Ale Pail / other standard 6.5 gal bucket

Manufacturer - (generic)
This is a standard 6.5gal plastic bucket, branded as Ale Pail, for brewing ales, lagers, ciders, etc. May be sold with or without a bottling spigot.
High quality from The "Ale Pail". This unit came complete with snap on lid drilled for a grommet (included) and a lifting bail. The interior was clean, smooth and scratch/mold mark free. Sanitizing will be a breeze.
I am looking forward to my first batch in the new fermentor. A word to the wise though. If you can find one with a spigot you would be better served to get that since it reduces the possibility of aerating your beer when transferring to bottles or secondary fermenters. A minor issue that can be readily fixed when the time comes and the fermentor is empty. Otherwise a great step up from a Mr Beer 2 1/2 gallon entry level kit.
Bob
Price Payed: $14.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Larger batches, easy to stack and store, easy to clean,
Cons: The unit I got does not have a spigot to rack to bottles or a secondary. Have to use a racking can and siphon to move beer and wort.

 

[Chriso]

Wish it was easier to cool. Otherwise, cheap, not breakable, and easy to move.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Tenchiro]

It's just a food grade bucket. It works and umm is white.
A++ would brew with again.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Schlenkerla]

This is a low cost primary and bottling bucket. I own two of these.
I will probably buy another very soon.
Price Payed: $18.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Dinbin]

Useing two Plastic fermenters. Only real complaint is that they can be a bit cumbersome when transfering liquid.
Price Payed: $13.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[quickerNu]

I have 5 7 gallon buckets from Austin Homebrew Supply, love 'em. My original bucket is being retired to a star san container after 17 batches.
Price Payed: $17.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Choguy03]

Gets the job done. I would like to get some more carboys, because I do like to watch the fermentation take place. Sturdy and nice to have extra for transferring star-san or sparge water.
Price Payed: $8.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Homercidal]

I used to ferment only in glass carboy, but I wanted to see if I could improve my clarity and flavor by utilizing a primary and secondary. I think it's helped, although it's quite possible that my methods themselves have made the improvemnts more than a secondary.
Only problem with bucket is not being able to see the fermentation taking place

Price Payed: $10.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[graphicgeek80]

Sure they scratch, and you can't see the fermentation. But they do pay for themselves after about three extract/partial extract batches.
Price Payed: $60.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Alamo_Beer]

I
Price Payed: $1.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[mwhc22]

I got 2 of these with my home brew kit one with a spigot for bottling. So far they have functioned very well and got the job done i needed them to do. I have used them for 2.5 years now and they still are doing there job.
Price Payed: $20.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: very affordable and practical
Cons: plastic may degrade quicker than glass or steel over time

 

[MattMann]

Wow, what can I say about this. It does its job perfectly. Just never have a lid that fits just right.
Price Payed: $13.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[powerjb]

got it with the basic kit. works fine for what it is. will doubtless upgrade.
Price Payed: $70.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[ScrmnWoody]

Glass is probably better. But, I've never experienced any "off" flavors with wort fermenting in plastic less than a few weeks.
Price Payed: $10.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[GearBeer]

Definitely not as durable as the carboy. Plastic discolors over time, I worry a little about impregnated flavors. Very light and the large opening allows for aeration by pouring.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[dcott]

Pros: Versatile, easy to clean, easy to carry, good bang for the buck.
Cons: Can scratch, take on flavors/odors
Price Payed: $16.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Jilaman]

Price Payed: $10.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[camiller]

An excellent tradition homebrew fermentation vessel. Resists breakage. Convenient handle.
Price Payed: $6.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[sea2summit3]

Plastic isn't the greatest, but good for until a beginner decides they really want commit to brewing and invest the dough for quality equipment. I'm moving to glass. Searching for carboys the cheap way... yard sales! (price was for your typical starter kit)
Price Payed: $75.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[alexcarlton2003]

It works I guess and it is cheap. I would like something with a little more volume.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Brewme]

Good pail. I don't see a difference in one pail to the next. For five gallon batches, this works great.
Price Payed: $1.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[blp]

I got the Ale Pail along with an Ale Pail bottling bucket with a Brewer's Best equipment kit. It's been useful for me so far but I will probably move to using just carboy's for fermentation soon.
Price Payed: $0.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Pelikan]

Does everything it's supposed to: is easy to use (wide opening), safe (when compared to glass), is easy to move around (handle), and it's cheap! At this point in my life, I really don't see the need to get better bottles or glass carboys, unless I'm going to secondary something for an extended period of time.
Price Payed: $14.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[grlz]

its ok. plain ol pail. no airlock, no spout, nothing special. 75 characters for a review... what am i at now?
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? No

