15 Gallon Polyethylene Drum

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Pros-
Holds a large volume
Cheap (used ones sell for ~$10 each locally)
Easy to drill/add valves, etc.
Available in many sizes

Cons-
Hard to move when full
Plactic can scratch and hold bacteria
Larger volumes can be more difficult to control fermentation temperatures

Personally for the 15 gal size I'd much rather spend a couple extra bucks and use decommissioned 1/2bbl sankeys, but YYMV.
 
do you or anyone have an idea how much these cost to ship per piece? i would be interested in trying one or two for $20 each, but that website wont tell you a price for shipping before you place the order. they just say "it will be added to your bill once we ship it".

if its $20 or 30, fine, if its $150 to ship two barrels on a pallate UPS freight-, thats not fine and i wish they would give you an idea beforehand.
 
Check with your LHBS and see if that is what they get the liquid malt delivered in. If so they might sell you one for a few bucks. I bought one for $10 or so as I recall.
 
+1 for looking locally for used ones. They are used for a lot of food goods, including LME, and can usually be found at homebrew stores, bakeries, craigslist, soda distributors, etc. for ~$10 each. Just make sure it was used for food and not some nasty chemicals.
 
I did buy one of these and used it so far one time for a 10 gallon batch of brew.
I live about 90 mile from Cleveland and I was charged $20.02 for shipping for one drum.
 
they're all I use, got them from the LHBS for short dollar
Watch out for the caps some are vented so you need to seal them with silicone But they work great
 
I've got 3. The first one I bought was used for cooking oil. It is now my mash tun. I bought the other two from place next to a dairy. Couldn't really smell anything but cowshvt when I picked them up. One was good to go, the other is now a trash can.
 
They make decent primary fermenters, I wouldn't leave beer in them in secondary for too much time, they aren't exactly impervious to oxygen
 
They make decent primary fermenters, I wouldn't leave beer in them in secondary for too much time, they aren't exactly impervious to oxygen


No different than using a 5 gallon pail. Maybe even a little better; same material, thicker wall.
 
They make decent primary fermenters, I wouldn't leave beer in them in secondary for too much time, they aren't exactly impervious to oxygen

I've had the exact experience with my food grade plastic fermenters (oxygenation), primary for 2 weeks (at the most) then secondary or keg.
 
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