Cheap DIY Fermentor

[cincydave]

I've gotten a lot of thea 5 gal bakery buckets. Some stores recycle, some will give them to you. Some will even save them for you. All depends on the store and the emplooyee working there at the time.

I just split a 5 gal. batch into two of these with 2.5 gal in each, fitted with airlock. I'm not sure ( and others may disagree) that the extra headspace is an issue. Some breweries and folks here ferement with open containers.

 

[jtf3456]

A bucket from my LHBS is about $27

 

[cincydave]

A bucket from my LHBS is about $27

Wow! hope it was full of something, cause that's about double what they should normally run.

 

[Transamguy77]

Wow! hope it was full of something, cause that's about double what they should normally run.

+1, I paid 16 with a lid and gromet

 

[Cosper123]

I disagree. Paying $90 for some vinyl tubing, plastic buckets, capper etc (and likely with NO kettle included) is a total rip off. I could produce a nearly identical start up kit for around half the price.

Sounds like you didn't shop around very well. Mine was 130 bucks, came with a 7.5 gallon SS kettle, stainless 10 inch stem therm that clips onto the kettle, the lid, imm chiller, two fermentation buckets with the spigots, airlocks, hydrometer, newbie brewing book, tubing, capper, caps and extract brew kit complete with the yeast, priming suger, etc.

If you can do better than William's Brewing on that, then perhaps you should start your own company.

I got it during a promotion, so not even sure that could be acheived again. But I was patient and kept looking around, and their prices still seem fair to me considering everything that comes in their kits. Point is be patient and keep looking around.

No need to settle now, just to spend more money later while the stuff you are getting now sit around un-used. I'm sure even the best planners among us do enough of that as is.

 

[Cosper123]

msujack and jonmohno have very good good points, sometimes it's just as easy and not any more expensive to just run to the LHBS. However... I am totally scouring around for cheap stuff to use as well. I skipped the kit and re-purposed a few things around the kitchen to get my first batch together. SWMBO isn't exactly thrilled about my new hobby and I can only spend a little at a time right now. If the ingredients are the expensive part for now, at least I'm brewing. As long as you get good food-grade buckets and clean/sanitize well you should be able to make good beer. I think for my first few batches, the least of my worries will be oxygen permeation in my fermenter.

I work with a guy who pretty much does the same thing. In fact he doesn't even have a single brewing pot. He gets the five biggest pots in his kitchen and uses them all to boil separate little batches then mixes them together into his fermentation bucket. And it drives his wife nuts too.

 

[Brewcrew86]

I buy 5G buckets (HDPE 2) at HD or Lowes (~$5 w/ lid) - drill and attach a spigot and strip thermometer ($5 on ebay) and you have a fermenter for less than $10 (fill to about 4 inches below the top and good for 5G of 1.040 beer, bigger beers need more head space so about 4 to 4.5 G) -- I don't use an airlock, just set the lid on loosely until the krauesen subsides then snap it down until fermentation is complete

My primary is being used. I have never used a bucket before. Can I use a hd bucket for Ed Worts apfelwein. If so, will the krauesen make the bucket over flow. Will snapping the lid on effect the fermentation because I thought the yeast needed to breath?

Thank you in advance for the help!

 

[Brewskii]

I thought the yeast needed to breath?

Don't forget airlock and hole in the lid w/ rubber grommet! If you want to DIY it, make a blow- off ;
drill a hole just smaller than the OD of 2'-3' of clear vinyl tubing. Heat the tube with hot water and insert in hole for a tight fit (no more than 1/4" in). Snap the lid on tight and submerge the open end of the tube in StarSan.

Outside of that, the yeast should be kept sealed off from ambient air for reason of sanitation but allowed to vent excess CO2 produced.

 

[jmprdood]

Lots of threads on this, the CO2 produced by fermentation is more than enough to keep out anything airborne - yeast don't breath in the conventional sense, they get O2 that is in suspension in the liquid. You can use an airlock, blow off tube, set the lid on loosely, even leave it open. All of these methods have been used successfully for years. It really depends on what you are comfortable with in your brewing - I've done them all with never a problem. I'm about easy, so I currently don't use an airlock or blow off, just loosely set the lid on top and snap down when krausen subsides. If I'm worried it might overflow, I put it in my laundry sink (which I can fill with water as a swamp cooler if need be).

No worries. See what works for you.

Cheers!

 

[chainsmoke]

I buy 5G buckets (HDPE 2) at HD or Lowes (~$5 w/ lid) - drill and attach a spigot and strip thermometer ($5 on ebay) and you have a fermenter for less than $10 (fill to about 4 inches below the top and good for 5G of 1.040 beer, bigger beers need more head space so about 4 to 4.5 G) -- I don't use an airlock, just set the lid on loosely until the krauesen subsides then snap it down until fermentation is complete

I googled the **** out of this. I found a lot of survivalist websites where people will not store food in these buckets and say they are unsafe even though the bucket says its type 2 plastic. They line the buckets with mylar bags if they do use them. Apparently the dyes on the colored buckets are not food grade and can be hazardous. I'd be interested to see proof they are safe.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Forgot icing buckets from the bakery's, get a molasses bucket. 20 Liters to the brim, they have a nice ring around them at the 15 L mark. Perfect for making a nicer beer from my extract kits, and the lids have holes for getting the molasses out so there is no drilling, you just need to get the right sized bungs.

 

[dukesbb37]

When i was on a wine forum they claimed that if you get buckets from lowes or homedepot make sure you get a white one and not the orange one. They said some of the orange coloring would get into the wine.

maybe thats wine, and maybe its not true just passing on the info.

 

[Brewcrew86]

I went with a white bucket and black lid from hd. Cost me about $5.50. The orange lid does not fit. The bucket and lid are both Hdpe2. Better than $13!

 

[geeyoupee]

Has anyone used a 5gallon water bottle as a secondary fermenter?
They are the ones that have a slighty blue and has a handle on the side. I was thinking maybe I can use this since we have a lot at home. This will save me 24 or so bucks by not buying the carboy.

Any downsides to it? besides not looking as nice

 

[AdamPag]

Yup I just scored a 5gal water bottle from my office, the blue one with the handle. Check the bottom of the bottle for a recycling symbol and the #1 or #2 in the middle of it. Infact on mine it says right under the #1 PETE which is what you're looking for.

 

[geeyoupee]

Darn, mines says number 7 "other".

I looked at some buckets that I bought from OSH and its #2. But the lids arent air tight. What do you guys think about this as a fermentation bucket?

 

[jmprdood]

I googled the **** out of this. I found a lot of survivalist websites where people will not store food in these buckets and say they are unsafe even though the bucket says its type 2 plastic. They line the buckets with mylar bags if they do use them. Apparently the dyes on the colored buckets are not food grade and can be hazardous. I'd be interested to see proof they are safe.

Who said colored buckets? Mine are white and say food safe on them...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/bucket-fermenter-185656/

tons of threads out there - choose your side

 

[geeyoupee]

Does anyone know if a bucket with a lid is considered ok to use if the lid isn't air tight?

 

[StanJohnson]

Yes.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/anyone-ferment-non-airtight-fermenter-two-weeks-163546/