Beginner Equipment Question - Secondary Fermentor

I was thinking about trying to rack my next batch of beer into secondary. I was given a 5 gallon water cooler jug from a friend. Can I sanitize it and put an airlock on it to use for secondary fermentation.

Has any one used one in the past?

What are possible issues?

Thanks
Pat

 

Look on the bottom of the container, and there should be a # to indicate what type of plastic it is. #2 represents food-grade HDPE, which is safe for storage or food-grade products, including beer. You can also use #4 LDPE containers, but they are slightly O2 permiable, so you wouldn't want to store wort/beer in there for extended periods of time, but 1-2 weeks isn't going to cause any harm. If possible, you want to use HDPE containers, though.

 

+1 what Topher said. Given that it was a water bottle, you're probably safe, just sanitize that sucker. I've never used one, but I imagine it's pretty close to a Better Bottle.

 

+1
But also make sure there aren't any scratches on the inside where bacteria could grow.
Sarah.

 

I have read that even the #2 are permeable. A short secondary should be ok. I am using mine to hold my Starsan solution.

I am surprised that there are no - NO NEED TO SECONDARY - posts yet. I have done both and have not noticed much difference so far.

 

make sure there aren't any major scratches on the inside. They can be difficult to sanitize and resilient bacteria tend to hang out in them. That is worst case scenario. Given it is the right kind of plastic as mentioned earlier, and the airlock/rubber stopper all fit, then you got yourself a nice "carboy".


EDIT: lol Apparently everything I said was already said. so yeah +1 to it all!

 

Thanks for all of the advice. I will see what the number is when I get home.

 

Ok, i'll say it... If you're not doing any dry hopping or other post fermentation additions, why bother with the secondary. It's not needed and it's just another opportunity to risk contamination.

 

I've looked at the water bottles here at work, and they seem like 'use once' containers because of their shape - they have a built in handle on the side and it woud be a pain to clean... Although some report they clean their carboys/betterbottles with a oxyclean soak and everything just comes right out so maybe they are just fine to clean.

+1 to all the #2 and short secondary (couple fo weeks, not couple of months) etc etc.

as for the 'no secondary' bits.. I've done both with and without and find my self unconvinced do to lack of experimentation and poor note taking to which is best. My lazy self says to just use primary. - my unconvinced self says I need to do a side by side comparison.