Turning cooler jug into carboy

You can get a 3 or 5 gallon cooler jug for under $10, is it a good idea to use one as a fermentation vessel? What do you need to buy to do it?

I dont think it's a good idea. You need something that you can control much easier. You should buy a carboy if you can find one for cheap. Otherwise you should get a Better Bottle. There are a gonzo million threads on here listing the merits of each. IMHO, either will brew better beer than I can find on a shelf. Just buy a carboy of some sort, glass or plastic, and catch some advise on here and you'll make better beer for cheaper than you'd ever excpect.

Yeah, I would probably recommend against it too. I doubt you'd ever be able to get a cooler air-tight, which is really important. Also, with the exception of the special plastic used in Better Bottles, most plastic is oxygen permeable, could hold tastes and odors, and stains.

Keep an eye on Craigslist in your area. I've gotten several carboys for $15 on Craigslist, in addition to my legendary $250 buy that included 8 carboys (4x6.5, 4x5), 5 cases of bottles, CO2 tank/regulator, 2 corny kegs, etc etc etc...

Good luck, bud!

EDIT: Oh, wait, a water cooler bottle? Oh! Well, that makes more sense than an insulated cooler like I was picturing... Nevermind!

#10 stopper and an airlock.

Check out Revvy's latest Rant about this before you do it. My advise is do what I say and not what I do, as I regularly use #1 PET Deep Rock Bottles for Apfelwein...but you could go blind and have your Tallywacker fall off.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=774846&postcount=11