I actually did some searching around. Polycarbonate is apparently not BPA free. And the lids aren’t air tight?
Tempting though. A clear bucket would be the best of both worlds. They’re definitely not cheap though.
It’s hard to say how much blow off I’m getting, but I’m getting it just about every time in my 6 gallon Better Bottles. I used to have some 6.5 gal glass carboys and that extra space was nice.
I keep hoping for the best, then I have a mess. I need to be more proactive about it and get a better system than what I’m using to deal with blow off.
Lately, for blow off I’ve been running my tube into a 1 gallon glass pickle jar filled about 1/3 with StarSan solution. Place 3-4 drops of FermCap in the StarSan and put the jar in a small plastic storage tote in case the blowoff foams and overflows the jar. No more mess. The fermcap works great.
i use some of these. also have 3.5 gallon buckets that i get from a specialty olive oil, basalmic place
Prior to my Conicals, I used two of these for each 10 gallon batch:
And if any of you are around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, I still have about 20 of them, with lids, and spigots.
$2.50 a piece.
I’ve got several Cambro buckets that I use for my batch cooking: a couple of 7 quart, a couple of 3 gallon, and one five gallon (22 qt). I got real familiar with them when I managed a Luby’s cafeteria! I love them due to the fact they are professional grade food service containers and can be easily cleaned. Mine are the “white” buckets but I’ve used the clear poly containers, too. They get a lot of use cleaining bottles, storing StarSan, bottling buckets, etc. Im getting ready to invest in a couple to use as primary fermenters for 5 gallon batches. Currently I use some snap-top Rubbermaid food grade containers for my 1 gallon primaries - they are 6 quart so I’ve got plenty of headspace for that initial activity. I drilled 1/2 inch holes and fitted them with grommets for the airlocks and/or blow off tube.
Been using buckets for the past 4.5 years, but just got this new speidel 30L (7.9G) fermenter from morebeer…
With all that headspace it’s been fantastic. This is a quality vessel 
Thanks for all your posts. I’ve learned a lot from this thread, and it’s helped me confirm much of what I was thinking and raised some new questions for me as well. This was my favorite forum 10yrs ago, nice to see things haven’t changed much 
A bit late to the party here but I think these offer the best bang for the buck. Normally I’ll do 6 gallons in each. Absolutely perfect for ten. I never bother to snap down the lids or use a fermentation lock either.
Welcome back to the hobby!
That’s interesting, given that this forum has only been around a few years.
Yep, love them. Love the extra headspace.
Perhaps he is fondly recall Tech Talk…
Sorry, for some reason I was thinking this was the new version of the B&V. I couldn’t remember the name of that forum for the life of me. Now that I have it figured out, I found the B&V as well.
In any event, I’m happy to be on board here.
I’ll see ya on B&V, too!
What was the board that got shut down a few years ago?
Maybe fistfullofhops is using a blue computer.
You guys mention a fermentation chamber. I’m brewing Denny’s Rye IPA and the yeast optimum temperature is 60-70* according to the label. I live in New England and my basement stays around 65*. I recall the temp can rise slightly above ambient during fermentation but how much are we talking?
I have a 10’ chest freezer in the garage that I could lug into the basement if necessary, but I sure would like to avoid it if possible!
BTW, the blue computer comment went right over my head.
65 ambient will be fine. particularly if you put the fermenter on or near the floor where it will be slightly cooler. The temp will likely raise ~5 degrees at the height of fermentation but unless it’s a very big beer with lots and lots of yeast it won’t get higher than that.
People have reported as much as 10 degrees on big beers though.
EDIT TO ADD
for the Blue Computer comment search the forum for “blue cooler”. It’s not real subtle
I start my fermentations on the floor of my basement with ambient temp this time of year. Overall ambient is maybe 62-ish during the winter. At the height of fermentation on a big beer spewing blow off I hit 66/68 last week. I’ve got the fermenters covered in cardboard boxes (from shipping) which are actually very good insulators. When activity starts to drop, I raise the fermenters up to counter height and they’ll sit at 66 for awhile before dropping. If I need to raise the temp on them, I’ll put them near a heat vent and I can keep them close to 68 but never higher.
If your basement stays at 65* year round I say you have an optimal situation for the homebrewer. No need to bother with a chest freezer- which should stay where it is BTW. Even if you decide to use it for fermenting.