Brewing tank?

[avic-bourne]

Hi Guys,

My brother and I have just started doing a bit of simple brewing with the two can kits. Any way to be able to increase quantity we would like to brew 80 pints at a time instead of the 40. Obviously the standard bucket can only accommodate 40 so I've been looking into bigger containers and for ease of use a rectangle tank is going to be easier for us so my question is except for the obvious ease of transport; is there any reason tall spherical containers are used instead of rectangular tanks? I know obviously we could buy another bucket but we like the idea of one container!

Thanks

 

[BendBrewer]

I think you want to avoid corners or nooks and crannies that bad stuff can hide in. You are worried about the right thing though. Moving 11 gallons of fermenting beer. If you are going to put it into 2 different 5 gallon kegs, why not just use 2 buckets?

 

[avic-bourne]

For the moment we put it into the 1 gallon plastic bottles that contained the water we used for that brew. Easy, cheap and already sterilized. Also i suppose we're guaranteed continuity with one big container. I see your point about hygiene though.. can this be rectified by thorough sterilization?

 

[BendBrewer]

Probably, but again I was just guessing on why cylindrical containers are used. Can't think of another reason but that doesn't mean others don't exist.

 

[muse435]

One of the biggest advantages of using a cylindrical container is that all points on in a plane at the same height have an equal amount of force being exerted on them. ie. there are no bulges in a cylinder and the "sides" are not week. That is why large quantities of liquid get shipped in barrels even though they are less efficient in the shipping processes. You would just need to make sure that the sides are strong enough to hold 10 gal. at ~8 lbs/gal you'll have close to 80 lbs of beer in there.

IMHO, as long as you are able to sufficiently clean and sanitize the container you should be fine.

Edit: Make sure the material is safe for beer making. Not all plastics are created equally.

 

[Nurmey]

You sure talk American for being from England. I can't help but be a little suspicious about your questions.

Larger fermenter can be purchased at any homebrew store along with accessories.

 

[BendBrewer]

One of the biggest advantages of using a cylindrical container is that all points on in a plane at the same height have an equal amount of force being exerted on them. ie. there are no bulges in a cylinder and the "sides" are not week. That is why large quantities of liquid get shipped in barrels even though they are less efficient in the shipping processes. You would just need to make sure that the sides are strong enough to hold 10 gal. at ~8 lbs/gal you'll have close to 80 lbs of beer in there.

IMHO, as long as you are able to sufficiently clean and sanitize the container you should be fine.

Well that makes a lot more sense.

 

[avic-bourne]

You sure talk American for being from England. I can't help but be a little suspicious about your questions.

Larger fermenter can be purchased at any homebrew store along with accessories.

Just out of interest why would I keep an American identity secret? Why would this info not be shared with an American?!

Anyway thanks for the help everyone, went out today and bought my new 15 gallon brewing tank!

 

[rjwhite41]

I see you have already made your decision but I just want to add my 2 cents (or pence if you prefer). There is no reason why you can't ferment in square containers. It was done for thousands of years and is still done today by some brewers. The yeast do respond different but you could easily figure it out to get the desired character you are looking for. Samuel Smith's does it and I think their beer and reputation doesn't suffer at all from using a non cylindroconical fermenter.

 

[Sardoman]

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_464&products_id=12287


FWIW

 

[Golddiggie]

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_464&products_id=12287


FWIW

So I see at least one option for when I start brewing 10 gallon batches...