Using hefty storage bin as FV?

[Sacred Knot Brewing]

I’ve seen a guy use this method on YouTube. He cling wraps the top of the bin then puts the lid on. I was interested in maybe trying this out because it would increase my production volume. I have a 1 gallon carboy but a 2 gallon mini keg, wife won’t let me buy a new fermenter lol. Has anyone had success with this method? I’m skeptical but would like to get more out of each batch.

 

[Dland]

Will your wife let you buy a 5 gallon plastic carboy? I think the water company charges a $5 deposit on the ones they deliver to my office. Or maybe you can save your lunch money for a week a and get one of these:

6 Gallon Bucket - Plastic | MoreBeer or for $5 more you can get one with a spigot from the same place. While this seems extravagant, you;ll save that much in what you don't spill pooring. Plastic Fermenting Bucket - 6 gal. (With Spigot) | MoreBeer

Just because it is possible, and someone posted on utube does not mean it is a great idea, that cling wrap bill is going to dig into your allowance after a while. ;}

 

[Sacred Knot Brewing]

Will your wife let you buy a 5 gallon plastic carboy? I think the water company charges a $5 deposit on the ones they deliver to my office. Or maybe you can save your lunch money for a week a and get one of these:

6 Gallon Bucket - Plastic | MoreBeer or for $5 more you can get one with a spigot from the same place. While this seems extravagant, you;ll save that much in what you don't spill pooring. Plastic Fermenting Bucket - 6 gal. (With Spigot) | MoreBeer

Just because it is possible, and someone posted on utube does not mean it is a great idea, that cling wrap bill is going to dig into your allowance after a while. ;}

She’s not allowing me out of principle haha. I got a 1 gallon starter kit at the beginning of COVID so when I bring it up she says the “first one was all for nothing!”

I was skeptical on it as well. Oh well, just gotta wait I guess :/

 

[NTBeer]

I haven't personally done this so YMMV, but the standard advice to guys in your situation used took be to go to the bakery department at your grocery store and ask them for the buckets that icing comes in. FREE.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Will beer ferment in a tote bin? Yes. Is it a good idea? Depends. I'd be concerned about sanitation, oxygen permeability, and especially chemical leeching. Doubt tote bins are food-grade material. Poses both a taste concern as well as a safety concern. If it's a brand new, food grade bin, and you can get an airtight seal, it's probably not much different than using a bucket.

 

[Dland]

She’s not allowing me out of principle haha. I got a 1 gallon starter kit at the beginning of COVID so when I bring it up she says the “first one was all for nothing!”

I was skeptical on it as well. Oh well, just gotta wait I guess :/

First one not all for nothing, it is to "test run small batches of new recipes to see if they are worth making a bigger one". Besides, you have to start somewhere.

I ain't going to even comment on....OK I will; what "principle" is she operating on? If she is sole breadwinner, and you just sit around the house accomplishing nothing and have a history of wasting money you don't have, perhaps she has a point, .........otherwise.... anyway, sorry, you put it out there.

 

[Sacred Knot Brewing]

Will beer ferment in a tote bin? Yes. Is it a good idea? Depends. I'd be concerned about sanitation, oxygen permeability, and especially chemical leeching. Doubt tote bins are food-grade material. Poses both a taste concern as well as a safety concern. If it's a brand new, food grade bin, and you can get an airtight seal, it's probably not much different than using a bucket.

It’s a #5 PP plastic which from my understanding is the same as most bucket fermenters. But I also am worried about oxygen permeability as well as contamination. Obviously the seal wouldn’t be as tight as the rubber stopper in a carboy. It’s just a snap on lid.

 

[Qhrumphf]

The plastic type doesn't inherently mean food grade or not. For example bucket fermenters and hardware store "homer" buckets are basically the same material (i *think* its #2 HDPE but I could be wrong), the latter are not food-safe. Recycled plastics (which tote bins likely are) are often not food-safe.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

She’s not allowing me out of principle haha. I got a 1 gallon starter kit at the beginning of COVID so when I bring it up she says the “first one was all for nothing!”

I was skeptical on it as well. Oh well, just gotta wait I guess :/

Let me help reframe that, the first one was to see if you’d like brewing... and now that you clearly do, you can increase your volume so you have more time with her because it takes just about as much time to brew 4.5 gallons as it does to brew 1.

 

[Sacred Knot Brewing]

Let me help reframe that, the first one was to see if you’d like brewing... and now that you clearly do, you can increase your volume so you have more time with her because it takes just about as much time to brew 4.5 gallons as it does to brew 1.

lol now we’re talking.

 

[Dland]

Yeah, H2b might how to reason w a person like that. ;}

Seriously though, the time factor is quite true. The reason I went from 5 to 10 gallon batches is they took just about exactly the same amount of time and effort to make.

Time is one of the only things one has that one can never replace.

 

[Beermeister32]

Go out and buy the buckets and carboys you need. While you are at it start looking for a new wife.

 

[dwhite60]

I saw a post on one of the brewing forums about a home brew shop that would put " Congratulations on winning our raffle!" or the like on packing lists on shipments.

Friend of mine, his wife is a serious financial control freak. Basically gives him an allowance every week. She gets on him about why he doesn't buy her anything. His reply is "How?"

She isn't hiding anything, the statements are always available so she's honest about it.

 

[Sacred Knot Brewing]

Many of you missed the point of the thread. I didn’t open this up to bash on my wife. Since I started brewing about 2 or 3 months ago I’ve since bought kegging equipment, a cooler to use as a mash tun, brew pots and other random things. So I can at least in part understand where she’s coming from. Frustrating yes but I understand.

I was simply asking if anyone else used the method mentioned in the original post as it was an option for me but I was skeptical about it as others clearly are. I won’t be using the method in the original post and when I have a few extra bucks I will get a new fermenter.