I hate carboys.

[Golddiggie]

I just discovered* that my local grocery store sells 4-gal Monadnock spring water bottles for $4.99, with no deposit. They're made of PET, just like the better bottles, but thinner (for comparison, my 3-gal Better Bottle was $23.95 at the LHBS). At that price, I don't feel bad chucking it if it gets nasty after several batches.

* a quick search shows that this was discovered over 2 years ago, back when they were only $3.99.

Is that a chain??

 

[bovineblitz]

<3 for plastic carboys

 

[CharlesB]

I'm wondering why more people aren't just repairing the scratches in their buckets? I've previously used flame polishing to take scratches out of plexiglass and I did the same to some "ruined" buckets that another brewer was throwing away. They went from scratched and ugly to smooth as glass inside and don't seem to have contaminated anything so far.

 

[beerchemist]

Is that a chain??

I got mine at Johnny's Foodmaster in Somerville. One day I just noticed the giant rack of bottles by the checkout--Monadnock Spring as above; Poland Spring 5gal/$5.99, plus $5 deposit.

 

[Golddiggie]

I got mine at Johnny's Foodmaster in Somerville. One day I just noticed the giant rack of bottles by the checkout--Monadnock Spring as above; Poland Spring 5gal/$5.99, plus $5 deposit.

Going to have to get there one of these days, soon... Thinking that they will come in handy come the next time I go to make mead... Not sure if I'll ferment beer in them, but I could... All depends on how soon I start working again and get into a new place to live...

 

[AugustDerleth]

I'm wondering why more people aren't just repairing the scratches in their buckets?

Probably because buckets are cheap as dirt, and most would rather not risk infecting $20-$50 worth of beer, the time and energy put into creating it to try a possible way to fix scratches. You can get a 5 gallon HDPE bucket at lowe's for a little over $6.00. Buy a lid for $.50-$1.00, drill a hole in it drop in a grommet and an airlock and boom. If the bucket gets scratched, trash it, buy another one and keep your custom lid. :fro:

 

[Golddiggie]

Probably because buckets are cheap as dirt, and most would rather not risk infecting $20-$50 worth of beer, the time and energy put into creating it to try a possible way to fix scratches. You can get a 5 gallon bucket at lowe's for a little over $2.00. Buy a lid for $.50-$1.00, drill a hole in it drop in a grommet and an airlock and boom. If the bucket gets scratched, trash it, buy another one and keep your custom lid. :fro:

I've not looked at the bottom of the buckets at Lowe's but somehow I doubt they are actually food safe.

 

[AugustDerleth]

I've not looked at the bottom of the buckets at Lowe's but somehow I doubt they are actually food safe.

Um. . .I wouldn't have bought them if they weren't food grade. They were HDPE #2, so I'm fairly certain they are food grade, but doubt away sir! Leaves more buckets for me!

 

[Golddiggie]

Um. . .I wouldn't have bought them if they weren't food grade. They were HDPE #2, so I'm fairly certain they are food grade, but doubt away sir! Leaves more buckets for me!

The only ones listed (only) for the Lowe's in my area (all 5 of them) are recycled, for $2.54 each...

Next time I get to Lowe's I'll see what the ones in the store are. Still won't ferment in them, but could be used to catch milled grain.

 

[AugustDerleth]

The only ones listed (only) for the Lowe's in my area (all 5 of them) are recycled, for $2.54 each...

Next time I get to Lowe's I'll see what the ones in the store are. Still won't ferment in them, but could be used to catch milled grain.

Suppose another reason I'm glad I'm not a yank, the Lowe's here has food grade buckets for cheap.
I bought mine some time ago, and when I looked just now the price has gone up to about $7.00, but that's still not terrible, especially compared to buying the same thing from LHBS for $20.+

If nothing else, you can go to ANY baker's or doughnut shop, and they'll typically give away and/or sell buckets for cheap, which have been used to hold icing.

 

[Dgonza9]

Try fermenting in sankes. I love it. Just pump wort in. Transfer out with gas. You can counter pressure transfer. Even ferment under pressure.

