plastic carboys?

[Dave11980]

I've been thinking of getting some plastic carboys to increase my fermenting capacity without too much cost. I've read a bit on here saying the better bottle carboys are good but what if it's not better bottle? Anyone have any experience and/or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[D_Struct]

A standard food-grade plastic bucket w/ appropriate airtight lid will work wonders for you.

I picked up a 7 gallon fermenting bucket from Austin Homebrew Supply, but you can really DIY a nice fermenting bucket. You'll just need to drill out the lid and pick up a stopper and airlock.

I've heard nothing but great things about the Better Bottles, but, for my purposes, the bucket fermenter does the trick at a low cost.

 

[wyzazz]

Aquatainer from Wal-mart. $10.88ea, and you can No-Chill in them.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Plastic carboys are fine as long as they are #1 or #2 plastic... the most common ones are #7 which will leach into your beer.

 

[Dave11980]

wyazz, Not sure on the brand at my walmart but thats exactly what I was thinking of. Do you know if they mark the type of plastic so I can see if it's the right grade that staggerbrew mentioned?

 

[wyzazz]

The Aquatainer's are #2 (in the little triangle on the bottom) HDPE, so they are fine for fermenting in. The Better Bottles are #1 PETE.

 

[torbanac]

They are made by Reliance . They are HDPE # 2 plastic, perfectly fine for beer
From their site
"Are Reliance water containers made from food-grade material?

Yes. All Reliance water containers (both rigid and collapsible) are made from food-approved plastic. These containers can be found by following the Hydration link on the Consumer Main Page.

 

[Dave11980]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look at the grade of plastic next time I'm there and maybe pick up a couple. The cool thing is I can use those to get cheap filtered water refills there too, which of course would be for my beer.