Vittle Vault Fermenters

[ruger988]

I know there are a few threads out there but didn't want to resurrect an old dead one.

I'm wondering how these would fair for long term sour aging? Being stack able would save a lot of room for stuff aging for a year or more. What do the sizes (30, 40, 50lb) translate to in terms of volume? Looking to end up with as little head room as possible for 5 or 10 g batches.

Thanks

 

[RTL]

Since they are plastic personally I'd say no longer than 4 weeks storage even though they are HDPE. IMO use glass or stainless for long term storage. I ferment in them and if they sit longer than 3 weeks I get yeast buildup on the sides which makes me think oxygen is creeping in and the yeast are trying to get at it. I could be wrong though. Also I've never tried better bottles, they claim to be good for medium term storage. But again if you're going for up to a year I wouldn't trust it. Just get some kegs and use those. Even if you don't have a full up kegging system yet they would be dual purpose eventually and minimize head space. Get a small cartridge CO2 dispenser to purge the head space of oxygen and you're golden.

Good luck.

 

[ruger988]

Since they are plastic personally I'd say no longer than 4 weeks storage even though they are HDPE. IMO use glass or stainless for long term storage. I ferment in them and if they sit longer than 3 weeks I get yeast buildup on the sides which makes me think oxygen is creeping in and the yeast are trying to get at it. I could be wrong though. Also I've never tried better bottles, they claim to be good for medium term storage. But again if you're going for up to a year I wouldn't trust it. Just get some kegs and use those. Even if you don't have a full up kegging system yet they would be dual purpose eventually and minimize head space. Get a small cartridge CO2 dispenser to purge the head space of oxygen and you're golden.

Good luck.

I'm set up with kegs, only have two dedicated to "dirty" beers though. I currently age my sours for 12 months + in PET (glass scare the crap out of me. Maybe I'll just suck it up and start buying more kegs.

 

[RM-MN]

Any plastic is permeable to oxygen so if you're planning to store these beers for a year of more and don't want them oxidized, use glass or stainless steel. This is probably the only situation where I would recommend using a glass carboy and I'd still prefer that you used the stainless steel.