Possible cheap and large 30 gallon fermenters...

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What an epic journey my temp controllers have been on. I messed up the shipping the 1st time (but the post office should have known...) so they got shipped back to China. I got everything straightened out, ordered a 2nd one and I will be picking them up in a few hours.

I may get some build time in but it will be pretty slim until next week. Darn you Oktoberfest!!!! *sigh*

I have also had a few minor revisions and have decided to dedicate the stainless steel chiller to the project, I am just to fearful of a potential leak.

Well that is all I have for now. I will hopefully have the weekend of Oct. 2nd to fully dedicate to the build and am planning to have it finished by then. Maybe even running its 1st fermentation...but 1 step at a time...
 
Ok I have actually been inspired as this project goes along by a few other members projects. (I will give credit at the end of the final post w/ pics) This has caused some last minute design changes. The good news is this stuff is almost ready for a brew day! Yes, I will take some pics + post them when I get everything all finished.

The fermentor is completed except for the temp probe hole and the blow off tube modded cap. The blow off tube will be super easy and the temp probe hole will need to wait until the probe is completed (yes that is another crossover DIY(blame Yuri rage).

I also completed (at least the temp wiring) of my modded Stanley mobile workstation. (blame oIIIIIo for this...) I was going to have 2 separate "tool boxes" one for the march pump and the other for the temp controllers. After seeing oIIIIIo's mobile workstation pump toolbox, I new I had to replicate it into a multifunction box. Well, it is operational and tested.

I will be ordering the last of my parts this Friday that I require and completing this for a projected, scheduled with SWMBO, brew day on the 23rd! I am SUPER excited!
 
DSCF2300.jpg


As you can see, I have this just about done! I did not include the pond pump in the bottom of the cooler pic as it is pretty self explanatory and I need to cut some holes in the cooler lid to "route" the hose through. But it is working and NO LEAKS. I filled it completely full and not 1 drop leaked anywhere!

another pic:

DSCF2301.jpg


cutting the Plexiglas with a jig saw was a PITA! I used a fine tooth and that was a mistake. it got the acrylic hot and it melted itself back together...:mad: Well, I went super slow and was able to get it cut out. Thank goodness I had an orbital sander to knock off all the melted crud and smooth it out.

I also opted to dedicate the SS coil to the fermentor, after seeing how much plumbing I would have had inside I decided it just was not worth it. Not to mention all the cracks for bacteria to hide and potential leak areas...

I used all SS hardware. The bolt on the inside have a small SS washer and a neoprene washer to make a good seal. Under the SS washers on the top there is also neoprene washers.

The o-ring was the wrong size because I can't measure things right I guess.. I cut it and then glued it with silicon glue and slid a large shrink wrap wire piece onto it and then carefully shrank it with a lighter. If you look close you can see this. It does not need to be air tight just enough to keep out the wind and bugs lol, it isn't going to the moon...I know I get a good seal when there is a dark black line that touches the acrylic, you can see this as well.


When the project is fully completed I will post more "individual component" pics. Brew day is in less than 2 weeks! Also, this is the link to the other "half" of the project: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/mobil-pump-temp-control-build-200361/ also just about done!
 
Okay first off I have only read the beginning and end of this, I was going to recommend a pond pump, but i guess you figured that one out.

Oxidation shouldn't be a big problem as it is thick plastic, and you're not trying to lager this for months (I hope). If you have access to a fork lift of jack, put them on pallets.

Plexi is a PITA, yes it is. You have to cut it fast or it welds back together (or cut it three times slow).
How are you going to clean and sanitizes this after the first use... just hope you've thought of that...
 
Oxidation shouldn't be a big problem as it is thick plastic, and you're not trying to lager this for months (I hope). If you have access to a fork lift of jack, put them on pallets.

