Outgrowing My Fermenters!

Hey all -

I've found that this coming fall I'm going to have access to a lot more apples than I've ever had in the past. (Largest batch I've done thus far has been about 22 gallons, spread over five fermenters of various sizes). This year I'm going to be looking at a metric crap ton of apples/juice, and I'm looking for some relatively inexpensive options for brewing in larger batches.

I've taken a look at this article, and I thought it may be worth a try?
http://byo.com/mead/item/1883-build-a-budget-big-fermenter-projects

If you've tried this, let me know what your experience was, or if you have a different idea, please feel free to throw it out there.

you need a fermenter capable of handling a metric crap-litre of juice.

I haul food grade products for a living and they do have food grade plastic 55 gallon drums that have a bung and are airtight.
I have no idea where a person might buy one or what it would cost.
I know I have seen 55 gallon stainless steel drums too but I would guess they would be quite pricey.

Update.....
http://m.uline.com/h5/r/www.uline.com/BL_8154/Plastic-Drums?keywords=

The stainless ones are $500 and up..

Many LHBS have LME (Liquid Malt Extract) drums, they vary in size too. 20-ish, 33, and 55 gallons possibly.

There's a guy here who sells "reconditioned" 55 gal plastic drums (blue and white, 2 bung holes) on Craigslist, although those particular ones should not be used for food as their origin is unknown. You may be able to find those that held food products, with a clean lineage. Check around on the internet.

As with any sealed drum, cleaning is going to be tricky if the lid remains on. Some brewers just use them to hold plastic liners, huge thick plastic bags basically, and a "loose" lid.

My LHBS has these large plastic bags (20g+) you can use for wine fermenting. You could get a vessel like a new trashcan, and line it with the bag. I have considered this, but have tried it yet.

I could have read the article first! doh

gehrk037 said:

Hey all -

I've found that this coming fall I'm going to have access to a lot more apples than I've ever had in the past. (Largest batch I've done thus far has been about 22 gallons, spread over five fermenters of various sizes). This year I'm going to be looking at a metric crap ton of apples/juice, and I'm looking for some relatively inexpensive options for brewing in larger batches.

I've taken a look at this article, and I thought it may be worth a try?
http://byo.com/mead/item/1883-build-a-budget-big-fermenter-projects

If you've tried this, let me know what your experience was, or if you have a different idea, please feel free to throw it out there.

Click to expand...

Funny i've been thinking of buying a brute bucket the last few days after reading that article. Did you go for it?

btw i brewed kit beer in a 30gal food grade blue bucket - years ago - much like the ones you see on the internet, with no problems, i didn't even have an airlock on it. I wish i knew what happened to it!

Crash21 said:

I haul food grade products for a living and they do have food grade plastic 55 gallon drums that have a bung and are airtight.
I have no idea where a person might buy one or what it would cost.
I know I have seen 55 gallon stainless steel drums too but I would guess they would be quite pricey.

Update.....
http://m.uline.com/h5/r/www.uline.com/BL_8154/Plastic-Drums?keywords=

The stainless ones are $500 and up..

Click to expand...

Can't you have one fall off the truck for a good cause?

Lol..wish I could. Don't think I hadn't considered it but let's just say inventory is highly scrutinized.