Using water containers as secondary's

[Root Skier]

Can I use an old 3 gallon water jug as a secondary? I have 4 of these and I'd love to able to have more beer fermenting at once.



What about the slimline jugs that are used for racking? If I used the Dremel to make some slits in the lid threads like the LBK has, could I also use this?



Thanks

[FrozenInTime]

I would not. Use these for primaries, for a secondary of any lenth of time, use glass carboys.

[russki]

Check the recycle code on the bottom. If it's 1 or 3, then yes, you can use them. If it's 7, you cannot.

[haerbob3]

Wouldn't a lot of those allow O2 to pass thru to the beer

[Root Skier]

Check the recycle code on the bottom. If it's 1 or 3, then yes, you can use them. If it's 7, you cannot.

They are a 7.

I might go out to Home Depot or Lowes and see if they have one with a 1 or 3 code. I'm guessing I'll need to get a bung and airlock too?

[RickBeer]

Ok, I'll bite. Why are you using secondaries. If you're brewing Mr. Beer batches, there is no need for a secondary. If you're doing most other batches, there is no need for a secondary. As I understand it, some types of beer need longer fermentation times and a secondary is recommended, but I don't see you posting anything about doing that.

[Root Skier]

Ok, I'll bite. Why are you using secondaries. If you're brewing Mr. Beer batches, there is no need for a secondary. If you're doing most other batches, there is no need for a secondary. As I understand it, some types of beer need longer fermentation times and a secondary is recommended, but I don't see you posting anything about doing that.

I understand it's not necessary. But if I move the batch to a secondary, it will free up the LBK for another batch, so eventually, I can have more beer conditioning and becoming ready around the same time.

[RickBeer]

Ok, I'll bite. Why are you using secondaries. If you're brewing Mr. Beer batches, there is no need for a secondary. If you're doing most other batches, there is no need for a secondary. As I understand it, some types of beer need longer fermentation times and a secondary is recommended, but I don't see you posting anything about doing that.

I understand it's not necessary. But if I move the batch to a secondary, it will free up the LBK for another batch, so eventually, I can have more beer conditioning and becoming ready around the same time.

Another LBK is $10...

I have two. I brew both, then take 3 weeks off and bottle both, then brew both again. Some have three and every week they brew. I don't see the point of buying a slimline and cutting it up when the LBK is made for it. Or buying a bucket and a bung and an airlock. Get multiple brewing devices and use them for their purpose, touch the beer once after that to bottle - and you only need ONE slimline to bottle since you can't bottle more than a bottle at a time unless you have more than two hands.

The key is to get your pipeline going so that at any point in time you have enough beer on hand to drink. We only drink a few a week - I wanted BREADTH and now have 13 different beers to pick from with a 14th one week in on brewing.

[Root Skier]

Good point RickBeer.

I really don't want to spend any more money at MB, since my goal is to move up to 5 gallon brews when I run out of MB ingredients..

[Beer-lord]

Back in my very early years, I used the 5 gallon version of those bottles to ferment ALL my beer in....Primary and Secondary. Only a few were good and most were mediocre at best. Ale Pales are cheap and I suggest you stick with those. Or a Lowes bucket, a hole in the lid and a gasket for $5 would work for smaller batches.

[russki]

Water bottles made from PET (recycle code 1) are identical in function and oxygen permeability to Better Bottles and are nearly impervious to oxygen. I've used Nestle 5-gallon PET jugs ($6 deposit) from a local grocery store for primary and secondary fermenters with great results, even for extended aging. Polycarbonate plastic (recycle code 7) allows too much oxygen through and may result in oxidized beer.

[haerbob3]

Can not disagree with you for moving to the 5 gallon batches. Are any of the recipes the same or work in combo with each other? If so you can do them as 5 gallon batches. I want clear beer for my cornys so I use secondaries pretty much for every batch. I brew a lot of high ABV & lagers both of which make secondaries indispensable to me. For most ales you really do not need them.

[DaYooper]

There was a guy on HBT who used the full size bottles as his primary. He got sick and tired of cleaning so would buy a jug of water, use most of it for his batch, brew in the water bottle, and when the beer was done he would go back to the store and exchange it for a nice, new, fresh bottle of water to brew his next batch. All I could think of when I read that was "BRILLIANT !!!" But I have a water filteration system and thus am too cheap to pay for bottled water so I am stuck with the scrubbing.

[haerbob3]

like that idea no mess to clean up. The CO2 from the fermentation keeps the O2 at bay