cheap 15 gallon fermentors

I stumbled upon this page showing how to convert a used (for baking soda) plastic container into a cheap 15 gallon fermentor - http://suburb.semo.net/jthornton/15%20Gallon%20Fermenter.htm

I considering just getting some of these for storage as they look really sturdy.

I contacted the seller (his email address is listed on the link above). He is asking $24 each for them through PayPal but he stated that shipping costs would go up on May 11th. Seems like a fair deal for such a large container.

Nice find! I am in need of another fermenter, and this just might be the cost effective solution I'm looking for!
Thanks John Beere

It's actually great for grain storage as well. I'm thinking about grabbing 2.

Bobby_M said:

It's actually great for grain storage as well. I'm thinking about grabbing 2.

Click to expand...

Thats what I'm thinking about getting several for...

If you can get them used count yourself lucky. In the lab we used to receive certain chemicals in those type containers all the time and everyone loved to take them home and store sugar, flour, grain, etc. in them. We switched vendors and no longer receive those containers so I looked at a supplier and they are not cheap. Nice find.

Anybody know the dimensions on these? Looks like it could be used for several different things.

I just received and email from him on the dimensions. He states they are:

Circumference: 50 inches
High with lid: almost 22 inches
Diameter of drum: about 17 inches

Thanks. That's about 3 inches too wide for what I need.

I went ahead and ordered six of these this morning before the USPS jacks up the shipping costs...

I plan on using one or two of them as temporary fermentors, one for dog food, and will probably use the rest for grain storage.

i have one of these that i bought months ago. it works well as a 10 gallon batch fermenter. i paid 18 shipped to austin, tx. he has since raised his prices. i was originally going to buy a number more from him, but at this point, i don't think it is worth it for me.

just be careful with your sanitation with these. i've already had an infection. the handle attachment points are good places for bacteria to hide on the inside.

Thanks for the heads up. I am not going to modify the ones I use as fermenters in any way as I hope to only have to use the temporarily (before I can get a proper conical) so I can resuse them as storage bins. Yeah, I know he raised the price, but its still a pretty good deal...

Can these things hold any presure? I'd love a fermentor this size that could be lcosed up after a couple days of fermentation to carb the beer naturally.

well, i'm not sure how much pressure it will be able to hold over time, but i've used these for co2 transfers, pushing with a co2 tank, so they are able to hold some pressure for at least a short amount of time.

the lids have a gasket seal, so i would assume that as long as the gasket is good and maintains the seal, you should be able to hold a decent amount of pressure.

Cool. I will try and see if I cand any of these things up north here. Also usefull if you have you rbrew equipment at someone elses house. Since you can brew, place cooled wort into fermentore, cap with lid and move by vehicle to apartment. Like I might have to if/when I move.