Fermenting Buckets - How Long Do You Keep'em?

[ScrewyBrewer]

I have an Ale Pail that is several years old. I buy wheat from Costco in buckets that are a perfect size for fermenters. So I use those as well. I had a bucket develop mold, so I threw it out.

If a bucket doesn't have any problems, I don't worry about it.

@ScrewyBrewer, you ferment in ale pails with spigots? My LHBS told me that was a bad idea. If you've been doing it successfully, I've got another bucket I can use.

@bpgreen, Yes I was told the same thing by my friends at the LHBS, and to replace all of the tubing and racking canes too. I've gotten to know those folks pretty well over the years, but I'm not one to spend a dollar unless I have to. As it turned out over time my experience actually taught me a great lesson, always trust but verify. And in this case it's really paid off.

[Kealia]

I swapped out my plastic ale pails when I started seeing stains in them. I know use either glass or plastic carboys.

I do a lot of 2.5 or 3G batches in my 5G carboy like Whamolagan mentinoed and don't have to worry about headspace. I have 1 LBK left that I use as a bottling bucket on the rare occasions that I actually bottle and don't keg.

[mashani]

How is ale pale with spigot any different then LBK or LBC with spigot or Speidel fermenter with spigot or even stainless steel conical with spigot? You have to keep spigot clean in any case, but as long as you clean and sanitize the spigot, it should be ok.

If you ignore the spigot, then yeah you will start to get weird stuff happening. But that's true in any fermenter with a spigot (or bottling bucket with spigot too, you just will get foamers).

?

FWIW, I've had my pair of LBCs for more then a year now - still going strong. Never put anything in them, so they have not gotten scratched up, unlike my old LBKs. I have replaced the spigot on both of them once.

[bpgreen]

The reason an ale pail with a spigot is different from an LBK with a spigot is that there's a lot more pressure on it. For one thing, there's more weight because of the larger volume and the shape of the fermenter. For another, it's a sealed system.

[mashani]

Can't have more pressure then this 31 gallon bad boy (also sealed system), and it's hardly any different then a bucket? So, why does it matter? I could see it mattering if spigot/seal is a cheap piece of crap, but not otherwise?

http://www.morebeer.com/products/speide ... 7-gal.html

[Dawg LB Steve]

I think mostly from LHBS standpoint is err on the side of less chances of infected flow? Thinking about it yes, same as any fermenter that has a spigot, from basic kits to the high priced stainless deals, a spigot in the side of a vessel is still a spigot in the side of a vessel. It wasn't so much about it leaking from my LHBS than it was a possibility of getting an infection, but like I mentioned my spigot was under water till done fermenting.

[RickBeer]

I have an Ale Pail that is several years old. I buy wheat from Costco in buckets that are a perfect size for fermenters. So I use those as well. I had a bucket develop mold, so I threw it out.

If a bucket doesn't have any problems, I don't worry about it.

@ScrewyBrewer, you ferment in ale pails with spigots? My LHBS told me that was a bad idea. If you've been doing it successfully, I've got another bucket I can use.

@bpgreen, Yes I was told the same thing by my friends at the LHBS, and to replace all of the tubing and racking canes too. I've gotten to know those folks pretty well over the years, but I'm not one to spend a dollar unless I have to. As it turned out over time my experience actually taught me a great lesson, always trust but verify. And in this case it's really paid off.

Agree with this reasoning. Similarly, I don't change my oil and do all the "recommended" maintenance from my car dealer when THEY say to do it, I do it when the manufacturer recommends to do it.

[bpgreen]

I'm glad to hear the ale pail bottling buckets can be used as fermenters. It means I've got another fermenter.

[natural320]

FWIW, I've used the same 2 food grade buckets from Lowes for like 5 years myself. keep cleaning them using a soft cloth, so no scratches yet. the are stained to hell at the krausen line, and one smells like the best IPA ever no matter how much PBW I use (so SOMETHING is embedded in there)...but I am not trying to fix what isn't broken yet. I know there will be infinite sadness when a batch inevitably goes south, but fingers crossed until then.

my cheap @$$ really wants those SS brew bucket things, but I can't bring myself to plop down 2 bills on a SS bucket, let alone 4 for 2!

[berryman]

I've only fermented 2 batches in my ale pail/bottling bucket but with no problems. I use to use LBK's then glass and plastic carboys, now I have a SS fermenter but haven't used it yet. But the Ale Pail is over 5 years old now and I just use it for a bottling bucket. It has a few stains but no scratches, I store Star san in it when not using it and bleach bomb every once in a while. I have decided I'm going to replace it as I have almost all new equipment now and they are kinda cheap in price.

[1919]

Reckon I'll replace them when I scrub holes in them. The beer doesn't mind the stains, some of which are from using iodine, but not the kind used to make meth. That was the actual sign that was actually posted on the shelf with the BEST brand iodine at the hardware store I started buying homebrew supplies from. I use Starsan now.

[John Sand]

I still have my first one, which is at least six years old. I have several newer ones which I use, in part because they fit better in my ferm fridge.

[brewnewb]

I kind of chuckled when I saw I started this thread 4+ years ago.

Here's a PATHETIC / FRUSTRATING update.

I have two of those 5 gal pails just sitting in a corner in my basement collecting dust. I have not made beer since the summer of 2018. All of my other brewing equipment is sealed up in some large plastic containers in my garage. They have not moved off the shelf since we packed up and moved in Sept 2018.

I got in on that BEERMKR kickstarter in the fall of 2018 expecting delivery in the spring of 2019. Spring 19 turned into Summer 19, Fall 19, Dec 19 ..... you get my point. They are now targeting Mar 2020. We'll see.

Brew on ladies and gents. I still poke my head here a few times a week and enjoy the posts and adventures of the rest of you.

Maybe, I'll be able to give y'all a BEERMKR update in a couple months ....... MAYBE ......

[Beer-lord]

I kind of chuckled when I saw I started this thread 4+ years ago.

I got in on that BEERMKR kickstarter in the fall of 2018 expecting delivery in the spring of 2019. Spring 19 turned into Summer 19, Fall 19, Dec 19 ..... you get my point. They are now targeting Mar 2020.

That sucks. I've been in a few kickstarters that all turned out pretty good. But to be off that much deserves a discount or reward. Never hurts to ask for something out of it if you can.
I am interested in learning about it though it's not something I personally want. It's cool that we have so many options at our disposal.

[mashani]

That sucks. I know that BEERMKR's no-boil pasteurization only method works because I've done that like 5 times now in my Mash & Boil and made great beer doing so (and some Nordic farmhouse brewers basically do this too).

The only problem is what styles I can make without easy/cheap access to steam hops for bittering. I could possibly work around that using hop resin, but that stuff is nasty. Basically I can make anything where I want a lot of hop flavor/aroma, but if not, then it gets a lot trickier. You can get the things, but they are expensive and only available in small quantities. I could boil hops or some types of the hop resin in water for 60 minutes and then add that for bittering without flavor/aroma, but that sort of defeats the purpose, in my own use case for doing this I may as well just boil the wort at that point (although this is what one of those Nordic brewers might do to add more bitterness without flavor).

Is that what's holding it up (steam hop availability)?