Will a plastic cooler do as a primary fermentation bucket

[ElyIrishBrew]

I have several of these, and plan sometime this fall/winter to do my first home brew batch. When you shut the lid, they are airtight, and I have a couple that are much larger than the 5 gallon batch I plan to start.

Thoughts on this? I used the search feature and came up with nothing.

Thanks!

 

[jaynik]

I will say no but don't have a great reason why. Give it a shot if you are determined. If not, go spend fifteen bucks on a bucket and lid.

 

[nukebrewer]

As long as you have a way to relieve the pressure from the CO2 production and keep the outside air, then it will work. It seems like it would be pretty difficult to pull that off with a cooler, though. So my vote is technically yes, but practically, probably not.

 

[beerloaf]

Even if not airtight I don't see it as a big deal. Open fermentation comes to mind. I don't see why a sanitized cooler won't work. however if they are then you can always put an airlock on it and call it even.

beerloaf

 

[HBngNOK]

Using a cooler is a clever idea! Of course it will work. After fermentation slows down, say day 5 or so, snap the lid down, and let it set until 4 weeks have elapsed. Then rack the beer into a bucket (or whatever) prime and bottle. The CO2 given off by the fermentation process will create a blanket on top of the wort, and the bad guys don't/can't climb up the sides of the cooler to dive into your beer.

 

[malc]

Only issue that comes to mind would be temperature control. The insulating property of the cooler could hold a lot of heat in produced by fermentation that would dissipate much easier in a bucket or carboy. If you make allowances for this you could likely do it.

 

[IffyG]

Only issue that comes to mind would be temperature control. The insulating property of the cooler could hold a lot of heat in produced by fermentation that would dissipate much easier in a bucket or carboy. If you make allowances for this you could likely do it.

I second this concern. A cooler tends to hold temperature and I could easily see a fermentation ramping up to temps that produce all sorts of nastiness in a hurry.

 

[beerloaf]

The more I think about it, the cooler method would be great for fermenting Saisons as well as other Belgian strains that like the higher heat. I usually end up wrapping my fermenters in a blanket to keep the temps up.

beerloaf

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

Thanks fellas for the food for thought. Much appreciated!

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

Come to think of it, can someone steer me to a thread explaining open fermentation techniques, or explain the ins and outs of this? I used the search feature but couldn't find much. Thanks!

 

[broadbill]

The more I think about it, the cooler method would be great for fermenting Saisons as well as other Belgian strains that like the higher heat. I usually end up wrapping my fermenters in a blanket to keep the temps up.

beerloaf

yeah but, Saisons etc should have the temps ramped up on them toward the end of fermentation, to help dry them out. This is when yeast activity is subsiding. I would think a cooler would keep the heat from fermentation early in and produce more off-flavors that what you would want.

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

We keep a lot of tropical fish and have several spare 10 gallon aquariums. Using an open fermentation method, seems to me this would remove the issue of insulation on a plastic cooler. With a slightly loose top on it, seems plausible. I've been reading up on open fermentation and am intrigued by what seem the be the advantages in flavor possibilities. We also have several spare aquarium heaters, so keeping the wort at the right temp would not be an issue.

Aquariums are sealed with latex, but it's specifically designed not to introduce impurities in the water because of the harm to fish health.

 

[broadbill]

We keep a lot of tropical fish and have several spare 10 gallon aquariums. Using an open fermentation method, seems to me this would remove the issue of insulation on a plastic cooler. With a slightly loose top on it, seems plausible. I've been reading up on open fermentation and am intrigued by what seem the be the advantages in flavor possibilities. We also have several spare aquarium heaters, so keeping the wort at the right temp would not be an issue.

Aquariums are sealed with latex, but it's specifically designed not to introduce impurities in the water because of the harm to fish health.

wha? what do aquariums have to do with insulated coolers?

 

[beerloaf]

yeah but, Saisons etc should have the temps ramped up on them toward the end of fermentation, to help dry them out. This is when yeast activity is subsiding. I would think a cooler would keep the heat from fermentation early in and produce more off-flavors that what you would want.

That may be your opinion, but I usually pitch my saison yeasts around 70 and let it naturally rise on it's own as it wants with whatever time frame it wants. If it's a few days then so be it vs a gradual ramp up. I don't buy into the ramping up a few degrees every day "theory." I just let it go crazy from the start and let it do its own thing, for which a cooler would be great for. I have never had any issues brewing a saison this way and it always finished low and dry usually around 1.004. This is why I will never tell anyone else how to brew, since everyone does their own thing and somehow we still make decent beer.

beerloaf

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

wha? what do aquariums have to do with insulated coolers?

They could both conceivably do quite well for fermentation, particularly open fermentation.