I don't ferment in mine but have, I mostly do 5- 6 gal. to get the amount of bottles I want in the end and the one I have has worked perfect for too long and never had a problem yet, but trying to avoid having one. We don't have a Lowe's real close by (Erie PA closest) but have Home Depots and the orange buckets they sell aren't food grade. I have quite a few of them and use them for spent grains and storing new grains in.FrozenInTime wrote:
I picked up several spigots a couple years back, .5". I keep them clean/stored in a baggie to avoid problems. Every couple batches or so, I replace with a new 5 gallon bucket. I think they are $10 at Lowe's, all marked food grade. I have used these buckets to ferment in, replace after a couple batches also. I use a step drill bit to put holes in da new buckets. These will hold a tad over 5 gallon and work for me, I rarely go over 4.5~5 gallons of brew at a time. Actually, I've shrunk my batches down to 3 gallon mostly, so these work perfectly.
Also it is hard to find a good 1/2" spigot like I am using now. I could switch to 3/8" but my spring seal bottling wand is 1/2 that I have been using and like.