I am not planning to lager at this point. While it may be a possibility I feel that a smaller batch in a dedicated lager fridge would be the best way to try that.
This was designed so that I do not need to brew more than 1 time every 5-8 weeks and still have home brews! I was going to put this on a scissor lift but I ran out of funds for that and have opted to place it in a corner in my "brew room" on top of a VERY sturdy old end table (Made from 2x6). I will never need to physically move the unit and I will use gravity with my ball valve/tube to transfer the beer into various smaller vessels. Kegs, bottling buckets ect.

How are you going to clean and sanitizes this after the first use... just hope you've thought of that...

Actually I have! The unit when empty is very light weight. The entire thing will be stripped apart and cleaned, rinsed then sanitized. It has a few more parts but is basically a giant ale pail, with some stainless hardware. It may take a little more effort to clean but it really should not be that bad!

I am sure that even if I had a few gallons of yeast/trub in the bottom that it will not be an issue to "hose it out". The hole in the top is large enough to fit my head inside so if need be I can inspect it!
 
Pretty Genious! however I like brewing so I wouldnt mind brewing more often! However I commend your efforts to make lots of beer!
 
Very inspiring project.

Just hope the immersion chiller doesn't guzzle too much water.

Thanks!

at this point I am on count down to brew day. (this weekend) pics and updates to follow!
 
Sounds like a good plan. I've never worked with that much volume before, but I'm wondering how effective the temp probe will be if its only halfway down inside the barrel(of course the drawing isn't exactly to size), but you would have to have 25-30g to reach the bottom of the probe at that point. What about putting one in the side, like the weldless fittings, so you can put it 3/4 of the way down and on the front for easy viewing. Either way, I like the idea of a test run to see if its even worth the hassle.

Temperature is another story. I don't have any clue. Sounds like having a controlled ROOM, like a walk-in is the best solution for that big of a fermenter. The immersion chiller would be a good idea if you could find a better material, like SS or something. But I wouldn't mess with that until after your test run.

Good luck. I look forward to seeing how it works out for you. A white-russian whisky stout sounds pretty good!
 
Sounds like a good plan. I've never worked with that much volume before, but I'm wondering how effective the temp probe will be if its only halfway down inside the barrel(of course the drawing isn't exactly to size), but you would have to have 25-30g to reach the bottom of the probe at that point. What about putting one in the side, like the weldless fittings, so you can put it 3/4 of the way down and on the front for easy viewing. Either way, I like the idea of a test run to see if its even worth the hassle. Temperature is another story. I don't have any clue. Sounds like having a controlled ROOM, like a walk-in is the best solution for that big of a barrel. Good luck. I look forward to seeing how it works for you.

The room is pseudo controlled by an air conditioning unit ATM. I have had great results with this all summer long. This winter I will simply just close the heating vent and that should help keep the temp in the room cooler. Like you said, we can talk about what may happen but the clock is ticking and the trial run should put most concerns to rest or prove this to be unworkable.

In any event it was and is a fun project that I have no regrets in trying... :mug:
 
Well after a very trying brew day and much last minute engineering, it is all up and running. Soon, I will have 25 gallons of beer!

The black bucket on top is the blow off bucket, you can see the large tube I used.

The ball valve on the bottom (kinda hid by the blanket) was screwed into a 1/2 x 1/2 barb fitting, no washers, no o-rings and no leaks!

The black wire is the temp probe wire running to the mobile workstation.

The tubes go to the cooler, that has a 400+ gph pond pump in it. (It is late and brain is no longer caring about the specifics...sorry)
DSCF2313.jpg


Here is the mobile workstation. I also have a build for that but it is pretty straight forward. You may notice the 2nd controller, that is for my 2 glass carboys in a Rubbermaid bin. One day next month I plan on adding the second pump and temp controller so that I can use the same cooler for a swamp cooler.
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Here we have the cooler. It is obviously old and in need of TLC but meh...its a cooler..
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This is the gratuitous "peak into the window shot...its beer...or it soon will be!
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I am currently testing the limits of "coldness" this system can handle. It is set for 16.5 C and we are at 18.5C as I type this from 21C.

