Uses for LME Buckets from AHS

I have been doing all extract batches. About 3/month for the past year. So it seems like an endless supply of these ~1 gallon buckets from Austin Homebrew. I'd like to reuse them for other purposes instead of throwing them out. Wondering what everyone else uses them for.

I've used them for:
- Use for flour, sugar, and rice storage (I know they aren't airtight but I don't have bug problems and go through them fast)
- Have two continuously rotating through my fridge with bread dough from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day. Its exactly the perfect size and always better to have fresh bread in the house.
- Used to hold my batches of homemade laundry detergent.

The rest I end up recycling or freecycling to willing parties. Interested in more uses.

That is the benefit of having a LHBS. They use the same containers, but brewers get a discount if they bring the last one back.

That said, I also have a small collection from the times I've forgotten one (I keep a couple in the truck now). I always have one or two full of iodophor solution on brew day for when I need to sanitize something. They are great for bottle caps, air locks, tubing, etc.

I just keep mine and have them refilled. Some places charge a dollar for the container. So it saves a little cash for me if I reuse them.

There perfect for storing LME!!! What else would anyone want to put in there? if they are empty get off your butt and fill them up with some LME and brew some beer!!

J/K they make great storage containers, but my LHBS charges almost $3 for them so when i was doing extract/PM i always tried to remember to take them with me.

Holy crap $3 for a plastic bucket! My LHBS doesn't sell LME as far as I know. But its too far away and too expensive. I buy pretty much exclusively from AHS unless I need to get new liquid yeast, then I make the annoying drive.

I imagine it costs a lot to ship a $2.00 bucket to Alaska. At least that is how much they cost me.

Forrest

I'm sure there are a thousand uses for them, here are a couple more:

-Paint pail
-Dog food travel container
-Compost container
-Vegeteble or flower transplanter/pot
-Kitty litter bucket for garage oil spills
-Salt bucket for driveway rock salt
-Beach pail for kids
-etc
-

Shamelessly resurrecting thread hoping for more ideas.

Used mine on my stir plate tonight for a 96 floz starter.

Maybe you should ask Forrest how many you would have to rack up before it would be worth shipping them back to him and get a discount for yourself. After all, they aren't very heavy.

I use them for storage. One has airlocks and bungs, one has little bags of priming sugar, one has bottle caps.

My local HBS bulk fills LME for me in strong plastic bags with zipties. That has to be cheaper than a 3$ bucket, sheesh. They have long square, 5x5x like 10 boxes and they drop the plastic bag in, fill the bag in the box, zip tie it, close and seal the box and off to the races. Seems like AHS should investigate, could save some money. Oh, my local HBS is http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shopEXTbulk.asp the picture shows a container but the text explains you will get a bag in a box. I have had many many of their bags in the box and it ships and travels really well...

You have to consider the labor and the box as well. I would rather send you a secure bucket and charge you less per pound on extract.

Forrest

I love those buckets!!! I use them for my blow off bucket, to hold a mixture of oxyclean or sanitizer, to catch the crap when I'm cleaning out the taps, the uses are endless.

Austinhomebrew said:

You have to consider the labor and the box as well. I would rather send you a secure bucket and charge you less per pound on extract.

Forrest

Click to expand...

You are a better source, I just thought maybe that might save you more $

Store the boxes of oxyclean, (since I can't find it in tubs)
store bagged hops in the freezer
Paint mixing
makes a nice sized beer glass.

B

So I have a couple ideas that may be too obvious to work. Could we use them to brew small, one gallon batches of beer? I could drill a little hole and add a grommet... Or more likely, it seems like a good container for my next yeast starter. The next largest container I have is only 1/2 a gallon.

I was putting my used grains from steeping into them and sending the buckets with grain in them to my buddy who had chickens, which he fed with the grains. I've also used them for yeast starters. If you just have way to many to use, then maybe someone on freecycle would like them.

flip the bucket upside down leaving the lid on
drill a hole in the bottom, now the top (about 3in)
drill several smaller holes around the sides
stick your wet, sanitized carboy upside down in the 3 in hole and you got yourself a car boy dryer

I use mine to hold starsan/water for my blowoff tube to go into. BOOYAA!!