 

[newbeerpig]

Good Pail, lid is hard to remove witch makes it challenging to not spill all over the place. Spigot also rotates to allow the fermentor to sit flat.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[humann_brewing]

A couple of buckets for secondary or transferring stuff, easy to use
Price Payed: $10.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Firstnten]

I have three at present. Still wondering what the difference between food grade plastic and a spackle bucket.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[Tripod]

Standard 6.5 Gallon Ferm. Bucket. Only marked with my gallon markings at each gallon.
Price Payed: $0.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[rth97601]

It's a bucket ... same as any other bucket ... why is this review thing so complicated?
Price Payed: $10.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[khiddy]

A standard white HDPE bucket with lid. I drilled a hole for the airlock, and it works just fine. I like that I can see the trub level.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes

 

[iammatt]

Thousands of home brewers started with these and many thousands of them still use them. Cheap to buy, cheap to ship, cheap to replace, however it's plastic, it can scratch and you can't watch fermentation.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Cheap, Light Weight, Plastic
Cons: Opaque, Plastic

 

[bigolbigbelly]

Excellent bucket to use as a primary fermenter. Just the right size for a 5.5 to 6 gallon batch. Grommeted Lid makes it easy to add a airlock. Side of the bucket is printed with volume graduations. Have been using the same buckets for over a year now and have still not scratched or had an infection. I clean mine with a Libman brand nylon brush. When they stain, soak in Oxyclean free over night, then rinse very well. Will not get them completely white, but it helps. Installed bottling spouts on all of mine for easy transfer.
Price Payed: $11.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Price, non-breakable, easy to pick up and move.
Cons: Can be scratched, oxygen permeable, get discolored over time.

 

[gypsyhead]

The cheap way to go, possibly one step up from Mr.Beer, (though I've had friends make some awesome beer with that setup), easy to clean, easy to transport, and you don't mind buying another one if you have to.
Price Payed: $20.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: cheap, fairly durable, easy to clean
Cons: may leech flavors if you're coming off a ginger lemon beer and headed toward a kolsch

 

[masterchief1112]

nice and easy to clean, have 2 of them. wouldnt use a carboy over this as they are a pain to clean. cheap too
Price Payed: $11.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: easy to clean, wide opening, wouldnt get a carboy over this
Cons: none

 

[meisterbrewer]

They're cheap, they work like they should, I'm thinking about making a "stand" so I can set one on top of the other and clear the airlock. Easy to clean, easy to dump the wort into.These are perfect for homebrewing.

Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: works just like it should. Kind of would like to see the fermentation, but I'm ok, the beer's flowing out of the airlock anyway!
Cons: Can't see the fermentation. Could scratch easily (I just wash it with a cloth right after I empty it, so it cleans easy. I'd avoid using a brush of any kind)

 

[ryandcalvert]

I got my first one of these for Christmas 2010, I bought another one less then a month later. These are great for ales. Easy clean up and due to the large opening of the bucket you can really a lot of activity before it blows out.
Side note the ones that I own are actually 7-7.5 gallon.
Price Payed: $20.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Extremely easy to clean
Cons: don't recommend aging, as plastic my allow O2 into your brew

 

[Xaphoeous]

Came with a Brewer's Best starter kit. Seems to be of quality construction.
Price Payed: $65.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Very tight seal on lid, very tight. Quality carrying handle. No foul plastic odors from manufacturing.
Cons: Can't see through side or lid to watch all the fun.

 

[biggben]

hard to work with because of limited sight but still serves its purpose till i can obtain a 6 gal glass carboy
Price Payed: $16.00
Recommended? No
Pros: lots of head room easy to pour into
Cons: cant see fermentation!!! cant see when racking

 

[mjxl47]

I like my AlePail. I would recommend it to anyone looking to brew for the reasons abvoe!
Price Payed: $19.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: The spigot makes for easy bottling.
I can store smaller brewing knick-knacks (bottle caps, capper, etc) inside of it if, for some reason, it isn't full of beer.
Lightweight and easy to carry.
Cons: I sometimes get a leak around the spigot. It's easy to tighten it and stop the leak, but sort of a pain when it's full.
Not a ton of head-space.

 

[Aschecte]

great for beginners and for economy also light weght and easily stored. can't see fermentation and not reccomended for long term ferments.
Price Payed: $20.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: light weight easy to clean
Cons: can't see what's going on