What do you ferment in?

[Iechyd Da Laa]

Hi everyone, I am looking to ferment in w slightly larger plastic bucket. I want to brew 35/40l batches but cannot find an appropriate fermenting bucket? I have seen these types of plastic bins on EBay, would this work? What do other people use as creative solutions?

 

[chopps]

I haven’t used this but was considering it. Too tall for my fridge personally.
https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/50-litre-plastic-fermenter-with-large-cap-bung-airlock/

 

[Iechyd Da Laa]

Thanks @chopps have the same issues. I looked at this too, it is too big for my fridge. Not sure if a specific plastic is needed as some of these say food grade. I think their is a business model on making fermenting bins that fit perfectly into a standard fridge.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

It may be best to stick to products that say they are for fermenting, or at least ‘food grade’ otherwise you may find they are too flimsy, difficult to clean or impart peculiar flavours to the beer.
Managing 35-40 kg of fluid is going to be quite an ask for a plastic bucket, especially as it may be quite hot at the start of the process. Would you consider using two smaller containers? I typically ferment a 22-25L batch in a 30L bin and that’s about the limit of what I feel safe lifting using the handles.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Most of the suitable food safe bins will be made from HDPE

 

[chopps]

This was my other consideration to get maximum fridge usage a while back. They are 28L each and 200x270x580mm.I could get 2 in, side by side.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/does-fermenter-shape-matter.89252/https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/wate...re-water-tanks/28-litre-water-tank-tower.html

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I’ve gone the other route, and constructed a ‘fridge’ to fit the fermenters - basically a large plywood box with a removable front, lined with 50mm expanded polystyrene insulation. Heating it is no problem, and for cooling I’m in the process of hooking it up to a refrigeration system from an old portable air conditioning unit...

 

[Galena]

Perhaps one of THESE 60 litre FV's ?

 

[user 18729]

The larger SS brew bucket is spot on for 40L, but is obviously expensive compared with a plastic FV

 

[mdss]

Hi everyone, I am looking to ferment in w slightly larger plastic bucket. I want to brew 35/40l batches but cannot find an appropriate fermenting bucket? I have seen these types of plastic bins on EBay, would this work? What do other people use as creative solutions?

View attachment 35131

I use one very similar to this for storing my grain in, and the seal at the top is not great and the plastic is much more rigid/brittle than the fermentation bucket I use!

 

[phillc]

Perhaps one of THESE 60 litre FV's ?

I have one of the 30 litre Spiedel fermenters and you can almost get 35 litres in there, although there won't be much headspace. I've done a 30 litre batch in the past no problems.

I marked every 5 litres when I bought it:

 

[terrym]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

 

[MickDundee]

I use my Fermentasaurus for lagers and hoppy beers (under pressure) and I have one of the Spiedel fermenters mentioned by @phillc above for beers where I don’t want the esters suppressed (witbier, bitters, saisons etc).

Both of these fermenters are available in sizes bigger than 30L (the most recent generations of the ‘Saurus are called Fermenter King after a load of political bollocks involving one of the key players from the Keg King leaving and setting up Kegland, who also do a pressure fermenter along similar lines called the Brewzilla)

 

[Cwrw666]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

I brew outside in a stone outbuilding but ferment in the house upstairs in the airing cupboard. I used to merrily run up and down stairs with 23L but these days I struggle with 18L brews.
I suppose the next step will be to build a fermentation chamber next to where I brew so everything will be piped by gravity...

 

[phillc]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

I have a similar problem with my Catalyst fermenter which doesn't have carry handles. I don't trust myself carrying it down stairs to the cellar when full, and that's only 20 litres. To overcome this I only fill it to about 12 or 13 litres then move it. I put the rest of the brew in a sanitised 10 litre wide mouth demijohn, then transfer to the Catalyst in situ.

 

[Galena]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

I've never really found it much of a problem

 

[Galena]

I have one of the 30 litre Spiedel fermenters and you can almost get 35 litres in there, although there won't be much headspace. I've done a 30 litre batch in the past no problems.

I have one of those as well as some smaller Speidel FV's. I have not made more than 25L yet but would happily go to 30L if I had the brew capacity.
The only issue I have with it is that the tap is a bit low so as to make using it for siphoning off not so clean, I know you can revolve it to get it higher as it is offset from centre but that leaves the tap upside down. Also the tap has a breather hole in it so it sucks air in when siphoning, I am considering blocking it with araldite.

 

[Iechyd Da Laa]

This was my other consideration to get maximum fridge usage a while back. They are 28L each and 200x270x580mm.I could get 2 in, side by side.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/does-fermenter-shape-matter.89252/https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/wate...re-water-tanks/28-litre-water-tank-tower.html

They look really good but a little pricey. Will have a good measure up to see if this is the solution.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

I have a block and tackle mounted to a strong beam in the garage roof above where I brew, and it’s invaluable. You‘re right to highlight safety - I imagine that dropping 30L of near boiling sticky wort would have the capacity to cause life changing injuries. I certainly don’t use only the handles for lifting: I rig a barrel sling using nylon webbing

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

How do people safely and comfortably lift FVs with liquids inside which weigh more than say 30 kg. Although I am not a '7 stone weakling' I would not want to go above about 25kg.

Great question

I brew, ferment and condition in the garage, and so in my advancing years, have coped with this by

- Brewing in 19L batches
- A pumping system that pumps the wort into a FB, then pumps the fermented beer into a conditioning bucket, then pumps the conditioned beer into a cornelius keg

So the only lifting is when I have to carry a full keg into the house from the garage; I also have to lift the pint glass to my mouth to drink it.

Might try it intravenously before too long