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Post by eburggraaf on Aug 17, 2017 10:22:03 GMT -5
I pooched my alfreds five gallon fermenter this week. So annoying. I had to break the lid off. I've looked online for lids for this bucket, but can't find them.
Well, I was never super attached to the plastic fermenter, but it would be nice to start something in a week or two and I'm really hoping not to go through a bucket for each brew if at all possible.
So, I'm in the market. Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks,
Erik
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Post by gdbrewing on Aug 17, 2017 12:02:10 GMT -5
I always get my plastic pails at Oriole winery next to Golden crown on St Clair. Dave charges 3 bucks for once used 6.5 gallon pails. The lids have a silicon seal and are much easier to get off
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Post by Stephen on Aug 17, 2017 12:27:24 GMT -5
As Bill said, any of the wine making places will have pails and carboys. Phone them and I'm sure they'd be happy to give you some prices. Places like Jakes in Windsor (if you have a chance to go or have someone pick you up one) has pails, carboys and the fermonster wide mouth plastic carboys. Buckets are a pain because of the lid sometimes being difficult to get off and durability is a problem as you need to be gentle cleaning them as scratches harbour yeast and contaminants. The glass carboys are great but breaking is a constant risk. The fermonster's are a possibility and are around $40 I believe (screw lid) and more durable to scratches than buckets as they're made of PET plastic (think pop bottles). If you want to go for the gold at some point the fermentasaurus (also PET plastic) that OBK carries is really nice but much bigger expenditure at $120 but has a ton of bells and whistles.
Just a note of caution about used wine pails. Many wine yeasts secrete a toxin that kills other yeasts. If there are any scratches or crevices that hold wine yeast you may ruin a batch or have a really slow fermentation as your yeast battles for supremacy against the upstart wine yeast. Unless you really look them over and work hard to clean and sanitize the crap out to make sure 110% it's clean (unfortunately you can't heat treat pails so I'd use a couple different sanitizers to be sure) then I'd spring for a new one for the extra $10-12.
Cheers.
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Post by gdbrewing on Aug 17, 2017 14:48:56 GMT -5
OK. Let me see... 3 goes into 12 4 times, 0 remainder, 3 goes in zero zero tim... Holy crap that's 40 buckets, and lids, and seals. Bells and whistles you say.
I just wash with PBW and hot water immediately following each fermentation and sanitize well prior to each refill. I use a soft brush similar to what you would use on your dishes and never stack in, always on top when storing. To the best of my knowledge I am not aware of any turf wars taking place between the wine and beer yeasts. Thinking of upgrading with spigots to eliminate siphoning. When I responded to the original message I was sitting in Devonshire mall just coming from Jakes. Noticed the pails where $17.99. Lids are $3.99 more. Extra dollar with an air lock hole and grommet. Only downside for me is I wish I could actually witness the fermentation taking place.
Long live the bucket fermenter
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Post by eburggraaf on Aug 19, 2017 9:28:57 GMT -5
Thanks for this. I'll checck them out. Do you do anything special for cleaning? I've just been using bleach. I do have a package of sanitizer that came with my kit, but haven't figured out how to use it yet. I always get my plastic pails at Oriole winery next to Golden crown on St Clair. Dave charges 3 bucks for once used 6.5 gallon pails. The lids have a silicon seal and are much easier to get off
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Post by gdbrewing on Aug 19, 2017 15:30:03 GMT -5
I don't do anything special that I am aware of. I use PBW (powdered brewers wash) to do all my cleaning. Equipment cleaned with PBW needs to be rinsed with water after cleaning. I bought a pound when I first started brewing over a year ago and just topped up my jar last week. Jake's sells for $7.99, I think OBK sells for $9.99. Just mix a tablespoon with a gallon of hot water. I use a soft bristled brush to remove the hard to remove crud. To me it's important to clean equipment as soon as you can after use before it gets a chance to set. II use Star San for for all my sanitizing. It does not need to be rinsed. I mix up 2 litres in my bucket, put my siphon tube inside and shake the whole thing prior to filling. I empty sanitizer solution into a smaller pail to sanitize the auto siphon. A spray bottle from the dollar store full of Star San solution make it easy to make sure anything that touchs the wort after boiling is sanitized.
Hope this helps
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Post by gdbrewing on Aug 20, 2017 16:35:27 GMT -5
One more thing. If you do go the Oriole Winery for your bucket/lid you will need to drill a hole in the lid for your air lock and grommet. They are marked but have not been punched out.
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