It's pretty cool.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Not to mention a 5 gallon bucket doesn't do much good fermenting a typical 5g batch

 

[bovineblitz]

I got mine at Johnny's Foodmaster in Somerville. One day I just noticed the giant rack of bottles by the checkout--Monadnock Spring as above; Poland Spring 5gal/$5.99, plus $5 deposit.

I'm so glad you posted this. I just drove past there today going from the LHBS to the stop n shop in somerville (idk why the GPS had me go that way).

I'll stop by there this week and pick one up!

 

[Golddiggie]

Try fermenting in sankes. I love it. Just pump wort in. Transfer out with gas. You can counter pressure transfer. Even ferment under pressure.

It's pretty cool.

I'd LOVE to get my hands on some of the 6.5 gallon (or are they 7.5?) tall Sanke kegs to use for fermenting in... I have a batch in a 5 gallon corny keg right now. It was started on Saturday. We used foamcap-S in the batch, so I should be safe from foamcano's from blowing through the airlock, or painting the walls. I'm pretty sure I got a full 5 gallons into it, but won't know for sure until I transfer to the bottling bucket in 3-4 weeks. At that point I'll know for the next batch I ferment in it.

I'm going to start hunting more actively for the Sanke's once I've moved and have more room to ferment.

I see corny kegs as being a good other option, until I can get the Sanke's lined up.

 

[Dgonza9]

I have to say I love fermenting in my sanke. You just do a few basic modifications to the sankey coupler and you've got a 15 gallon fermenter. I brew 10 gallon batches and just pump wort straight in after CFC and inline O2, though you can make this work many different ways.

So much better than lugging carboys around. I use a spund valve to keep the pressure at set points during fermentation. I don't have the ability to crash cool, but if you do you can even keg your beer from the fermenter while it's carbed.

Anyway, I'd encourage anyone to give it a shot. Been nothing but a good experience for me.

 

[nootay]

where can you find teh instructions to convert a sanke to a fermenter like you have? id love to check it out

 

[beerchemist]

I'm so glad you posted this. I just drove past there today going from the LHBS to the stop n shop in somerville (idk why the GPS had me go that way).

I'll stop by there this week and pick one up!

FYI, This was the one on the Alewife Brook Parkway at Broadway.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Try fermenting in sankes. I love it. Just pump wort in. Transfer out with gas. You can counter pressure transfer. Even ferment under pressure.

It's pretty cool.

+1 on the Sankes. I steam sanitize by pouring a gallon of water in, placing it on the burner, cover the opening with aluminum foil, and boil for about 10-15 minutes.

 

[fatguy-littlecoat]

I do, I hate them.

They're a pain to move.

get a carboy handle.

A pain to clean

get a carboy brush.

And you can't strip your yeast from them!

harvest from your starters.

 

[Dgonza9]

where can you find teh instructions to convert a sanke to a fermenter like you have? id love to check it out

HERE'S A THREAD on fermenting in sankes under pressure.

It's a long thread, so here's a bit of a summary:

1) Get a sanke and appropriate coupler.

2) Modify the coupler kind of like this.

There are several ways to do this, but here are the parts I used:

I got those parts from midwest brewing.

Here are the part numbers for the rest from mcmaster.com

99045k44
4089k23
50675k161
4429k223

If you want a snap ring and pliers, here ya go:

91580a246
57805a353

Inside the coupler is a grey plastic piece that functions as a check valve for the gas line. Remove that so you can release gas thru the pressure relief valve.

There is also a check ball that keeps beer from backing into the keg. You'll need to remove it so you can pump beer in.

I bought some snap rings and retaining ring pliers. Just easier to remove than the sanke rings.

I just pump my cooled wort into the sanke thru the beer output of the coupler.

Checkout the thread on fermenting under pressure if you'd like to know more about this process. But fermenting in the sanke is really a terrific upgrade, especially if you do 10 gallon batches. Cheers!