My $25 15 gallon fermenter.

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wildwest450

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Just got it this morning from ebay, they had soda in them. It's soaking in a heavy oxy clean solution right now. The lid has a recessed area i can drill out and put a stopper and airlock in. These are food grade HDPE2, and he still has a few available. Now if only I could lift it.:(

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320267054980&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=011

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I have a white one with 10 gallons of Saison in it. It is managable with 10 gallon plus plenty of headroom so no blow off is needed. A #5 rubber stopper fits the small opening.

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I have a white one with 10 gallons of Saison in it. It is managable with 10 gallon plus plenty of headroom so no blow off is needed. A #5 rubber stopper fits the small opening.

Sweet! The smaller side is sealed up and I wasn't going to mess with it, but after seeing yours, I think it would be easier to do it that way, Thanks Ed.
 
I got the idea from HomebrewHQ in Richardson, TX. Get a 1/2" AutoSiphon to empty that puppy out. I'll be racking beer in a week from today.
 
How will the auto siphon reach the bottom? You guys going to jam the whole thing in there? You might have to cut off the elbow at the top of the auto siphon.
 
How are you going to harvest Yeast??? I thought about buying the 3 he has left, but I harvest and dont really see a way, except just dumping it out.
JJ
 
I've seen these at an ACE Hardware store nearby. (Wildwest, it's the ACE on Nolensville Road just south of OHB, if you are ever over in that area). We picked up a 55 gallon one to do a big barrel brew in.
 
remember how much they were jdoiv? seems like you could add one of those bottling adapters from a bottling bucket.. but not much you could do as far as a racking arm..
 
There's a dairy farm not too far from my house that gets cleaners (caustic, teat dip, bleach, etc.) in those things...they put their empties in a big pile next to a coffee can and a sign saying "Barrels $2". I got one of those, chopped the top off, and use it to ice down corny kegs. I cut some hand holes in the sides that also double as tie-off points to hold an empty keg down.

But now that you mention it, that could make an awesome pairing with the 10-gal AG rig that's in the plans.
 
I got one a few months back- actually, it was from a HBS up near my inlaws. Mine is semi-transparent. cost me $14 and used to be full of LME. Done several 10 gallon batches with it- actually, its full of belgium wit right now.

I was uneasy about using it because the cleaning- but just like a carboy- soak in oxyclean for a day or two, then rinse really well and then dump in a gallon or two of starsan and roll it around for a while. So far so good.

To move it around, a friend has a movers dolly that we use. we ferment in his basement (63 ambient temp), and it just takes a minute to go downt the steps with that dolly. Just makes life easier.

My auto siphon reaches the bottom without a hitch.
 
How will the auto siphon reach the bottom? You guys going to jam the whole thing in there? You might have to cut off the elbow at the top of the auto siphon.

Im happy to report hat an unmodified auto siphon will work with these. I am siphoning out the oxy clean as we speak, and as long as you have 2" or so of the pumping tube sticking out of the top it will sit right on the bottom.:ban:
 
Seems like the opaque ones would be better since you could see the liquid level. Although, do you really care?
 
That looks awesome! I have been looking for something like that since I do 10 gallon batches pretty much exclusively anymore.
 
seems like you could add one of those bottling adapters from a bottling bucket.. but not much you could do as far as a racking arm..

I've been thinking about this and I don't think it would work......you've got to get that plastic nut on from the inside with those bottling bucket spigots and it doesn't seem like theres a way to get your arm down in there...
 
I just bought one too! This is gonna be great. Maybe I'll make my first Apfelwein in it. :rockin:
 
I've been thinking about this and I don't think it would work......you've got to get that plastic nut on from the inside with those bottling bucket spigots and it doesn't seem like theres a way to get your arm down in there...


Amy Winehouse disagrees. :D I think you could stick her in there head first.

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I've been thinking about this and I don't think it would work......you've got to get that plastic nut on from the inside with those bottling bucket spigots and it doesn't seem like theres a way to get your arm down in there...

I agree, plus it would add to the problem of cleaning and sanitizing. The 1/2" Auto Siphon is the way to go. I can't wait to rack my Saison after 10 days of fermenting. It's sweet as the temp fluctuates from 85 during the day to 75 at night, just like a French Farmhouse in the summer. Oui Oui! :cross:
 
Amy Winehouse disagrees. :D I think you could stick her in there head first.

Too funny!

My local brewery is coming out with a Saison this month. I'm going to give it a try.

I've been fermenting around 77°F lately. Having a beer that likes the higher temps would be nice.

Jason
 
Yeah those are what LME comes in. As far as the bottling spigot goes, you don't really need the nut on the back because it actually threads into the smaller hole on top.
 
I drilled a hole in the bigger of the two caps, and fead the bag into the container then through the cap, and pulled it out(it only comes out about 6inches, with 10 gallons of beer filling it up) then i spread open the top of the bag and secure a bung with an airlock in it. I measured the bung and used that to determine the size of the hole i drilled in the cap.
 
I've been thinking about this and I don't think it would work......you've got to get that plastic nut on from the inside with those bottling bucket spigots and it doesn't seem like theres a way to get your arm down in there...

Maybe a better-bottle rack adapter & a length of tubing to hold it in place while it's installed would work:

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I picked one up at a garage sale for 25cents a while back thinking I could use it as a fermenter, I guess I'll have to give it a go with my 10 gal batches now that I see other people using them.
 
I did 10gallons of a Belgian blonde in mine, i kegged 5 and racked the other 5 into a 2ndary and let age another 2 weeks. Just kegged the 2nd 5gal on monday and tapped it tonight...Wow the taste was so smooth compared to the 1st 5gal.

The bag helped with doing a yeast harvest too!
 
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