Can anyone help identify this fermenter?

[mr_lahey]

I got this big old plastic fermenter at a garage sale. It looks very old. It came with a #13 bung that seems to fit well. It is a perfect cylinder up to the top cone part. I'm going to omit the measurements of the cone part since it is really shallow, and I am assuming the plastic thickness is the same in the body as it is at the mouth.

Height of cylinder: 19.5"
Diameter of cylinder: 13.25"
Diameter of mouth: 2.5"
Thickness of plastic: 1/8"
Estimated volume (based on dimensions): 11.5 US gallons / 43.5 litres

I can't find any information or pictures of it on Google... maybe I'm just searching the completely wrong thing.

Anyone recognize this?

Thanks

 

[odie]

what make you think it's a fermenter? granted you could use it as such but I doubt it was manufactured nor marketed/sold for that purpose.

 

[mr_lahey]

what make you think it's a fermenter? granted you could use it as such but I doubt it was manufactured nor marketed/sold for that purpose.

Nothing other than it came with some other brewing/wine stuff. It also came with a drilled rubber stopper with an airlock. I suppose it could be anything.

I guess I could have phrased my question better. "Can anyone identify this vessel?"

 

[odie]

well that indicates someone was using it as such. Anything that holds water can be a fermenter.

I'd be wary of any vessel that I could not fully access for cleaning and inspection...other than a glass carboy...

 

[bracconiere]

looks like a carboy, whatever they are used for normally... probably be a ***** to clean like a carboy....i prefer wide open tops....

 

[mr_lahey]

Thanks

I thought it would be similar to any PET carboy to clean. I soaked it in PBW for a couple days and rinsed it really good.

But yes, I am still wary about using it for my 10 gallon batches.

 

[Dland]

Take a good wiff inside and make sure there are no funny smells, and maybe put some water in for a while & make sure there are no off tastes. Containers like that are sometimes used to hold industrial chemicals & acids.

 

[Snuffy]

You gotta admit, it looks pretty cool. I'd have to drill it and add a valve.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Contrary to a glass carboy where one can see through the glass, see inside and visually inspect if clean or not clean, how will you know if the inside is truly clean without being able to see? Peaking in thru the top will not provide a 100% visual inspection.

 

[mr_lahey]

You gotta admit, it looks pretty cool. I'd have to drill it and add a valve.

That would be cool! but hard since you can't get your hand inside to attach a gasket

Contrary to a glass carboy where one can see through the glass, see inside and visually inspect if clean or not clean, how will you know if the inside is truly clean without being able to see? Peaking in thru the top will not provide a 100% visual inspection.

This is a good point

 

[Snuffy]

That would be cool! but hard since you can't get your hand inside to attach a gasket

oh yeah... I just paid attention to the 2.5 inch opening. Know any little kids with strong fingers?

 

[Nate R]

Anything on the bottom? Markings, letterings, codes, etc.?

 

[Beermeister32]

Looks like an industrial container to store oil or other uses. Using something like this would be hard to get clean. A transparent plastic carboy would be better.

I wouldn’t use it for fermenting. If you need to use it and it is new, maybe keep some Star-San solution in it.

The more I think about it, there is a very small chance that it is food grade plastic. Being opaque it might even be made of recycled plastic so who the heck knows the origins on manufacture, you might not want to know. It could leach unwanted trace chemicals into your beer.

I think maybe dump it at the recycling yard or use it as a lawn sprayer reservoir would be in order.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

1) How are you gonna lift it when it's full?
2) How are you gonna syphon from it, there's no lip to put a carboy cap. Syphoning will have to be done "old school".

If you are really set on using it, soak the inside with two measures of fragrance free oxy-clean and warm water, for about a week. Sanitize with your preferred sanitizing solution.

MC

 

[Wolffie]

That would be cool! but hard since you can't get your hand inside to attach a gasket


This is a good point

Spigot Wrench For Plastic Carboys | MoreBeer
Get a spigot and use this . It will make this a storage for cleaner some Star-San solution etc.

 

[mr_lahey]

Anything on the bottom? Markings, letterings, codes, etc.?

Nothing

Thanks for the replies. I think I may just not use it.

 

[Nate R]

Nothing

Thanks for the replies. I think I may just not use it.

You could look into the Genesis liners... your thing DOES look really cool.

https://www.homebrewing.org/Sanitary-Inner-Liner-for-Genesis-Fermenter_p_7663.html

 

[mr_lahey]

You could look into the Genesis liners... your thing DOES look really cool.

https://www.homebrewing.org/Sanitary-Inner-Liner-for-Genesis-Fermenter_p_7663.html

This would be great if they had bags for 10 gallon batches. If I am doing a 5-6 gal batch would just use a standard brew bucket.

 

[norrismj]

I'd not use it for anything I'd consume. What was in it in the past? Industrial chemicals? Pesticide?
You don't know so be careful.

 

[day_trippr]

Looks almost certain to have been purposed for chemicals - like chlorine, acids, etc...

Cheers!

 

[TheBluePhantom]

looks like a carboy, whatever they are used for normally... probably be a ***** to clean like a carboy....i prefer wide open tops....

Wide open tops? Are we talking fermenters or cars? Or something else...

Not sure it was meant for anything dangerous, without threads or a serious lip. But who knows what it started out as, I was given a 5 liter erlenmeyer flask that was bought from U of M. I won't use it because I don't know what it was used for in the past.

 

[day_trippr]

I'll take it!

It's glass. Which means you can see if it's grossly contaminated (meaning anything you can see), and it has little in the way of pores to hold onto anything.
Hit it with acid, rinse it and hit it with caustic, rinse it and hit it with detergent cleaner, rinse it and call it ready for sanitation. And then use it...

Cheers!

 

[TheBluePhantom]

It's from a university. They could have been mixing Ebola and cyanide in it.

Also it is a small neck...

 

[day_trippr]

Ebola and cyanide? Meh. Ain't no thang!
Probably neutralized each other. It's all good in the hood

Cheers!