Home Depot buckets for fermenting

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arturo7 said:
Problem Solved:

Lowes' offers their cheap 5 gallon bucket in gray. No problems with the red colorant.
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HD's orange colorant gives you cancer.
Lowe's grey colorant makes your d*ck fall off.

Your choice!

disclaimer: I have no dog in this fight, I like to make stupid jokes.
 
I have mixed feelings about it. I mean farmers making moonshine used to use old tractor radiators as a still. Compared to that an orange pail is like nothing.

On the other hand unregulated plastics tend to leach chemicals into water and none of said chemicals are going to help you in the long run.

For me, spending the extra $5-$10 at the lhbs for a food grade plastic fermenter is worth not having to think about it. On the other hand, I know guys who routinely cook hot dogs on campfires they made out of treated lumber. So I guess it really just depends on how that kind of thing weighs on you. If you're asking... you probably already know the answer.
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/has-anyone-ever-used-orange-home-depot-buckets-118095/ a good read....

My take is that you can brew in whatever you want. Will you instantly grow a third arm because you fermented in a Homer bucket? No. But you could eat off a lead plate for a long time with no effect too...

I am wary of FDA approved food grade plastic. And an unregulated plastic bucket with color dye is pretty near the top of my list for stuff I don't want anything I eat sitting in.

As to everyone who says they have fermented in Homer buckets and their beer is fine: No offense meant, but I really don't take taste comments from the net (with a few exceptions) very seriously. 90% of people seem to think their homebrew is better than commercial beer when I know that at least 95% of HB is worse than craft beer... As such, I take taste comments with about a pound of salt.

Ferment in what you like, they are your swimmers to kill as they say.
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Monkey said:
so, you don't brew in anything plastic right? you just use glass carboys?
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Correct, I use as little plastic in my brewery as possible. I have some vinyl tubing, some thermoplastic tubing, and that is it. All plastic is rated food grade and I am fine with it. I use glass and stainless for fermentation. I just don't think the idea of using plastic not rated for food is a good one. It just isn't worth $5 (or whatever) to me.

fire943 said:
So you don't drink milk, yogurt, or anything in a plastic colored container? It must make shopping very hard. Even Whole Foods insn't color-plastic free. I also believe my taste buds may be better then yours:rockin: but again its only an opinion:mug: BTW I only use glass...well, unless I'm using plastic
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If it comes in glass, I prefer to buy it that way. Of course I eat out of plastic containers, but that doesn't mean I can't be wary of it and avoid it when possible. I just don't think plastic is a good thing for our bodies. Also, you will find that very few colored plastics are actually in contact with your food.

Your tastebuds may be better than mine, but I won't believe you until you say some things to make me think so. For example, I take carnevoodoo's opinion seriously because he has consistently made comments about commercial beers that I believed to be good opinions. Don't take offense, it is the interwebs, it is easy for me to say I am a beer connoisseur but difficult to show it.
 
broadbill said:
HD's orange colorant gives you cancer.
Lowe's grey colorant makes your d*ck fall off.

Your choice!

disclaimer: I have no dog in this fight, I like to make stupid jokes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for making that point. Me too. What got me started in this, was , since the Gov took my job and gave me food-stamps instead... I got to thinking,, I wonder how cheap i can make my own beer(with food stamp items,, ya know, your tax payer dollars at work and all,,since I can't afford it anymore. So that is my quest. At this point I am making 6 gals for 6 bucks,, at about 9.5 ABV. and dern it, it taste just like my lazy, shiftless uncle's homebrew, (he was too sorry to work, just stayed around the farm, made homebrew,:cross: and ,,,,,ya know,, come to think of it,, he kinda had it made.). Anyway,,, I am not too worried about cancer and or any of the green stuff,,, heck, I'm a homebrewer,, I am TRYING to drink myself to death,,, okay???
 
arturo7 said:
Mr Northo, although virgin material is important, the red colorant is also a factor.



Damn, I was trying not to get dragged in

...again...
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While I am not a plastics expert, I base my knowledge on the information I got from a customer who claims he is. We had a lengthy conversation about this very topic and he says that dyed HDPE is no different than non-dyed; it does not leach. This may not be the case with all plastics which is why most of us are concerned about it.
I think more important than the dye is the possibilty of contamination from recycled plastic.
 
Mr North, I say to you respectfully, that I've been in the plastics industry for over 20 years. The difference between "dyed and non-dyed"plastics is not insignificant. The red dye is especially nasty stuff.

cheers
 
Stagnasty said:
Thanks for making that point. Me too. What got me started in this, was , since the Gov took my job and gave me food-stamps instead... I got to thinking,, I wonder how cheap i can make my own beer(with food stamp items,, ya know, your tax payer dollars at work and all,,since I can't afford it anymore. So that is my quest. At this point I am making 6 gals for 6 bucks,, at about 9.5 ABV. and dern it, it taste just like my lazy, shiftless uncle's homebrew, (he was too sorry to work, just stayed around the farm, made homebrew,:cross: and ,,,,,ya know,, come to think of it,, he kinda had it made.). Anyway,,, I am not too worried about cancer and or any of the green stuff,,, heck, I'm a homebrewer,, I am TRYING to drink myself to death,,, okay???
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where are you buying your grains etc. w/food stamps?
 
arturo7 said:
Mr North, I say to you respectfully, that I've been in the plastics industry for over 20 years. The difference between "dyed and non-dyed"plastics is not insignificant. The red dye is especially nasty stuff.

cheers
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Thats what I get for listening to some dude I don't know.
 
