What can I do with a plastic 55gal barrel?

[PurpleJeepXJ]

So I have a food grade 55 gal barrel and I would like to make it into a 10 or 15 gal fermentor. I am thinking of just cutting it in half and making it about 1/3 its original height. I would really like one of the plastic 10 gal conical fermenters but those are like 150 and that is out of he question right now. Any suggestions on how i could make a conical for under 100 or of what i can do with the barrel? Thanks in advance

 

[HexKrak]

What was previously in the barrel?

 

[steinsato]

I have 3, 60 gallon plastic olive barrels but I'm using them to catch rain water off my roof then water the yard with them. I put garden hose spiggots near the bottom of them and sat them up on cinder blocks to give them some gravity pressure for the hose. Probably not something you need to do in Georgia though. They are a great way to save water here in the high desert.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

I got it from a restaurant supplier and I think it was cooking oil. Just looking for something to do with it and I dont mind ruining it if it doesnt plan out.

 

[RegionalChaos]

55 gallon mash tun..

 

[r8rphan]

Secret hiding place from SWMBO?

How about grain storage?

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

ya i have thought about the mash tun but 50+ gal of beer!? I was thinking of just making it shorter into like a 20 gal... melt the two halves together with a torch... think it would work?

 

[dvdanny]

ya i have thought about the mash tun but 50+ gal of beer!? I was thinking of just making it shorter into like a 20 gal... melt the two halves together with a torch... think it would work?

I wouldn't melt them together, heating and melting plastic changes it's properties, might no longer be food safe. You are better off trying to find a food safe plastic epoxy to glue them together. Or you can start buying grain in bulk and you'll have a mini silo.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

55 gal of grain is like 275 gal of beer... could be interesting

 

[Golddiggie]

Considering how much volume the grain actually takes up when you mash/sparge, you'd probably only make 25-30 gallon batches in the 55 gallon drum... Get a winch to help lift the grain bag out (or get a looooong paddle to mix it up if you're going old school)...

Wrap it with an insulating blanket so that you have less heat loss when mashing in it. Something that you can remove when you want/need to (such as when you clean it) and you should be set.

You could make a really BIG brew in that thing if you wanted to...

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

How do i heat it? hot water elements?

 

[Golddiggie]

How do i heat it? hot water elements?

Unless it's made to withstand heating elements, I wouldn't. That's also why I mentioned the insulating blanket to wrap it with. There's other things you can do to keep the water hot without needing to install any heating elements inside.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

I am thinking of making it into a grain bin... I also have an unused electric hot water tank that i have been thinking of making into a 30gal brew pot. It has two elements I know one is the main heater and the other is the retainer. What do yall think?

 

[Golddiggie]

You might want to put a few dividers in it, so that you can get more than one kind of grain in it... Unless you only use one type of grain that is...

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

well i will put dividers in an use the barrel as a 2 grain mini-silo... Side topic: I have like 6ft of copper piping that used to be the water like for a refrigerator, it is only at most 1/4 in, so could i make it into a wort chiller or do yall think that would be to small of a pipe diameter?

 

[Golddiggie]

well i will put dividers in an use the barrel as a 2 grain mini-silo... Side topic: I have like 6ft of copper piping that used to be the water like for a refrigerator, it is only at most 1/4 in, so could i make it into a wort chiller or do yall think that would be to small of a pipe diameter?

6 feet of pipe wouldn't do much, or would take a long time to do anything as an IC... You could use it to pre-chill the feed water to a proper IC during the warmer months (use an ice bath)...

I just picked up 20' of 3/8" copper tubing (soft, utility grade) yesterday and have already shaped it into an IC... I'm just having some difficulties with one compression fitting (for the water feed) that I need to see if I can get some help with. Basically, it has a very slow drip leak at the fitting. I want it to be leak proof. If I can't get it to be leak free, I'll just change that to use rubber/PVC reinforced tubing and be done with it. I wanted to use a stainless steel line so that I wouldn't need to worry about temperatures when I put it into the brew pot (before flame out)... I had planned on using compression fittings for both the in and out, but since I could only get one on, I'm using it for the in (for now)... The tubing I picked up appears to be tolerant of higher temps (hottest water from the faucet doesn't even phase it)... I figure I have about 19' of tubing that will be in the wort to chill it down.

When you get your mini-silo completed, post up some pictures of it... I'm thinking that I'll end up getting some of the Rubbermaid style totes when I start buying bulk grain. Or some 5 gallon buckets to store it in (might be easier to move to the basement during the hot weeks/months)...

 

[JRems]

I used my 55 gallon food grade barrel to make 40 gallons of apfelwine. Kept it in the barrel for the main ferment, then racked it to carboys and demijohns.