Homers Bucket

[Hanson]

Is it ok or have any of you used a Homers or Lowe's 5gal. paint bucket to ferment your beer? They're certainly a lot cheaper than the one I got at my local home brew store.

 

[tjpfeister]

Prepare to hear the words "Food grade" more than you want.
On that note, do you have a candy maker in town? I recently found that a candy store in my town gets coconut oil in 6.5G buckets, which are indeed "Food Grade." And they usually will part with them for free. Also I have seen ice fishing buckets being sold for under $10 which are the same 6.5G Ropak buckets as ale-pails.

*edit*
You'll notice I dodged your question. As an additional dodge, in the other direction, I will point out that beer was brewed in clay pots years before we even knew about the chemical makeup of our plastic containers. *whistles innocently and walks away* ;-)

 

[bob1852]

Most of us ferment ~5.25-5.5 gallons (not included krausen during fermentation), which obviously won't fit in a 5-gallon bucket.

 

[JJL]

They need to be 6.5 gal or bigger to use as a primary. They need to be HDPE plastic, or recycle code 2. IRC they are HDPE, but I haven't seen one that is big enough.

 

[TheMan]

Dude, you really gotta learn to use the search...here are the answers to any question you may have about this topic:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/can-i-use-new-5-gallon-plastic-bucket-home-depot-80876/index3.html

Short answer, some people use them without issue. Others claim that they are not good and can leach flavors or colors into your beer. The people that use them claim there are no issues.

Read the link, you'll learn more.

 

[Hanson]

Candy maker maybe but ice fishing buckets in Texas may be hard to come by. I just had a thought about some all you can eat buffets in my area. Maybe they would part with one or two. Thanks for the info.

 

[Hanson]

Dude, you really gotta learn to use the search...here are the answers to any question you may have about this topic:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/can-i-use-new-5-gallon-plastic-bucket-home-depot-80876/index3.html

Short answer, some people use them without issue. Others claim that they are not good and can leach flavors or colors into your beer. The people that use them claim there are no issues.

Read the link, you'll learn more.

Sorry man. I'm new around here. Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[WCrane]

I'I use lowe's bucket with no issue.

They are #2 HDPE food grade 100% virgin Plastic made by Encore Plastic. I contacted them to confirm. can't speak for HD (I'm a lowe's faithfull anyways)

I've feremnted 5g batches in them with no probelms. Gives me about 1/2g (1"-1.5" of headspace. I added a PVC blowoff rig just in case. (All together still cheaper than an ale pail).

If you can find the 1" PVC ends that have threads (fits smooth 1" on one side and has a threads on the other) pick them up. I Drilled a 1.25" hole in the lid. The piece screws on perfectly (They also have a rubber grommet/washer that'll fit on the thread end. Two 90* elbows and a few (2-3) feet of pipe and you have yourself a blowoff. I cut the treaded section down a good bit so it wouldn't go too deep into the bucket.

ingenuity is the second cousin of hombrew or something like that.

 

[logan3825]

Google search with "homebrewtalk" added at the end. That will give you 99% of the answers you are looking for.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Candy maker maybe but ice fishing buckets in Texas may be hard to come by. I just had a thought about some all you can eat buffets in my area. Maybe they would part with one or two. Thanks for the info.

go to the bakery in the local grocery store and ask them for the buckets that their icing comes in. same 6.5 gallon bucket. they're probably just going to throw them away.

 

[tjpfeister]

Candy maker maybe but ice fishing buckets in Texas may be hard to come by.

That was a blonde oversight on my part

 

[JJL]

I'I use lowe's bucket with no issue.

They are #2 HDPE food grade 100% virgin Plastic made by Encore Plastic. I contacted them to confirm. can't speak for HD (I'm a lowe's faithfull anyways)

You can be fairly certain that anything that is colored plastic other than black or dark brown is going to be a very high percentage of virgin plastic. This includes orange, white and blue plastics. Recycled plastic usually comes in long sheets or in big bags of pellets, and it is typically black and cannot be dyed. And even if it isn't virgin plastic, there isn't any practical difference between virgin and recycled plastics.

On another note, an HDPE #2 bucket from Lowe's, Home Depot, etc is no more likely to leach anything into your beer than the HDPE #2 bucket you buy from the LHBS.

 

[WCrane]

You can be fairly certain that anything that is colored plastic other than black or dark brown is going to be a very high percentage of virgin plastic. This includes orange, white and blue plastics. Recycled plastic usually comes in long sheets or in big bags of pellets, and it is typically black and cannot be dyed. And even if it isn't virgin plastic, there isn't any practical difference between virgin and recycled plastics.

On another note, an HDPE #2 bucket from Lowe's, Home Depot, etc is no more likely to leach anything into your beer than the HDPE #2 bucket you buy from the LHBS.

Slam Dunk and great to know!:rockin:

 

[gio]

How much are buckets from your LHBS? They are only about $15 or so where I am and that isn't really that much at all considering how much everything else costs.

 

[TheMan]

Sorry man. I'm new around here. Thanks, I'll check it out.

I know, that's why I also gave you an answer. Just pointing out that you could get your answer quicker

I wouldn't use them, but to each his own...

 

[JJL]

How much are buckets from your LHBS? They are only about $15 or so where I am and that isn't really that much at all considering how much everything else costs.

This is true, but a 5 gal plastic bucket from a home center is around $2.50. If you could find a 6.5 gal bucket, it likely wouldn't cost much more than that. The problem is most home centers don't carry anything bigger than 5 gal.

 

[Hanson]

That was a blonde oversight on my part

LOL. By the way...GO PACKERS!

 

[Hanson]

Thanks to everyone for all the good and quick responses.

 

[StittsvilleJames]

You can get buckets from restaurants.

Restaurants have to pay for recycling etc, so they are always more than happy to give you all the buckets you could ever want. They will get everything from pickles to fryer oil in large plastic buckets.

I've worked in many restaurants when i was younger, and every single one of them would toss out tons of buckets every few days when the garbage was picked up.

 

[beyonder74]

Google search with "homebrewtalk" added at the end. That will give you 99% of the answers you are looking for.

If you type site:homebrewtalk.com then your search phrase in google it will return just HBT content.

 

[jhbarc]

I just bought 3 of these in 7 gallon http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23470&catid=752