As time permits I will clean up the thread and move everything to the 1st post. While it is fun reading through the build, I am sure most people will just want the finished build info. If anyone wants any additional info or pics let me know and I can see what I can do.
 
I now have a kruasen. :rockin:

It is NO WHERE near the top of the fermentor top/lid.

I seem to be holding a solid 19C/66.2 degrees, internal wort temp. The downside is the pump has been constantly running as I have it set for 16.5C.

I am thinking of loading the cooler with some bags of ice to see if that helps get the temp lower/more under MY control. Not that this is a bad temp but it would be nice to see how far I can take it to the "low side" during active fermentation.

Over all I am VERY pleased so far. :mug:
 
Ok I am now updating just over a week into primary fermentation. The krausen looks to be mostly gone. I see no visible signs of infections or other problems. It smells REALLY good.

The good news is I am able to easily hold a temp of 16.5C but am fermenting @ 17C +/- .3C. I may, after this batch, fill it with water and see if I can hold lagering temps...colder does not seem to be an issue.

I am really pleased with the ease of the system is at this point.

I have not taken a SG reading yet. I normally do not even bother until 3 weeks in.
 
I just found this thread, and this is an awesome project! Has there been any updates since the last post in a different thread?
 
This was a fun project and learning experience. The 1st batch of beer was "off" I was able to salvage most of it and it got drank. The second batch got a bad infection and is now a dead spot in the lawn but dandelions are moving in quickly.

I now ferment in Sanke kegs. They are much better IMO.

I reclaimed all the parts so nothing is going unused. All the stainless parts got boiled, thoroughly cleaned, then boiled again and sanitized for piece of mind. I will even be turning "Big Blue" into a rain barrel and gifting it to a friend that bought a home and is in need of one (Oddly the rain gutter height + position looks to have been made for Big Blue...)

I think I had problems with the seals at the top. There is just not any really great way to get it air tight. I am not sure where the infection came from as no other batches have been infected since.

I am SUPER happy to get my immersion chiller back for use on my new brew cart. It cleaned right up and now looks like it did when it was new. I mounted the ball valve and bulkhead kit on my larger cooler MLT so it can be used on my brew cart for smaller batches with my march pump. The temp controllers also will be reused when I get the funds to enclose my new fermentation rack and mount 1 or 2 mini fridge guts to it for complete control.

I have not completely given up on the idea of using these barrels for apfelwein but for beer I am all done. I think it would fair much better without all the cutting and hardware in a basement when I have one...I will create a new thread at that time for that project. I am fortunate to have 2 - 55 gallon bbls that held apple flavoring so if the flavor would leach into the apfelwein no one would really ever know lol.

A few parting thoughts. This is a lot of liquid for 1 person to deal with at 1 time. Seriously. The temp control did work but was a PITA to load ice or frozen bottles into the cooler and I have a new respect for the brewers that do this for temp control. When something goes wrong it sucks because it is a lot of wasted investment, not only money for the ingredients but time as well. If the valve would have started to leak or "blew out" I would have been screwed in unthinkable ways. I do not regret the project in any way and with exception of the infection was fairly pleased with it. However, I would not recommend this as a viable fermentation device. IMO you would be money ahead to build a temp controlled fermentation chamber and use 2 sanke kegs.

R.I.P. Big Blue! :mug:
 
Oops...LOL

I'm using 15 and 30 gal plastic barrels routinely in my brewing.

I buy them brand new, natural "clear' FDA approved closed head drums, and I do not alter the barrel in any way.

I'm using 1.5" triclover x 3/4" MNPT fittings on my 30 gal fermenter as these give me ample access without undue wear on the plastic bungs.

I use a 120vac SureFlo pump (sucks about 15 ft w/ 40 psi auto shut-off on the head side).

