Question on 55 Gallon Stainless Drums

I've got a line on some 55 gallon stainless steel drums that I am wanting to purchase. Over the next 1-2 years, I want to build an electric brewery with a coworker, with a capacity of 1-1.5 BBL, modeled on "The Electric Brewery".

The specs on the stainless barrels are:

-Were formerly used to transport silver based emulsion (I believe used in photography)

-316 grade stainless steel

-62lbs per cylinder

My plan is to use 3 of these, 1 for HLT, 1 for MLG, and 1 for my brew kettle.

The rest of the plans are in development, and I don't plan on having it operational for at least a year, but think the deal on the barrels is probably too good to pass up, at $160.00 per barrel.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Can you get more? I will take 3. Make sure you get at least a 50amp circuit. You will need two 4500 watt elements or push the limit and get two 5500 wat elements. I built a 30 amp panel and wish I built it for 50 and two elements.

With that large of a brewery I'd go with a 50-60A circuit as stated above. Many others have built systems based on barrels and they seem to work fine.

Also, if you don't mind could you share your source? I've been looking for a SS Drum for a reasonable price for a while. Cheers!

316 ss, at 62 pounds they are likely 16 gauge ss. A great buy fo $160.

I firmly believe you should get several more of them while you can. Reason? You need fermentation vessels and vessels for aging. Your other choices would be very expensive gear or made of plastic 'stuff'. Do it right while you can.

For your Electric Brewery setup: You can do that without throwing tons of cash at it. Plan it out with the idea of keeping it simple (and safe). "Bling" does not matter when you are brewing. A working system with decent control really does matter.

I posted an updated diagram for such a controller today in another thread. It is based on 2 - 5500W elements in the HLT and BOIL kettles. Bottom line? There is more than one way of doing things. "Bling" is great - but - expensive.

I use several drums as fermenters. The top was cut off and a coupler welded an inch off the bottom. Lids are food grade plastic drum covers from US Plastics.

After racking, yeast can be harvested by gently rocking the drum to re-suspend yeast in the last few gallons of beer which is then collected.

That volume of beer fermenting requires adequate temp control. It is amazing the heat generated by 50 gal of ale with a generous pitch of yeast. It can run away pretty fast.

My original rig used drums for HLT and the brew kettle. Worked great.

Sorry I've been so slow to respond to everyone; now that I've got my 3 on order, I'll share the wealth... Some of you may have already found the source by now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ory=26257&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_500wt_1127

I spoke to the guy on the phone, even though they're listed at $175.00, he'll sell them at $160 for 3-9 pcs, he may give further price breaks above 9, I'm not sure.

I'd love to buy twice as many at least right now, but we are in the VERY early stages of planning; space is a constraint right now, as well as money. I just couldn't pass up getting at least enough for the brewhouse itself though.

Thanks for the electrical advice, there's a sticky thread on Kal's site with loads of great information for scaling his system up to 1.5 barrels. I would highly recommend checking it out to anyone going that direction, even if you don't intend to follow his plans.

TwentyDollarTurkey, your pm is full, wanted to ask you another question.

Sorry about that, I can't figure out how to delete PM's from my phone... Had to wait til I could get to a computer.

"-Were formerly used to transport silver based emulsion "

Is this able to be cleaned enough to be food grade?

They are stainless so I'd think so.

How are you planning on cooling 50 gallons of fermenting beer in a drum?

BW

We bought two of these. One of them is like a mirror inside. They were very clean. The other one was not as shiney, but still nice. Since they are smooth SS inside, I'd not worry about any residue, but I still climbed inside with a scrubby and soap and water. They seem to be 16 to 18 gauge, but a Greenley hole punch went right through five times on two barrels.
The hardest part was pulling that label off. It took about twenty minutes. Once it started tearing, it was all over, so I tried the other end and was really careful.
These guys were great. We are close enough that we could drive over and pick them up.

Would a locking lid snap on these or do you know of a lid that would make these airtight for fermentation? The top edges are straight, not rolled.

The tops are rolled on mine, but I couldn't tell you if a lid would snap on, because we are using these as a HLT and MLT, and we don't really need an airtight lid.

Oh they are rolled? Hmm

Nice, thanks for the pic!

Happy to be able to assist!

Cooling?????????????

These drum covers from US Plastics will work well as fermentation lids:

Drum Cover

Even with a round piece of plywood on top to hold it in place, there will be enough of an air gap for CO2 to escape. I have used them for a couple of years now with great results.

The entire drum will need to be in a temp controlled room (i.e. walk-in).

Good luck with the fun project.

My goal is to turn them into brew vessels. But for ferm control, walk in or large ac cooled box is what I have been thinking

We usually divide up the wort at a group brew, and use our regular keggles or brewpots once we have drawn the wort, so we cool as usual.

For anyone considering these, they look great. High polish, I can actually see the reflection of my face in the bottom of the barrel. A face which had an enormous smile. A few light scratches on the inside, but nothing that should be a problem for HLT/MLT/boil kettle usage. Can't wait to get everything together to use them.

Damn... that's ridiculous. Only 4 batches for each person and they hit the 200 gal limit.

Actually, since you are getting your first runnings + your sparge, it will be more like 75 to 100 gallons per batch, depending on gravity.
For anyone considering buying these barrels, you probably want to ask for matching, shiney ones. We got one that was really pretty, and the other one, while nice and clean, was a bit different. In a perfect world, I'd have asked to go pick them out, but for $160, it is hard to complain.

Serious question... Has anyone ever heard of anyone actually getting nailed for exceeding the 200 gallon/year limit? I can't imagine how it could be proven...

No I haven't heard of anyone getting busted. I would imagine it would be very hard to prove. I have close to 200 gallons of beer around here, but it wasn't all made in 2011 for sure.

It would be easier in Georgia, where the bible thumpers limited us to 50. I think it would be on hand, meaning that you'd have to have 50 in bottles/kegs.

did you ever order these?

Just a note: If the inside of a vessel previously use for unknown or non food use, the vessel to be made 'food grade' has to be buffed (sand blasted) on the inside to remove a certain amount of the externall layer. Exact specs I don't know but that is a loose interpretation. That being said...... I am getting some of these and Cleaning the snot out of them...

New slogan>>>>

Water is for QUITERS.

Not mine but its good.

Any tips on how to clean these of the silver stuff?

lovibond69 said:

Any tips on how to clean these of the silver stuff?

Click to expand...

The ones we got were very clean. I scrubbed them anyway, but there was no residue of any kind. Then we ran PBW through them, and boiled some plain water just to be sure.

guess it depends on where you live.. i plug in my zip and with freight they are just about $300 each for purchasing 3 of them :-(

Watch out for argyria!