Fermenter bucket max temp

Anyone know what the max temp a plastic bottling bucket/plastic fermenter is?

I see you can use them as a lauter tun, so I imagine at least 170ish degrees...

HDPE is amorphous below its melt point, so there is no defined glass transition temp...I typically see them rated up to 180F. They melt at 130C.

I was going to collect my wort from my mash tun in my bottling bucket to measure my wort from my 2 runnings... I guess this is dumb. I only have a single burner and single cooler, so I need to put my collect 1st runnings in something that I can easily measure. I do have an 8 gallon and 5 gallon brew kettles though.

I guess I could collect the 1st runnings in my 8 gallon kettle, put the lid on it, and use a dowel rod with measurements on it to collect the wort. And then use the 5 gallon pot for sparge water.

It's not dumb at all. HDPE can easily take boiling temps, it just gets a little soft.

snevey said:

I was going to collect my wort from my mash tun in my bottling bucket to measure my wort from my 2 runnings... I guess this is dumb. I only have a single burner and single cooler, so I need to put my collect 1st runnings in something that I can easily measure. I do have an 8 gallon and 5 gallon brew kettles though.

I guess I could collect the 1st runnings in my 8 gallon kettle, put the lid on it, and use a dowel rod with measurements on it to collect the wort. And then use the 5 gallon pot for sparge water.

Click to expand...

Not dumb at all! I've done the same thing. Not specifically to measure the runnings, but because I only had one pot big enough to heat the sparge water, and do the boil. So, I had to drain the first runnings (and the second) into the ale pail. Then gently pour them into the brewkettle.

YooperBrew said:

Not dumb at all! I've done the same thing. Not specifically to measure the runnings, but because I only had one pot big enough to heat the sparge water, and do the boil. So, I had to drain the first runnings (and the second) into the ale pail. Then gently pour them into the brewkettle.

Click to expand...

I've done the same many, many times...

Thanks guys... I was going to put a hose on the spigot of the bottling bucket and drain it carefully into the brew kettle, kind of like you would rack to a secondary, GENTLY!

snevey said:

Thanks guys... I was going to put a hose on the spigot of the bottling bucket and drain it carefully into the brew kettle, kind of like you would rack to a secondary, GENTLY!

Click to expand...

Sounds like you have a plan. :rockin:

The most popular containers appear to be WinPak's from US Plastics, I emailed to ask about temperature range and they are not rated for boiling water temperature, even if they stand up to it.
Here is their response:

"You will need polypropylene material to handle your temperature requirements.
Unfortunately we do not have the material in the type of container you are looking for at this time."

Take it for what you want, proper approach would be to allow to cool down to whatever the proper temperature range for the container is, which wasn't mentioned.

Since you revived an old thread and both Yooper & Bobby m posted in it i shall share my recent experiences. I "hot fill" candi syrup at boiling temps for food grade FDA approved use. Hot fill is above 180° but I'll fill as high as 220°. Any 5 gal pail you have will not work. I use a Poly Nylon bag to hold my candi & throw that in a 5 gal pail. At these temps, even with no direct contact with the candi syrup, the plastic buckets buckle during cooling when vacuum is naturally applied. Its odd looking when it happens. To buy a bucket to directly withstand those temps with manufacturers consent it would cost like $40 per bucket.