crazy fermenter idea

So technically speaking, if you had to make MASSIVE amounts of a fermented beverage, and a demijohn wasn't large enough, and you seal everything up airtight with airlocks and all, could you use say...an aquarium tank (cleaned and sanitized of course) as a fermenter?

I may or may not have been asked to brew nearly 50 gallons of homebrew.

umm brew it in 10 batches... quality > quantity/half-assness

axlrose16 said:

umm brew it in 10 batches... quality > quantity/half-assness

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+1 agree with you on that one

if its sealed, cleaned, sanitized, and out of the light i think its possible, but im a noob so i cant be sure.

how do you plan on boiling that befor it goes in the fermenter???

see what you stirred up? don't give people bad ideas like this. I don't mean to be a grouch but you don't have a system to handle 50 gallons so be smart and brew it up the right way. you'll be happy you did. cheers.

I would look into what kind of caulking was used to seal the fish tank... if you really have your mind set. However I have to agree with the quality over quantity argument. Why don't you tell your friends to go get a couple kegs of PBR while you make a decent 5 gallon batch of beer for yourself.

I wouldnt bother with the aquarium. If you are really set on doing a 50 gallon batch why not just go for a new plastic 55 gallon drum?

I didn't mean to upset anyone with my idea.

This is for a wedding, and I was specifically asked if I would make enough so everyone could have a 6-pack to take home with them. I was told that they would rather spend the money on something unique for the wedding then serve out mass-produced beer. They are paying for all of the ingredients, and I have two 25 gallon tanks that haven't been used in a while. I figured this might be an option as I don't have the money to spend on more carboys or better bottles. A few airlocks, some lexan, and some silicone caulking.

I do agree with the quality over quantity, but in this case, I just don't have the timeframe to work with. I have about 6 months to get everything ready, and that includes actually making the stuff. It's just a summer weiss, so it's not complicated especially since it's going to have to be all extract.

As far as boiling goes, I have a family friend that owns a bakery that has some humongoid kettles and propane burners that rival Boeing. I've been given permission to use them after hours.

Sorry to have stirred things up. I'm just trying to find the best solution for a tight budget and timeframe.

i would look into the new plastic 55 gallon drum method mentioned above. not sure about plastic composition though

No reason to be sorry about tossing out an idea, however, I think a large, food safe trash can like container would be a better idea.

I don't know if it would work but something like this....
Rubbermaid® 44 Gallon Brute® and Accessories - US Plastic Corporation

bingo. would that make a crazy blowoff because of the volume, or is that not related?

What about the big 55 gallon food grade plastic drums? I might be able to get my hands on a couple of them. Could you combine blowoff and airlock into perhaps running a large tube/hose from the drum to say a bucket of sanitizer?

sounds good. how are you going to cool a 50 gallon boil?

kendalljd7 said:

What about the big 55 gallon food grade plastic drums? I might be able to get my hands on a couple of them. Could you combine blowoff and airlock into perhaps running a large tube/hose from the drum to say a bucket of sanitizer?

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I know many of us use this method, however in a much smaller setting. A blowoff tube into a bucket/container of sanitizer is essentially the same as a blowoff. Good luck, and be sure to tell us the results if you go through with it.

The drums are a good idea.
I second the question of how you'll cool such a large boil. I wonder too about heat generated during the ferment and how it will affect flavor and yeast health.
Who's going to be the poor bastard bottling 50 gallons of brew? Isn't that like 500 bottles??

Get a big CFC to chill the wort and get a trash can full of ice to cool the water going through the CFC.

Also don't forget that hops utilization changes with batch size. Your going to have to make a Huge starter for this. I don't know the specifics but Mr.matly says 9-25 liters depending on if you have a stir plate and oxygen.

Lastly I would suggest buying large bottles to save the effort of bottling. I don't know where you are but
Champagne bottles

Ok, let's just suggest to nix the whole aquarium idea. That's going to be a HUGE waste of money when it doesn't work right.

Next, you say you don't have enough equipment to brew that much beer, but if you are being asked to do this, then let them know, and see if they will help out.

When is the wedding? Can you make half at one time, and have later, thereby needing less equipment?

What style of beer?

Ok, just read your post about 6 months. This still sounds doable. But, are you doing AG, or extract? AG makes the timing harder, since you have to take care of more than one thing at a time. With help though, you can do it. I'd split the work into 2 stages, and ferment half at a time. Maybe stretch each half out over 3 days.

First day brew one 5 gallon batch, to test out equipment.
Next day, brew two batches at once.
Next day, brew remaining two batches.

Once that is fermented and out of primary and bottled (assuming you skip secondary) you can get back into it with the second round. Maybe a different style to give them some variety? Something that ages quickly?

How much equipment do you own now??

Just buy a few kegs, bottle it and call it your own. nobody will know the differance and its a lot less hassle.

Just get 11 primary fermenters - they're like $10 each, and make it all in one weekend. That way you do not l lose quality, and you could mix up the types of beer as well. I say 11 since then you have 1 to leapfrog them all if you want to do some secondary stuff like dry hopping. Then when you bottle, you can also bottle in 5 gallon batches. I think you might tire out bottling 50 gallons at once.

If you were making 500 batches, might be a different story!

put fish in the aquarium.

do you have any brew on premise sites in your area? i imagine they'd let you use your recipe, and you'd have access to a bigger 'contained' system.

If you can pull of a 50 gal batch in 1 or two boils, that I would say is the biggest issue. One can ferment in any kind of vessel that they want. There are plenty of breweries that still use open fermenters. You just have to have them in an isolated area that is clean. I actually like the aquarium idea. By now anthing that would have leached out of the caulk is gone and glass is easy to sanitize and won't contribute any off flavors. A loose lid could easily be jerry-rigged too. If going plastic, you have to make sure you get the right kind to prevent off flavors and limit O2 exposure.

Anyone have any idea what level of alchohol is needed to strip caulk from glass? I know that a very popular way to clean old caulk off of glass is to use rubbing alcohol...

Use the fish tank for fish - or sell on craigslist. I'd personally talk to the LHBS about a couple of those extract tanks...

I like the idea of doing a contract brew. Hit up a brewery to do some batches for you. Not to get picky, but pretty sure you'd be breaking federal law by giving away a 6pack to all your wedding guests. There is a limit as to how much we can give away each year, and it's not much.

davefleck said:

I like the idea of doing a contract brew. Hit up a brewery to do some batches for you. Not to get picky, but pretty sure you'd be breaking federal law by giving away a 6pack to all your wedding guests. There is a limit as to how much we can give away each year, and it's not much.

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I believe it's like 2 6packs per person, but I'd have to look it up. There was a thread here once that described it. Might vary by state.

"Put that garter down, this is a raid!"

If you have a good LHBS, they will have big drums that are used to hold there bulk LME. My LHBS sells these for 25g primary fermenters for around $25. I would get two of those and add it to your friends tab.

Doing this all in 1 batch also means all your eggs are in 1 basket. If you do this in 5 10 gallon batches you can screw one up and still have a good amount of beer.