style of 5 gal buckets

Hi there, Newbie to home brewing, where I work there is seemingly an endless supply of 5 gallon buckets that are essentially the same as the ones you get with most home brewing kits, just no holes for airlock/stopper and spigot for bottling. with some modifying could these buckets be used for fermenting/bottling. Lastly, these aren't strictly white buckets, they have some clarity to them, could i paint or wrap them in in a blanket and use them as a primary fermenter with the modification?

 

Assuming that they are food grade, they will be fine and easy to modify. However, most buckets like that are not food grade? what kind of job is this?

I have seen people try to ferment in a Lowes or Home Depot bucket with poor results.

I also have seen people ferment in buckets that they got from sandwich shops that had pickles in them that worked fine (after they got the vinegar smell out).

 

Lots of brewers use Home Depot or other buckets. This article describes how to identify food grade buckets: http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Food-Grade-Buckets

As far as letting light through, sure - just keep the light out and you're fine. Carboys are clear - no problem.

Welcome to HBT.

 

Im assuming they are food grade, I work in a grocery store and they are olive buckets

 

They should work fine as long as any olive oil residue can be thoroughly flushed from the plastic and you can be assured of a fairly tight seal to the lid. Whether opaque or clear, I usually wrap my fermenter with a black plastic garbage bag to keep it light-safe. Welcome!

 

If you are planning to do 5 gallon batches you will have a problem. The buckets we typically use are 6.5 gallon buckets.

 

You cant use a 5 gallon bucket for a 5 gallon batch unless possibly using a blowoff tube for every batch but that seems like way more of a pain in the *ss than its worth. Plus you need to clean olive oil out of them Perfectly which again seems like a lot of work instead of just spending $15 on the correct size bucket with the correct lid...I wouldn't waste my time..use your free buckets for a million other things you can use a bucket for around the house.

 

yeah, if you want to ferment in a 5 gallon bucket, I would make 4 gallon batches

 

+1 those should work fine and you dont want to brew 5 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket.

Modifying it to use in fermentation is easy. I have a bucket that I modified myself. Most fermentation buckets use a rubber grommet afixed to a drilled hole on the lid, which isneasy to do yourself. I chose to use a hole saw and cut a 3/4 inch hole on top that I fixed with a grommet and drilled stopper. I tend to make meads, so this allows me to make quick nutrient or spice additions without having to worry about removing the whole lid.

 

I've been fermenting and bottling for about 4 years using only Home Depot white 2 gallon paint buckets w/o a single problem.

 

Even if you don't ferment in them, those buckets come in handy for all kinds of other things. I use a 6 gallon wine bucket as a laundry basket, use buckets for all kinds of things around the garden, garage and shop and they are great for storing brewing equipment and other items.
If you ever go pick your own wine grapes or apples for cider, having a bunch of extra buckets makes the process easier. You can even make a cider press out of a bucket, just check you tube.

 

Yes, people do things differently all the time with either good or bad results.
I have heard of people who use those buckets though and turned out some nasty stuff. Personally it doesn't make since for me to waste 30-50 dollars on ingredients each batch to save what, 5 to 10 dollars, on a fermenting bucket.

 

My guess is that it had nothing to do with the bucket. As long as it is food grade the bucket is a perfectly acceptable fermentation vessel. A large percentage of brewers use only buckets.

I would avoid any buckets with color to them. There was a post a while ago where someone contacted the manufacturer of the HD orange buckets and while the plastic is food grade the would not say it still was after adding the dye to the plastic.

I use 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids for storing grains.

As said, do not try to ferment a 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon bucket. Even with a blow off tube it will result in a lot of beer ending up outside the bucket.

 

I ferment in plastic.

When choosing your buckets, be SURE that they are free from scratches and wear on the inside. It is very difficult to clean and sanitize scratched plastic buckets.

2trout

 

The paint buckets they sell at lowes are not food grade. Unless it says food grade I would rather not risk fermenting it in.

Lowes does sell one bucket that is labeled as food grade. And I would think it would be just fine to ferment it, however, what I'm saying is you would save 6 dollars using it, and it's 5 gallons instead of 7.

The guy I know who used the paint bucket to ferment in was nasty and I could almost guarantee it was because of the paint grade bucket he used. It tasted plastic-y and cardboard like because of oxidation

 

I did note the limitation on the size. I also noted that not all buckets are food grade. It might have been the bucket, but oxidation is not necessarily due to a bucket. There is such thing as open fermentation. I did a batch in a 2 gallon bucket from Home Depot. The lid did not have a rubber seal in it. The beer turned out fine.

 

Yes I know what open fermentation is.
What I'm trying to say is I personally wouldn't risk it for saving 5-10 bucks

 

What I am saying is that if you get the right bucket there is little to no risk.

 

Lowes sells two buckets labeled as food grade. One is a white bucket and the other is a semi-clear measuring bucket with gallon/liter markings on the sides (about $5). I have used these to split 8 or 9 gallon batches in two. I keg 5 gallons and bottle the rest. In the case of the opaque marked ones I also use them as bottling buckets and know just how much there is for priming sugar calculations. While the 6.5 gallon "Brewing" buckets have measurements they are broader and it is easier to figure out volume on the Lowes buckets. In addition to just split fermenting them you can experiment with different yeasts, hop additions, etc. with smaller buckets. The 6.5 gallon buckets I have are great for 5 gallon batches but the other ones have uses too.

If they get/are scratched you can use them for grain storage, hose storage, etc.

I do recommend buying the Home Depot orange 5 gallon bucket lids. For under a couple bucks they have a decent seal ring and are a little more flexible making them easier to get off. I don't know exactly how "Food Grade" they are, but since they are lids I don't think it really matters much. Even if you have a major kreusan blow off, it's not soaking on it.

 

Maybe it was the brewers and not the buckets?

 

if you want a bigger bucket that 5 gallons, one could always order some from this company: http://www.usplastic.com. They are fairly inexpensive and quick on delivery.

 

I know this is an old tread, but I did go and actually brew a batch using a Lowe's paint bucket...and I concede, it was a great beer