QUESTION For You DIYers!

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Brewmegoodbeer

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I've been searching and searching and searching and I cannot find the answer to this. I am currently making a fermenter and I am looking at food grade substances to coat the inside of the fermenter, so 1) it will act as a water sealant and 2) it will coat all the nooks and crannies so wort cant get into them. The substance I have been looking at is food grade silicone spray. All of the FDA sites say it is for "incidental" contact with food. It is made to coat something to waterproof it and it act as a natural lubricant. I can't find anything where someone has used this inside a vessel that holds liquid and if it is indeed safe to use when in continuous contact with a food substance. Can someone please ease my mind!!! I'll buy you a beer in the afterlife. :mug:
 
I am making my own Fast Ferment Conical Fermenter. It is 150 bucks with the stand and I am making it for less than 40. Check out my thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=593253. I have welded the plastic together, but it is pretty much impossible to have such a smooth weld that there is no chance of wort getting into any cracks. I am looking for a safe sealant. I have looked everywhere and cannot find where someone has used a sealant for the purpose of storing consumable liquid.
 
I don't want to come across as a naysayer, since I also like to build things, but for $90 difference, the FastFerment seems like a pretty good deal. You've spent a lot of time and effort to create a one-off item, and it's reliability and usability is not proven. Even I would have to consider spending a few more dollars and getting a product that is pretty much ready to go out of the box.

And actually, I have seen the Fast Ferment for about $100.
 
To extend what others have said, you may find you paid $100 or more on your DIY model after all--if your beers don't come out uncontaminated. So you have, let's say, $25 in ingredients for a beer that doesn't turn out. You are not sure why, so you clean the fermenter to the best of your ability, and the next batch also is contaminated. That's $50 down the drain (literally), and now your DIY project has ended up costing what the commercial version would have set you back.

I'm all for DIY, but it seems that is better done in places like brew stands, fermentation chambers, keezers, cleaning systems, and the like.
 
Thanks for the awesome feedback guys! Im lining it with disposable food safe bucket liners used to marinate meat. This should allow liquid to not get into plastic crevaces and will allow for a sanitary environment. I'll post pictures of my successful batches in my 40 dollar fast ferment fermenter with the stand (a 150 plus shipping value). :)
 
Oh and if you can make a conical with a valve that seperates a removeable yeast trap, you can make a fastferment. Money saved :)
 
I didn't see a stand in your other thread, so I assumed it would be more comparable to the cheaper Fast Ferment without the stand option.

Good on ya for seeing it through. I know I could make a SS conical at work, but for the time and effort invested, I don't really want to. For that matter, I could buy a Fast Ferment, but honestly I am not going to appreciate what a conical has to offer, so either way it's not really for me. I have spent more time than I really wanted on several other projects, though. Built 2 grain mills from scrap at work.
 
Thanks for the awesome feedback guys! Im lining it with disposable food safe bucket liners used to marinate meat. This should allow liquid to not get into plastic crevaces and will allow for a sanitary environment. I'll post pictures of my successful batches in my 40 dollar fast ferment fermenter with the stand (a 150 plus shipping value). :)

Where did you find the liners? I have been thinking about doing this Just to make cleanup easier and not have to worry about scratched buckets. Or line a small chest freezer to ferment a 20 gal batch.
 
Where did you find the liners? I have been thinking about doing this Just to make cleanup easier and not have to worry about scratched buckets. Or line a small chest freezer to ferment a 20 gal batch.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J29FPVO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

$3 a pop. They make these things in a variety of sizes. I had a few bucket sized ones someone gave me and they worked great for fermenting in. Only trouble was sucking the bag during racking.
 
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Thanks for the awesome feedback guys! Im lining it with disposable food safe bucket liners used to marinate meat. This should allow liquid to not get into plastic crevaces and will allow for a sanitary environment. I'll post pictures of my successful batches in my 40 dollar fast ferment fermenter with the stand (a 150 plus shipping value). :)
Confused about you using the bucket liner as won't this mean you can't dump trub/yeast out the bottom?
 
This reminds me a lot of a few guys over the years that aggressively argued that you could make cheaper serving kegs out of 6" PVC pipe with end caps glued on. If you're on a budget, just used a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. The benefits of a conical are not worth the risk of contamination. I mean, not even close.
 
Where did you find the liners? I have been thinking about doing this Just to make cleanup easier and not have to worry about scratched buckets. Or line a small chest freezer to ferment a 20 gal batch.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J29FPVO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

$3 a pop. They make these things in a variety of sizes. I had a few bucket sized ones someone gave me and they worked great for fermenting in. Only trouble was sucking the bag during racking.


There's also this blog post from a few years ago. I've considered it as an option.

FermWare - Fermentation Bucket Liners
 
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