Ale Pail / other standard 6.5 gal bucket

[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

 

[Hartzelly]

All i can really say definitly worth the money and very good for beginning.. You Cant beat the price i got mine at the local brewing store for 12.00 and yea it has the downfall of being plastic but also has the benefit of not breaking and easy to drain with a spigot installed. overall its great i would strongly recommend this product. it gets the job done for sure!
Price Payed: $12.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: cheap, spigot, gets the job done
Cons: plastic... need i say more

 

[Toy4Rick]

I purchased mine at the LHBS and it works great. It was only a $1.00 less online so it was good to support my local shop.
Price Payed: $14.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Easy to clean, easy to move
Cons: Not able to watch the little yeasties

 

[DangerRoss]

Nice, easy, cost effective way to ferment. Unlike carboys, the buckets are able to be stacked when not in use. I have about 6 of these buckets as well as a carboy, and I would have to say that the buckets are much easier to clean and use.
Price Payed: $14.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Easy to clean, lightweight, and its nice to be able to stack multiple buckets that are not being used to ferment.
Cons: The lid durability is not the greatest. I've had a couple lids get holes poked through them over the years.

 

[Slobberchops]

It's an over-priced plastic bucket...what's not to like?
Price Payed: $20.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Durable, cheap
Cons: none really...works great

 

[DarkBrood]

Actually, a 5-gallon heavy-duty bucket with a sweet lid from sanitizer for a restaurant sanitizer/dishwasher. 3" screw-of cap can be replaced with alternates for airlocks, blowoffs, thermowells, etc.
Price Payed: $0.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Free, heavy duty, sweet inset cap. Rubber gasket inside lid rim.
Cons: Screw cap could be possible infection point. Main lid needed modification to open and close easily.

 

[Rbeckett]

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. 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 airating your beer when transfering to bottles or secondary fermentors. A minor issue that can be readilly fixed when the time comes and the fermentor is empty. Otherwise a great step up fom 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.

 

[BrewingViking]

It's a very generic and standard brewing fermenting bucket. Does what it needs to do, and that's ferments the beer. It did stain and get scratched pretty easy though. Would replace it at least every 3 years.
Price Payed: $15.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: cheap, easy to clean
Cons: stained and scratched easily

 

[twistr25]

Purchased as part of a Midwest Beginners kit. All the pieces you need to get going in the homebrew hobby. Durable plastic if you don't want to risk the chance of breaking a carboy.
Price Payed: $18.00
Recommended? Yes
Pros: Easy to clean and maneuver
Cons: Can't see your beer fermenting