HDPE (Homer buckets) and Pex (the supply plumbing in most of houses built in the last 15 years) are both forms of polyethelyne. Pex is dyed for the plumbing trade. Red for hot blue for cold white for genral use, the white also has a black inner lining to prevent alge growth, so even if you don't use it in your brewing, you are probably exposed to the dyes every day through general water use.
 
DAMN! I just noticed that I spent the last 17 minutes reading all 54 of these posts... I'll never get that time back and I blame all of you :)
 
apologeticus said:
where are you buying your grains etc. w/food stamps?
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I ain't buying grains and hops,,, I'm making home brew,,, Grandma's Molassas, table sugar, and bakers yeat,,, I know it sounds horrible, but its about 100 times better than Bud Light Wheat,, or Bud for that matter
 
Stagnasty said:
I ain't buying grains and hops,,, I'm making home brew,,, Grandma's Molassas, table sugar, and bakers yeat,,, I know it sounds horrible, but its about 100 times better than Bud Light Wheat,, or Bud for that matter
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Dude you're going to hell via the liver transplant wing.
 
Here is my two cents, being a homebrewer and a former employee of the Home Depot (paint department) and someone who has sold hundreds of these buckets. They are exactly the same as the bucket I got from my LHBS. The only diffrence is that the LHBS sells one, and Home Depot sells the other. I dont see why anyone would not want to use the exact same bucket because it is sold at a hardware store.

And for people who are complaining that the buckets have dye on them, what about the "Ale Pails" that have a design on them, that LHBS sell. Is it somehow okay when the LHBS does this?

I would not be suprised if the company that makes home depot's buckets also makes buckets for LHBS, but instead of slapping a Home Depot label, that slap on an "ale pail" logo. In my opinion a bucket is a bucket, no matter where you buy it.
 
Stagnasty said:
I ain't buying grains and hops,,, I'm making home brew,,, Grandma's Molassas, table sugar, and bakers yeat,,, I know it sounds horrible, but its about 100 times better than Bud Light Wheat,, or Bud for that matter
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que banjo: nang nang nang nang, nang nang, nang nang nang :drunk:
 
My apologies, I just googled home depot bucket, and the american stores must carry an orange bucket that we dont here in Canada. The ones we I have sold were all white.

I thought people were complaining about the logo on the front of the white buckets.

Sorry.
 
arturo7 said:
Mr North, I say to you respectfully, that I've been in the plastics industry for over 20 years. The difference between "dyed and non-dyed"plastics is not insignificant. The red dye is especially nasty stuff.

cheers
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As you are the resident plastics expert, I have the following questions:

1. I have no doubt that the red dye is "nasty stuff", but at what rate does the red dye leach from the bucket into water based liquid?

2. How would various solvents (say 5% ethanol, which is basically what beer is) affect this leach rate?

This is the crux of the discussion, at least for me. Its not so much the red dye is nasty, but assuming that is nasty-how much actually leaches from the plastic into the liquid put into the bucket over time.

thanks
 
Vorsicht709 said:
Here is my two cents, being a homebrewer and a former employee of the Home Depot (paint department) and someone who has sold hundreds of these buckets. They are exactly the same as the bucket I got from my LHBS. The only diffrence is that the LHBS sells one, and Home Depot sells the other. I dont see why anyone would not want to use the exact same bucket because it is sold at a hardware store.
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except the HD buckets are 5 gallons and the LHBS buckets are generally 6-7 gallons.

It's not possible to ferment a 5 gallon batch (usually using 5.5 gallons in the primary) in a 5 gallon bucket - regardless of where it came from or how much it costs. For me, that ends the debate. I want to brew a 5 gallon batch, so I need a 6-7 bucket.
 
I wanted to set the record straight (or at least part of it) on HDPE and the numbers.

the number 1 or 2 does NOT mean it is food safe - it is about how much oxygen is allowed through.

If you have a yogurt container, look at it, it will most likely say #4 or even 5! It does not mean its not food safe, (it is safe for food or columbo wouldn't be able to sell me yogurt in those nifty quarts) but it does let oxygen through.

FOOD safe containers are made of a much stonger and durable plastic - it has nothing to due with dyes or structure - it just means that it won't scratch nearly as easily as your non food safe.

