food safe bucket at lowes, pic says it all

[edecambra]

I know there has been alot of arguments on these boards about how safe those buckets at the hardware store are but I just got one and I think the pic says it all:

6 bucks with a lid and 4 without, but it is only 5 gallons so if you want to do small batches it would be great. Any thoughts?

 

[weirdboy]

I think the only argument has been about the gray ones from Lowe's, and the orange ones from HD. The white ones in either store are food safe (they say so on the bucket).

 

[edecambra]

I've always assumed as much, although I haven't seen food safe on them until this one, and they sure made it clear

 

[Old_mil_guy]

Any place to get 6 gallons or is everybody just ordering from US Plastics?

 

[b-boy]

I use these all the time. I do 4 gallon batches in them. There are lids with built in rubber gaskets if you can find them. They seal really well.

 

[bruin_ale]

how much are those buckets at lowes?

 

[Old_mil_guy]

how much are those buckets at lowes?

"6 bucks with a lid and 4 without, but it is only 5 gallons so if you want to do small batches it would be great. Any thoughts?"

 

[BrewHeads]

Food grade should be good to go. Good to know! Might pick up some for grain storage at least.

Clean with pbw and sanitize I would imagine they'll be fine for fermenting

 

[bruin_ale]

I'd use them, but I can just go to morebeer and buy their brew buckets for $7 + a couple bucks for a lid. I think I'd rather just do that, get the volume measurements (however inaccurate they may be) on the side and a little extra volume for just a couple bucks.

 

[BrewHeads]

I'd use them, but I can just go to morebeer and buy their brew buckets for $7 + a couple bucks for a lid. I think I'd rather just do that, get the volume measurements (however inaccurate they may be) on the side and a little extra volume for just a couple bucks.

Agreed. And rather support a company like more beer over a chain like lowes.

Glass and stainless steel is still the best. Switched over from bucket to glass and never been happier. Buckets are good for storage though.

 

[bruin_ale]

I'm thinking about picking up some buckets for primary for wild/sour ales. I have two 6.5g carboys and a 6g better bottle that I use for primary for clean beers that I want to keep that way - I know I could probably clean them just fine, but I'd rather spend $10 on an ale pale and not have to worry about it. I have about 6 5g carboys that I almost never use because I don't secondary my ales, so I'll use those (or at least a few of them) for sour secondaries.

 

[tom_gamer]

Agreed. And rather support a company like more beer over a chain like lowes.

Glass and stainless steel is still the best. Switched over from bucket to glass and never been happier. Buckets are good for storage though.

Why glass over plastic?

 

[SixFoFalcon]

Plastic scratches easily, which means bad things when it comes time to sanitize and old plastic fermenter that's been kicked around for years. It also absorbs odors/flavors over time. I usually use buckets for primary until they get noticably discolored or start retaining odors, then retire them to ordinary non-brewery use.

 

[Fizzycist]

I picked up several large (5 gal) food grade buckets, with lids, for free from Albertsons bakery down the street. They smelled slightly of frosting, but that was gone with one wash in PBW.

 

[Gear101]

Let me be the first to say “that none of my beer touches plastic” not the yeast in the container, not the mesh that the 50# two row comes in, not the lines I use in brewing, not even the lines I use with my kegs.
LMAO

 

[kh54s10]

I have to say that my beer never touches glass except the bottles and starter flask.

I have no worries about the plastic and will never use glass carboys. It is not worth the hassle of the heavy slippery glass (can you say thrown out back?) or the risk of a trip to the ER.

My Better Bottles are much easier to clean that a glass carboy. I soak in Oxyclean rinse, put a wash cloth inside, swirl, rinse and done.

I have a local dairy that sells their 5 gallon buckets (syrups) for $1.50. Some people find free ones at bakeries (icing etc.) or Chinese restaurants. (soy sauce)

 

[edecambra]

Well, I didn't mean to dig up the glass VS plastic argument with my post, I just thought some might be interested in the big food grade sticker on the buckets now.

That said, I picked one up for sours but I'd advise against ageing in them as they allow a large amount of oxygen pickup and will potentially turn your tasty sour into salad dressing (acetobacter or acetic acid)

 

[Gear101]

Well, I didn't mean to dig up the glass VS plastic argument with my post, I just thought some might be interested in the big food grade sticker on the buckets now.

That said, I picked one up for sours but I'd advise against ageing in them as they allow a large amount of oxygen pickup and will potentially turn your tasty sour into salad dressing (acetobacter or acetic acid)

I agree, alot of trolls here some days..happy brewing

 

[tom_gamer]

Well, I didn't mean to dig up the glass VS plastic argument with my post, I just thought some might be interested in the big food grade sticker on the buckets now.

That said, I picked one up for sours but I'd advise against ageing in them as they allow a large amount of oxygen pickup and will potentially turn your tasty sour into salad dressing (acetobacter or acetic acid)

Sorry, I was just wondering why, I knew about the scratch thing, but this has never been an issue with me. I thought there might be an actually good reason. Sorry for highjacking.

 

[johnlvs2run]

I picked up several large (5 gal) food grade buckets, with lids, for free from Albertsons bakery down the street. They smelled slightly of frosting, but that was gone with one wash in PBW.

That's what I did too, at the FoodMax bakery section.

They even washed the buckets for me.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

My Ale Pail is stamped HDPE with a 2 in the triangle on the bottom and the white buckets at Home Depot and Lowes have the same thing that I have seen when I check them out so even without the giant sticker saying food grade, I wouldn't hesitate to use for brewing smaller batches or even as a cheap secondary as long as it won't age for very long. I agree if you have a sour you want to age for a long time that glass is the way to go to avoid oxygen.