Glass Carboys, Primary Fermenters, Air Locks, and FUN

My friend and I have been home brewing for the last several years. We continuously try new things and push the boundaries (sometimes WAY too far) :) Anyway, we are moving and now have room to expand. Where can we find the most affordable (new or used) products for homebrew. Mostly we are in need of more glass containers/carboys especially larger ones (3 to 20 gallon!) but also 6 - 8 gallon new food grade plastic fermenters, airlocks, yeast, etc. Any advice, links, or help would be greatly appreciated. THanks again snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com analogvacuumtube at gmail dot com

Reply to
Bryan
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For large fermenters I use a rubbermaid "brute" trash can. the grey (easiest to find) white and yellow ones are food grade. I got mine (32 gallon) at home depot. they have 40 gallon ones too. For 20-30 bucks it is pretty nicely priced.

Some people use culligan water bottles for 5 gallon carboys, but I question the stability of the plastic under long term use with wine myself.

I have gotten all of my carboys from my local LHBS, any extra i pay over the internet price is a lot less than shipping.

Bryan wrote:

Reply to
Droopy

Thanks for your advice...wow - the trash cans are a great idea! you are sure they are food grade? thanks again

Reply to
Bryan

Yep, I have seen it posted several times and I called Rubbermaid to verify.

It has to be the grey, white or yellow "Brute" containers. All other Rubbermaid trash cans are NOT food grade.

Reply to
Droopy

Bryan,

Were I to have the opportunity to do things a bit differently, I would replace a few of my many glass carboys with a few more Better Bottles. These PET carboys are food grade and gas impermeable, and they weigh about 10lbs less than a glass carboy and can not shatter. Your LHBS should either carry these already, or should be able to order them for you. They cost about the same as a glass carboy, unless you purchase the model with the racking port, which is very handy but not required. They do have a few minor drawbacks, the chief one being that they are flexible and require care when lifting to avoid shooting wine out of the airlock, but their advantages vastly outweigh their disadvantages, in both number and importance.

Cheers, Ken Taborek

Reply to
mail box

Droopy's right. I've also seen it posted in newsgroups, I've read it on Rubbermaid's web site, and the "10-gallon fermenters" (and larger sizes) that my LHBS sells *are* white Rubbermaid Brute trash cans.

It's only the Brute line, not Roughneck, not anything else. Only the colors Droopy mentioned.

Erroll

Reply to
Erroll Ozgencil

So with the BRUTE cans - what is the situation with the lid? How is it (or how should it be) secured?

Reply to
Bryan

If you look at the bottom of a brute gray, which I just bought, you'll see LDPE, NSF 2 and I believe "Food contact".

LDPE is the type of plastic. Fine for fermenter, but bad for long term storage. More porous than HDPE but just as resistant to most chemicals.

NSF 2 is the certification stating that it's rated for food contact.

If it doesn't have that certification go on to the next. Even though it's made from LDPE it could be recycled plastic, which isn't food grade.

If still > Bryan wrote:

Reply to
Marty Phee

Just snap it on. It will stay clean enough in there. The relativly loose fit will allow gas to escape. Bill Frazier taught me a trick to know when to rack to secondary. When you can get a match to stay lit until you are within an inch or two of the must, you know you have slowed CO2 production down enough and then you (press) rack into secondary.

Reply to
Droopy

Oh my god. You are all amazing and appreciated. Thanks so much for the advice.

Reply to
Bryan

I think you are my new hero. Do you know if they come in smaller quantities? I'm making a peach beer right now, and I need something larger than my normal primary carboy, and preferably something with a larger mouth. It was a real pain in the butt when I was trying to cram cranberries in my carboys for cranberry wine. I was hoping to get something in 10 gallons.

Reply to
Adam Preble

No the brute cans only come in 32 and 40 gallon sizes I believe. You can get 10 gallon food grade plastic buckets though.

I made about 7 gallons of wine from (100 lbs of fruit) in my Brute can last year, and 15 gallons of hard cider and 20 gallons of mead. I do not think I would go any lower than 10 gallons though. There is an issue of surface area to volume that can affect the fermentation rate. I would not be too worried about beer, there are people that ferment beers with open fermenters and they do fine.

Reply to
Droopy

All,

I agree completely with Ken. I have used glass carboys for years, but as I have been growing older, they have become increasing difficult to lift and clean. Last year I traded my glass carboys for Better Bottles at my LHBS and am very happy with the decision. The Better Bottles do not seem to have any negative effect on my wine, and they are so light and easy to work with.

Regards,

Gary

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Reply to
Gary Flye

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