And then again Food safe is all relative - an oak barrel is not food safe, but if you disinfect and sanitize it properly then it is....the same goes for the home depot buckets - if you clean, disinfect and sanitize the crap out of it, there is nothing thats going to live in that sucker as long as it stays 100% away from nasties. BUT it will easily scratch thus making it difficult to be sure of 100% sterile equipment.

I work in a sign industry, (which uses lots of HDPE plastics) and we even make some bins for whole foods for the Gimme 5! campaign - where they were taking #5 plastic (yogurt containers) to recycle them with a company in the area. #5 is food safe....just lets more oxygen through the walls.

so saying the HD buckets are #2 thus food safe is not true.
saying non-food safe buckets are not safe - debateable based off dyes used - but if its white - also not true if you can GUARENTEE 100% sterlization - which will be tougher due to the density of the plastic.

I use glass - this way I don't have to worry.
 
kunstler said:
I wanted to set the record straight (or at least part of it) on HDPE and the numbers.

the number 1 or 2 does NOT mean it is food safe - it is about how much oxygen is allowed through.
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"Contrary to misconceptions, the number does not indicate how hard the item is to recycle, nor how often the plastic was recycled. It is an arbitrary number and has no other meaning aside from identifying the specific plastic." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code
 
phatuna said:
que banjo: nang nang nang nang, nang nang, nang nang nang :drunk:
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You win a cookie !!!!! I do play a 5 sting banjo, I also play a mandolin and guitar. If I missed the point,,,that I like lite beer and cheap homebrew therefore I am somehow LESS,,, feel free to enlighten me??? Okay, bye now
 
I would agree glass does not leach chemicals into your food. Also depending what research you listen too or website you read almost all plastic is bad for your food. So is it ok for someone to have a Ale pail or HD bucket? I think all points for and against have been stated. Man, I think we all need to have a homebrew after a discussion like that about "buckets." lol
 
Get the same recipes, ferment one in a HD bucket, one in a carboy or w/e. Send them to each other. Solve this question it looks like there are plenty of people interested (If $ is a problem find more people who want to judge, collect payments for ingredients, blind taste test it)
 
Monkey said:
"Contrary to misconceptions, the number does not indicate how hard the item is to recycle, nor how often the plastic was recycled. It is an arbitrary number and has no other meaning aside from identifying the specific plastic." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code
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I am not sure if you meant this "evidence" as tongue in cheek or not, but for
1) No suitable source would begin with "contrary to misconceptions" or
2) finish with "arbitrary number... indentifying specific plastic"

Wikipedia a a single source bibliography is very dangerous.

From:
http://www.plasticsindustry.org/AboutPlastics/content.cfm?ItemNumber=712&navItemNumber=1123#ric


Myth: The number on the bottom of plastic cups, bottles and containers informs consumers about how to use a product or package.

Busted: This is false and potentially harmful misinformation. Many plastic items are marked with a resin identification code—usually a number or letter abbreviation—which indicates a specific kind of plastic material. The codes were originally developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) to provide consumers and recyclers with a consistent, national system identifying resin types that can enter specific recycling streams for recycling plastics through the normal channels of collecting recyclable materials from households. The code is generally on the bottom of containers and is usually displayed inside a three-arrow recycling symbol. The resin identification codes do not provide guidance on the safe or intended use of a product and should not be used for this purpose.
 
I bet I am more likely to die from a car accident than drinking beer from a homey bucket.

I bet there are 100,000 things more risky than beer fermented in a homey bucket.

How much safer is drinking small amounts of rinse-free sanitizer than trace amounts or red dye?

How much plasticizer will leach into my beer from the gasket in bottle caps?

How much steroids is in the meat and milk that I eat every day?

How many germs are on the tip of my finger that pulls boogers out of my nose? :cross:
 
broadbill said:
1. I have no doubt that the red dye is "nasty stuff", but at what rate does the red dye leach from the bucket into water based liquid?

2. How would various solvents (say 5% ethanol, which is basically what beer is) affect this leach rate?
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BB, these specific rates are beyond my level of expertise.

However, the FDA considers this pigment harmful even in minute concentrations. If they say it's not safe for food contact, I'll follow their advice.
 
Just for giggles.... found at my local Home Depot.

upload_2019-6-13_11-57-9.png
 

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Food grade is all you care about.

I know there are colored food grade buckets. When I was a fry cook, 30 years ago, our pickle buckets were green. Firehouse Subs’ pickle buckets are orange.

The Homer buckets explicitly say, “not food grade” on their website.
 
Don't know what HOME DEPOT bucket thread it was in, but someone contacted LeakTite directly. Leaktite said it was food grade UNTIL they add the orange pigment. The white ones are about a dollar more.

I got my buckets at a local dairy. White ones that contained chocolate or coffee syrups. They included the lids for $1.50 each. I have a dozen or so.....
 
Shawn Cassidy said:
Just for giggles.... found at my local Home Depot.

View attachment 630975
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I use those buckets with gamma lids to store base malt.

BUT! you should have waited another six months, just for giggles. ;) Bumping a 9.5 year old thread is a solid necro-post, but you didn't make the decade club.
 

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