Use HLT as bottling bucket?

[brianjcohen]

I'm looking to reduce the "footprint" of my brew gear setup. I have two Home Depot coolers that were converted to a mash tun and hot liquor tun. Is there any reason why the HLT couldn't double as my bottling bucket? So long as I'm careful with sanitation, I'm thinking it should be fine.

I'm also kinda hoping that, for storage, I can cram all my "gear" (hoses, racking cane, thermometer...) into these two coolers so that the whole footprint is 2 coolers + carboy(s). I'm wondering if there's a good way to do this while protecting the interior of the HLT cooler from scratches.

Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

Not really,the plastic could get scratched from cramming all that stuff in there.

 

[brianjcohen]

Not really,the plastic could get scratched from cramming all that stuff in there.

That doesn't really answer either of my questions...

 

[metanoia]

Scratches in plastic means it's harder to clean and sanitize, thus his answer of "not really" is the best answer you'll probably get based on what you want to do. Go for it if you're pressed for space, but if you can score a 5 or 6 gallon food-grade bucket as a dedicated bottling bucket, that'll always be your best bet.

 

[Onlooker]

I see no problem with using the cooler/HLT as a bottling bucket. Storing your gear in there has risks. But you could mitigate that by using some kind of thick bag to protect from scratching. Maybe canvas, or something similar. Of course that would reduce the storage capacity somewhat (depending on the specific design), but I think you want to do that to head off infection risk.

 

[acidrain]

Use the HLT as your bottling bucket, and put all your stuff in the boil kettle.
Experienced brewers will tell you to move away from plastic. If you ever get an infection, you'll need to toss the plastic anyway, so that might be the time to move up.
Personally, I have all SS, and they all nest together...
All my goodies including the IC fit in the HLT which fits in the BK, which fits in the MT... all SS.
Don't scratch your MT, or you'll be moving up sooner than expected.

 

[brianjcohen]

Use the HLT as your bottling bucket, and put all your stuff in the boil kettle.
Experienced brewers will tell you to move away from plastic. If you ever get an infection, you'll need to toss the plastic anyway, so that might be the time to move up.
Personally, I have all SS, and they all nest together...
All my goodies including the IC fit in the HLT which fits in the BK, which fits in the MT... all SS.
Don't scratch your MT, or you'll be moving up sooner than expected.

That sounds like just my style. Question: the insulated plastic cooler MT does a great job at keeping the mash temperature constant during the mash. Do you have problems with heat dissipation with the stainless MT?

 

[billl]

"Experienced brewers will tell you to move away from plastic."

I don't think that is true at all. Lots of brewers never "move up" to glass carboys. Glass carboys have obvious downsides - a pain to clean, exposes your beer to light, periodically explode and send shards everywhere......

 

[unionrdr]

I just meant that storing things in the ale pales,bottling buckets,etc isn't a good thing to me in light of what scratches can do to a brew. I have an old,large printer stand that I re-purposed as a fermenter stand & storage unit. They all stay seperated into there own spot. There's a couple pics in my pictures. Doesn't take up a lot of room & helps me keep'em seperated.
Anyway,the HLT should be fine as a bottling bucket As long as you keep it clean without abrasives.