Suitable large container for FVs?

[jjmillsy]

Like a few others on here, I was lured into the beer making world by the HUKD thread that was advertising the Tesco half price beer kits.

I've made (tried to anyway...) cider previously, so I already have a couple of Wilko's finest 25l fermentation containers.

After reading for hours on here about the best way to maintain temps, I decided to go with the water bath option with the fish heater idea. As I had two FVs already, it would be nice to have the option to have both bubbling away at the same time.

I spotted another thread on HUKD about storage containers, and this one popped up: http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/extra-large-145l-storage-trunk-275157

Which got me thinking, would this idea work? For 12.99 it's not a bad price! Dimensions are: (H)45, (W)52, (D)94cm

I could get my John Bull and Ginger Beer on the go at the same time, after purchasing an aquarium heater linked to ITC-1000 to maintain temps.

 

[BeardySi]

It'll work fine, just make sure the heater you use is capable of heating the volume.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[blawford]

Might be a bit excessive in size and overly complicated in construction, which you pay more for.

I went for something like this - http://www.wilko.com/plastic-storage/wilko-storage-box-with-lid-clear-45l/invt/0285602 although if it is the same one it was £4 when I bought it.

Which looks quite neat in the corner of the kitchen I think. With a 75w aquarium heater, which is probably more than required.

If you were thinking of putting two fermenters in one water bath, bear in mind they may ferment at different temperatures.

 

[chewie]

One issue you might have is that it isn't made from food grade plastic, at least with food grade you are as sure as you can be that you are using a plastic that is impervious to alcohol, other cheaper plastics that are designed for food/drink storage have the potential to leech chemicals out of them.

 

[blawford]

One issue you might have is that it isn't made from food grade plastic, at least with food grade you are as sure as you can be that you are using a plastic that is impervious to alcohol, other cheaper plastics that are designed for food/drink storage have the potential to leech chemicals out of them.

Might be missing the point, but not sure how this matters? This isn't for use as a mash tun, just for a FV to sit in a few inches of water.

 

[Personal91]

Might be missing the point, but not sure how this matters? This isn't for use as a mash tun, just for a FV to sit in a few inches of water.

I hear you, a controller probably won't be Nescessary as the aquatic heater will have its own thermostat ( check before you buy)

 

[chewie]

Might be missing the point, but not sure how this matters? This isn't for use as a mash tun, just for a FV to sit in a few inches of water.

Lol my bad, misread it as being used for fermentation inside it:)

 

[IainM]

I'll second that the aquarium heater doesn't need thermostatic control, unless you are using a thermowell into the fv. While having one big container for two fvs would probably work, I recommend against it for two reasons:
1) Getting the temperature even across the whole thing might be harder.
2) You could just buy two 40L flexi-buckets for £4 each from B&Q, and get a spare 75W water heater for £8.50. That way you can ferment two batches at the same time, but you could also ferment one batch at a time. Sure, you could ferment one batch in the big one, but that is an awful lot of water to heat for a single fv.

 

[terrym]

Like a few others on here, I was lured into the beer making world by the HUKD thread that was advertising the Tesco half price beer kits.

After reading for hours on here about the best way to maintain temps, I decided to go with the water bath option with the fish heater idea.

Not sure if you have found this on the forum
How to Set up a Water Bath for your FV - The HomeBrew Forum
My view is that having two water baths is more flexible than one big one, and when you're done you can pack them way together in less space if that an issue.

 

[jjmillsy]

Thanks all for the feedback, I'll probably just stick to single batches to start with as recommended. I've got the heater ordered and already have a builders flexi bucket that I can use. That should be enough to get me started!

I really just got the ITC as I wanted to see a digital readout of the temperature of the batch. I did look at individual digital temperature sensors, but for the cost of the controller, I may as well use that. Then just set the thermostat on the heater slightly higher.

terrym - Haven't seen that thread now, but will check it out now.

Thanks all :)

 

[Dutto]

...........

Last week I set up a system identical to the one in the photograph with a 100w aquarium heater.

Uncovered, uninsulated and sitting on a concrete floor, with an air temperature down to +/-8 degrees, I found that the wort in the FV was losing so much heat that the yeast couldn't go to work.

I have now decided to use the water bath (at least in winter) to carbonate bottles of beer as I can cover the box with the lid and retain a lot more of the heat.

In a warmer place such as a kitchen the system should work okay. :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

I've just checked that the immersion heater is still doing its job and the temperature is still at the 21 degrees mark. :thumb:

I'm now hoping that the moisture that collects underneath the lid won't cause any significant corrosion to the bottle caps in the ten days that they will be in there.