Can I use a new 5 gallon plastic bucket from Home depot ??

[Sawdustguy]

not by me either


SDG, that is not correct. I originally thought so as well (since that used to be the standard), but the FDA has changed it's rules to allow the use of recycled material in food grade plastics. The stipulation though, is that the material that is recycled has to be of 100% food grade plastics originally, and the company recycling the plastic has to use a sorting, cleansing and sanitizing system that ensures there is no contamination of the recycled plastics. So basically what's being done is the FDA has come out and said, "Sure, use recycled plastic, but only recycled food grade plastics. Keep it separate, and you need to clean and sanitize it before you can sell it." The old regulations required 100% virgin material.....just thought I'd let you know.

BH

Thanks for re-educating me. It's the dye in the bucket I would worry about.

 

[Philsc]

I went looking for buckets once and in Home Hardware they have white buckets on the bottom of which is written FDA. I presumed that this meant that they were food grade, even though they're sold for putting cement or plaster or whatever in (I was not a DIYer till I started brewing). The food grade buckets I have state proudly on the bottom that they are, indeed, food grade.

 

[magnj]

Mine are from Leaktite. Leaktite Corporation product # 5GLCLR. Does not say FDA, not sure I'll use these again...they were a temporary solution anyway. Now I have some #2 HDPE Pharmaceutical grade containers from Honeywell called NowPack, NOWPak® & NOWPak® II Containers - Packaging Information - Product Information - Honeywell Burdick & Jackson . I don't have the liner they are talking about that is inert so I'll probably replace these with BB's soon.

 

[Ksosh]

As an FYI, my local Walmart (Albany, NY) has 5 gallon #2 HDPE buckets for $4, with lids for another buck or so. It seems to be 5 gallons up to about 1" from the top, and the lid seems to form a pretty tight/solid seal. I'm currently using one as a bottle soak bucket, but I'm tempted to try it as a (short term) secondary in the future, since the other buckets/carboys I have are 6.5 gallons+.

YMMV with finding these at Walmart, though. We've (currently) got the world's largest store (2 stories, cart/people escalator, 2 elevators, full grocery section, etc, etc, etc.)

 

[rico567]

I've been wanting to try primary-only fermentation, so I bought some of the 7-gallon buckets from U.S. Plastics. They seem very good, the lids come with an integral rubber seal. The 5-gallon homer buckets on sale cheap at places like Lowe's, HD., etc. have no interest for me, because a 5-gallon bucket isn't suitable for fermenting 5 gallons of beer. Three, maybe. Most of the beers I make will produce a krauesen that comes near the lid of my original 6.5 gal. bucket. The U.S. Plastics buckets are listed as FDA, and their shipping was very reasonable.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I would stay away from any of the buckets you find in any of these big box stores. Buy something that was intended to have food in it. Don't cheap out on a fermenter, I ruined about 4 batches being cheap,and it cost me more in the long run. I personally won't ferment in a plastic bucket ever again, but that's just me being paranoid now. take it for what it's worth,good luck.

 

[magnj]

I would stay away from any of the buckets you find in any of these big box stores. Buy something that was intended to have food in it. Don't cheap out on a fermenter, I ruined about 4 batches being cheap,and it cost me more in the long run. I personally won't ferment in a plastic bucket ever again, but that's just me being paranoid now. take it for what it's worth,good luck.

There is no reason a bucket will ruin your fermentation unless your sanitizing procedure is poor. I think the discussion is on the safety of using non certified plastics that may or may not leech chemicals into your beer. Many of us have fermented in buckets for a long time without ruining batches.

Not trying to pick on you, I just don't think you should be spreading the message that buckets are not fir for fermentation...only some are.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Well, I've got 4 gallons of mead in primary in a Homer Bucket now, so I guess we'll see in a few months time what the deal is. Hopefully I can manage my fermentation well enough to have it be almost complete in a few weeks in order to transfer to secondary. Whether it's food grade or not, I don't like plastic buckets for extended secondary anyway.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Well, I've got 4 gallons of mead in primary in a Homer Bucket now, so I guess we'll see in a few months time what the deal is. Hopefully I can manage my fermentation well enough to have it be almost complete in a few weeks in order to transfer to secondary. Whether it's food grade or not, I don't like plastic buckets for extended secondary anyway.

The problem is that you may not know the effects of the dyes in the bucket for years to come. While the HDPE plastic used to make the Homer buckets is safe, nobody knows what dye was used to color the bucket. Some of the dyes used to color plastic are suspected carcinogens. Unfortunately, it could take years for the effects to be felt. One dye that is suspect is Sudan and is commonly used in all plastics. It's your life, do what you wish, but I just don't think it is worth the risk, especially when you could spend another $2 to $3 to get "Food Safe" buckets.

 

[Octavius]

Even if foodgrade, morebeer.com has a procedure for prepping buckets before use:

Plastic Bucket (6 Gallon) | MoreBeer

Also of note - "Food grade up 180 F".

So not for hauling batch sparge water.

Cheers!

 

[Philsc]

I managed to find a 6.5 US gallon carboy for 24 canadian dollars which is about 10 dollars cheaper than the dedicated spigoted brew bucket I was going to buy.

 

[HSM]

I store all my grains *that aren't in the freezer* in homerbuckets. THey are fine when the barley crusher gets working to catch the crushed grains.

If brewing means that you can't afford a food grade bucket as a fermenter they you should find a new hobby. Trying to cut corners looking at HomeDepot for buckets is silly. Try a bakery.

 

[RichBenn]

As said before, HomeDepot sells both the food grade and non-food grade. Food grade was a couple of bucks more. Your choice. Yeah, I know we all drank from garden hoses made of non-food grade materials when we were kids, and were exposed to all sorts of gas, oil, paints, pesticides etc. that were much more toxic than what we get today. But I wish I knew then what I do now....

Two bucks more to avoid yet another potential toxin? To decrease(however slight) my risk for cancer? You bet!

 

[AzuredEyed]

So I recently racked a batch of hard apple cider into an ACE's, white plastic bucket.

Should I dump it out -- or make sure all my home insurance premiums are paid up?

 

[fredthecat]

nice thread... glad i read all of it.. after careful consideration i definitely know im either going to find a used icing bucket or something or just suck it up and spend some money on a ale pail type bucket... no shortcut...