finding food grade 6+ gallon buckets

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wormraper

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I know it's easy enough to make a second fermenting bucket by getting a food grade plastic bucket and lid, then just drilling a hole in the top for the blowoff tube or airlock. my question is. WHERE can you get them that size??? I see 5 gallon HPDE buckets at HD or Lowes or Menards but those are just cheaper versions that are only 5 gallons. where can I find a good 6+ gallon food grade bucket and lid on the cheap?? (I know there's enough DIY guys out there that do that)
 
wormraper said:
I know it's easy enough to make a second fermenting bucket by getting a food grade plastic bucket and lid, then just drilling a hole in the top for the blowoff tube or airlock. my question is. WHERE can you get them that size??? I see 5 gallon HPDE buckets at HD or Lowes or Menards but those are just cheaper versions that are only 5 gallons. where can I find a good 6+ gallon food grade bucket and lid on the cheap?? (I know there's enough DIY guys out there that do that)

If you live near a home brew store, you could ask them, order online, I have a probably 6.5 gal bucket from my LHBS and I can give you website, they may sell online.
Good luck
 
If you live near a home brew store, you could ask them, order online, I have a probably 6.5 gal bucket from my LHBS and I can give you website, they may sell online.
Good luck

oh I have a LHBS near me too, my problem wasn't finding the pre-made ail pails but rather finding a nice cheap substitute for them (I mean, common, $17 for a bucket with lid???? they aren't that expensive if you can get good Food grade 5 gallon buckets for $5 with lid)

or a second idea. could I use my 6 gallon bottling bucket as a primary and just get a 5 gallon cheapie to rack into for bottling? (and just use the siphon to get the beer into the bottles)
 

dang, that's not bad, $8.20 after the subscribe and save discount with prime. I can live with that for a secondary fermenter and grommets are cheap.

I'll of course wait to hear other ideas from our inventive diy guys here but I'm DEFINITELY keeping that as my first option if I can't find anything else cheaper. Thanks
 
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I was able to get some 5gal buckets from the cafe at work --- Just gave them a week or two heads up and they saved me some buckets
 
Your choices are going online and searching for a deal, resigning yourself to 5 gallon buckets, (almost all bakeries and dairies are going to have 5 gallon ones.) or spending the $$ at your LHBS. Considering a bucket will last many years if you take care of it, $17 is not a big deal.

Personally I would not use the bottling bucket long term. I don't trust $2 plastic spigots, and they are a good source to infect your beer.
 
I've said this before: If spending $17 for a plastic pail fermenter at the HB store (online or local) is a pain point; you are gonna have a hard time in this hobby and may want to consider pursuing something else.
 
My grocery store gives out frosting buckets for free. With yummy leftover frosting, mmmmmmm. I think they are smaller than 6G but you can just use two. Not sure if the tops are completely airtight but I think they would be fine at least for initial fermentation.
 
I've said this before: If spending $17 for a plastic pail fermenter at the HB store (online or local) is a pain point; you are gonna have a hard time in this hobby and may want to consider pursuing something else.

I agree with this. Although it is fun to try and use things that are more commonly available to brew with. I don't have a LHBS so I mainly have to order things which takes foresight. In a pinch it is nice to think of things I could use as a fermenter.

Word of warning though don't get pickle buckets... My garage smells like pickles.
 
I've said this before: If spending $17 for a plastic pail fermenter at the HB store (online or local) is a pain point; you are gonna have a hard time in this hobby and may want to consider pursuing something else.

Agreed, My bucket fermenters total less than 1% of my total equipment.......
 
beprepared.com sells six gallon buckets. Their shipping rates are pretty reasonable. The giant logo is a turnoff for me, but their prices are the best I could find. I just ordered 10 five gallon buckets from them for grain storage.
 
Try diy Wine stores,they usually have food grade 5-6gal buckets kicking around with lids for cheap or give you.
Just give them a soak in oxy and your good to go.
 

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