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Forums Brewing Equipment Forum Fermentation Bucket Differences

  • William

    Member
    December 15, 2019 at 12:58 am

    About $5 hahahaha

  • Peter

    Member
    December 15, 2019 at 1:00 am

    The brew buckets from homebrew shops are 6.5 gallons and food grade buckets from box stores are 5 gallons, so there’s not enough space to ferment a full 5 gallon batch. I compared a few years back and the temp range for food grade was a bit different as well. So it was possible that the box store buckets leached at warmer temps.

  • Arthur Reed

    Member
    December 15, 2019 at 1:01 am

    a little money and a gallon and a half lol

  • Jim

    Member
    December 15, 2019 at 1:02 am

    There certainly is a difference. Food grade plastic must meet certain standards of purity. It cannot contain dyes, other additives or recycled plastic products deemed harmful to humans. Food grade plastic can contain some levels of recycled materials as long as those materials fit the guidelines and regulations outlined by the regulatory agency. Most juice or milk containers and five gallon food buckets are made from HDPE. In the U.S. and Canada, HDPE products have the plastic code 2.
    Another common form of food grade plastic is polyethylene terephthalate or PET/PETE. These carry the plastic code 1 and are often used for products like salad dressing, peanut butter, and jelly jars. Non food grade plastic can have a film of Non food grade mold releases as well and those Non food grade mold releases are NOT good eats!!!

  • John

    Administrator
    December 15, 2019 at 1:05 am

    I have fermented in food grade plastic buckets from box stores before and it works ok but you’ll only get about 4.5 gallons. Also, fun tip – the paint lids with the pop our pour spout work perfectly – remove the cap and pop up the spout and it fits a carboy bung with an airlock PERFECTLY. It worked pretty great.

    That said, if you’re looking for a super cheap plastic fermenter I really recommend the Big Mouth Bubbler from Northern Brewer. Get the 6.5 gallon plastic ported one – its under $40 on Amazon here – https://amzn.to/2EhzWej

  • William

    Member
    December 15, 2019 at 1:07 am

    seconded on the big mouth bubbler – definitely my favorite cheap entry-level fermenter. The siphonless valve is a game changer – you’ll never want to siphon again

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