More than enough to rack beer through a cane into a 1/2 barrel Sanke keg through the stem.

It most certainly is possible to use these drums to your advantage.

I'm sorry to hear your infected(?) batch turned you away from these barrels.
 
Oops...LOL

I'm using 15 and 30 gal plastic barrels routinely in my brewing.

I buy them brand new, natural "clear' FDA approved closed head drums, and I do not alter the barrel in any way.

I'm using 1.5" triclover x 3/4" MNPT fittings on my 30 gal fermenter as these give me ample access without undue wear on the plastic bungs.

I use a 120vac SureFlo pump (sucks about 15 ft w/ 40 psi auto shut-off on the head side).

More than enough to rack beer through a cane into a 1/2 barrel Sanke keg through the stem.

It most certainly is possible to use these drums to your advantage.

I'm sorry to hear your infected(?) batch turned you away from these barrels.

Zamial - Sounds like you upgraded. Congrats.

I am still processing hundreds of dollars in grain through equipment bought with a shoe-string budget.

I use HDPE buckets. I try to limit it to about 10 days fermenting. I haven't had any problems I would blame on the plastic. I got a carboy for Christmas, but have not tried it yet.

What type of facility had the 30 gallon drums, a restaurant, bar, or what?

PosterGuy How many days do you let fermentation go in the HDPE barrels?
 
Zamial - Sounds like you upgraded. Congrats.

I am still processing hundreds of dollars in grain through equipment bought with a shoe-string budget.

I use HDPE buckets. I try to limit it to about 10 days fermenting. I haven't had any problems I would blame on the plastic. I got a carboy for Christmas, but have not tried it yet.

What type of facility had the 30 gallon drums, a restaurant, bar, or what?

PosterGuy How many days do you let fermentation go in the HDPE barrels?

As long as it takes...LOL
Usually 2 -3 weeks in primary.
I secondary bigger beers in the smaller 15 gal barrels, but usually no more than 3-4 weeks.

I have had no off-tastes/odors or cleaning/sanitizing issues using these containers.

Oxidation might become an issue with plastics over significantly longer conditioning times (many months or years).
The 15 gal barrels do have a bit of unusable head space.
When used for secondary I often purge this with CO2 as best I can.

The 15 gal containers are sometimes used to ship LME and may be available from a LHBS.
I would stay away from most other used/reconditioned barrels though.
They really don't cost much brand new.

I like the natural color best as you can see the level and any gunk that might be missed during cleaning.
 
The barrel I had held flavor concentrate and was from a food making factory. They are HUGE, I would be unable to lift 30 or 55 gallons when it is full by myself. They are also a PITA to clean. As I stated before that is a LOT of waste if it goes bad. I LOVE to ferment in sanke 11/2 bbls. Easy to clean and manage and all around better.

I do still have some 55 gallon apple flavored barrels and have been entertaining the thought of making up a giant batch of cider at my mom's house this year from her apples. (Technically she would make it.) I would just use an unmoded barrel for this.

I got the barrels from Craigs list. They had the labels that matched the smell and the food grade HDPE number on them as well.
 
I'm in central Wisconsin and I have a bumper crop of apples.

There are three bushels on th compost heap. I'd guess there are as many still on the tree.

I've offered them to the local home brew club, no takers.

What does an 11/2 Sanke look like?

I have only done bottles.
 
I'm in central Wisconsin and I have a bumper crop of apples.

There are three bushels on th compost heap. I'd guess there are as many still on the tree.

I've offered them to the local home brew club, no takers.

What does an 11/2 Sanke look like?

I have only done bottles.

I think that is how someone was saying,"I have one, 1/2 barrel sanke keg." NOT "I have one and a half barrel sanke keg."

A sanke is a standard modern keg that if you went to the store and got either a 1/4 or 1/2 bbl they would come in one.

If I had that many apples I would press them into cider and then ferment them into hard cider and Apfelwien.
 
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