? I don't keg.
Reviving an old thread.
I am having issues with oxidation so I've thought about using my bottling bucket to ferment in as well. My question is, how are you priming the beer and not disrupting too much trub while bottling? I don't keg.
I have used a bottling bucket for fermentations, but moved on to a Speidel plastic fermenter, which is similar but better (and costs more). Anyway, I bottle straight out of it by dosing each bottle with a solution of sugar that I have boiled and then cooled to room temp. I use a 60 mL plastic syringe, and usually need about 6 mL per bottle (using ~2:1 water:sugar). Is it a pain in the ass? Yeah, kind of, but it works well. I have a spreadsheet with sugar and water weights (before and after boiling) that I use to calculate how much solution I need based on how much priming I want. I fill straight from the spigot on the fermenter, and purge the bottles with CO2 prior to each fill using a 20 oz CO2 paintball can. It works well for me.
You definitely want to keep the spigot clean. After filling the fermenter on brew day, I will get some aluminum foil, spray star-san into it, and then wrap it around the spigot to keep anything from going off in there in case there is a slight leak in the spigot (the new metal spigots that you can get for the Speidel are pretty bomb-proof, though).
Also, tilting the bucket/fermenter (as mentioned above) is a good idea. I use a folded-up magazine or pieces of wooden railroad track to do it.
I have 8 bottling buckets that I use for fermentation - one of the best changes I ever made - never need to siphon. A few considerations though-
*The biggest potential negative is that the spigot has the potential to introduce infection. I always totally take spigots apart for cleaning and sanitizing. I actually assemble the spigot and put it in the bucket while it is all submerged in star-san. Maybe overkill, but that is the price of peace of mind for me.
*When I take the bucket out of star san, I lean it upside down while I am finishing chilling my wort. I close the spigot and put a plastic sandwhich bag over it with a rubber band to keep dust etc. out of it for the 2-3 week ferment.
*When it comes time to drain for kegging or bottling, I spray a bunch of starsan up into the spigot to sanitize it.
*I usually set the bucket up on the counter the night before I want to transfer to keg - lets trub/yeast settle a bit from any movement.
*Sometimes you can get a little leaking around the spigot if the seal is not tight. Has never been a "big" deal for me. If it does leak a bit, it always stops pretty quickly and I just spray the seal area really good with starsan. Sometimes you need to use a gasket on the inside and outside of the bucket to get the best seal.
I almost never have any problem with trub, etc. I only use primary, but I go for 3 weeks, so everything has settled well.
Also, besides no siphoning - it is absolutely a great way to harvest yeast. Just leave a bit of liquid in the bottom, swirl up the bucket a bit and pull a mason jar out of your star san, fill it up half way with beer/yeast and put the sanitized lid on. Put it in the fridge and you are good to go.
Been using bottling buckets for 4 years or so - almost bought some SS conicals. Best decision I ever made to just use bottling buckets instead.
I'm looking into trying to use CO2 and purge my vessels now. A CO2 paintball can will work? I thought I read it could give off a funky smell or something. Is that not the case with you?
Any idea how I could hook something up to the paintball can to help me purge my vessels?
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