I bought a 13.5-gallon garbage can at Walmart, today. It’s rectangular with a planar top. My plan is to use it to ferment up to 7.5-gallon batches with no headspace problems. The trash can is 23 inches deep. A 7.5-gallon batch is just under 13 inches deep, leaving me with 43% of the can’s total volume above the level of the unfermented wort. No worries about the krausen fouling the airlock-- because there is no airlock.
I will “close” the top with a handtowel over the top and a piece of 1/2-inch plywood, upon which I will place a few quart bottles of water. I do not expect the carbon dioxide produced by fermentation to lift the plywood; there will be too much leakage past the handtowel for such a thing.
The idea behind the trash can is to ferment enough wort to get the six gallons I want to bottle. There is loss below the spigot in a five-gallon or six-gallon bucket; about a gallon’s worth in the ones I have. If I ferment more than what I’ll lose, I will get my six gallons and be a happy camper.
I believe I can produce a beer with this method. I have read that Australians ferment in an open crock with just a tea towel overtop it. I assume they rely on the blanket of carbon dioxide atop the beer to protect it from infection. My plywood would certainly be better than a tea towel (whatever that is). Now all I need is the time to actually brew the stuff, get it into the trash can and get it going…
In checking the Northern Brewer web site, the bucket fermenter they have is 6.5 gallons. I would venture to guess that the layer of crud at the bottom is less than a half gallon in everything I have ever done. The spigot sits about maybe 2 inches off the bottom and the settled crud has never reached the spigot level. The bucket is food grade, comes with a nice lid with a gasket and a hold drilled for an airlock. To me, it is the best for my situation. I must admit that using a garbage can has never crossed my mind, but to each his own. Sometimes it is better to use what is made to serve the purpose instead of trying to DIY it. Now, take that for what it is worth, as I took a pond pump, a plastic container my wife used for plants and some pvc and made a bucket washer. LOL So, I love the DIY idea for sure. Good luck.
It’s made of white plastic; HDPE I’d guess. I was going to get black to protect the wort from light, but then how would I know how much wort I had when came the time to lay the towel over and set the plywood atop?
I have yet to drill the one-inch hole for the spigot. I’m thinking to drill it far enough above the bottom of the vessel to allow for a layer of dead yeast of at least one inch thick. I have an invert tube backnut from Williams Brewing I will use to keep any yeast trub from making its way into the bottling bucket. I have found that the Williams backnut is too tight to use as the primary backnut. I use the nut that comes with the transfer valve and the invert nut is tightened just one turn. It’s just to keep the yucky trub from getting into the bottling bucket. I have transfer valves that have the hole through the nut halfway closed-off. I got them at my LHBS and have no idea who makes them. If I knew how to post a picture, I would do so. I like these valves because the handle operates very easily and smoothly.
Because the trash can is rectangular, I believe I can elevate the short side on which I will drill the hole for the spigot. Gravity causes all items to fall in a straight line toward the center of the Earth. With the spigot side elevated by around an inch, there will be a thin layer of yeast crap right under the spigot and a thick layer on the opposite short side. The top surface of the yeast bed will be perfectly level. I’m using this trash can so I can ferment enough wort to get my six gallons without sucking-up any yeast trub.
For most brews you should be able to use an airlock without fowling. I use a 7.9 gallon fermenter for 5 gallons, and there has been just a little crud it the airlock one time out of over 100 batches using it. I would be concerned about getting a little oxidation with the towel and plywood method. (On second thought, even trying to get a seal with the lid, I doubt if it would end up sealing well since it wasn’t designed for it - maybe the airlock wouldn’t really help.)
I would also have some concern about the bucket material. Maybe with some effort you could find out if it is food grade.
I bought one of these several years ago to collect RO water in my garage. I used it once for a Belgian tripel, but the lid didn’t seal well, so back to being a water barrel….
I have two 7.9-gallon buckets from BSG Handcraft. Have had them for about a year; have never used them. There is a ridge inside at the six-gallon level. The actual lip of the bucket is only about two inches about that ridge. In my inexperienced opinion, so little headspace is just asking for the krausen to get into the airlock. We must remember the lid protrudes into the bucket by maybe 3/4-inch, further reducing the headspace.
I’m going to ferment 7.5 gallons of something in the garbage can with towel & plywood top, drain-off 6.0 gallons of trub-free deliciousness into my bottling bucket, bottle and cap, then wait an agonizing 30 days before cracking the first one. I’ll be eyeballin’ the bottles for signs of infection. I have consumed infected beer in the past; don’t remember if it was unpalatable or not. Because I cannot remember, maybe it was drinkable enough. That would have been back between 1990 to about 2001. After that, I got too busy working and didn’t make any beer for close to twenty years.
If the garbage can method works well enough, I’ll start making my grog that way and to helsinki with the fermentation buckets I have. I want to bottle six gallons; that’s the goal. It irks me that I lose a gallon to the dead yeast in a 6.5-gallon bucket. My solution is to ferment more than I want and discard the rest. Yes, that costs a bit of money… but I do not want to be fighting to keep the dead yeast out of my bottling bucket. I have no wife nor kids, so I can spend the money required to make the beer that gets poured down the drain instead of worrying myself all to pieces about the yucky yeast crap getting into my bottling bucket and ruining the flavor of what I’ll drink a month from Bottling Day. Sometimes you have to lose a little to gain a lot.
I’m not going to stress over what is the material of the bucket. It’s white and flexible, so I’m going to assume it’s either food-grade or some kind of plastic that won’t kill me dead if I don’t drink 13.5 gallons of water out of it on a daily basis. I expect the manufacturer didn’t bother to label if/if not the can is food-grade because I doubt he’d ever expect anyone to consume for food or drink something coming out of a garbage can.
Not in my estimation. All I’m doing is to ferment enough liquid such that I can get the six gallons I want to bottle without getting too close to the upper surface of the yeast bed. I admit that there will be sacrificed wort; I’ll let it go in order to get the clear beer above the spigot. I have 6.5-gallon buckets and 7.8-gallon buckets. I’ll prime in a 6.5-gallon bucket because the spigot hole is only about half an inch or so above the floor of the bucket; no need to tilt the bucket until maybe the last or second-to-last bottle filled.
One member here says he uses either 0.84 or 0.80 ounces (I can’t remember which) of corn sugar per gallon of wort to prime. I’m going to institute 0.775 ounces per gallon. I’d rather have a somewhat flat beer than a gusher that hits the ceiling when I crack one open. If my first effort with 0.775 ounces comes-out a little flat, I’ll try 0.80 ounces the next time. I made a batch that was over-carbed way back in 1999 or so. Several bottles exploded. The survivors gushed so badly that I’d get less than half the bottle to actually drink. I don’t want to repeat that scene in these modern times.
While you won’t take a sip of beer and drop dead, I would not use this container to ferment. I don’t think that whatever overseas manufacturer making trash cans to sell at Walmart is using anything but the cheapest, and therefore the most toxic, plastic they can find. And you want to make acidic alcohol in it for consumption over and over again?
Please don’t do this, the data on the toxicity of plastic gets worse and worse. Buy a fermentation bucket and throw your trash in this bucket.
When I want to ferment a batch where the krausen could exceed my largest fermenter (8gal), i split the batch into two 5gal fermenters. It is a good time to experiment with aging, oak, different yeast, dry hopping, or other fermenter additions. It also allows me to only have to bottle one fermenter at a time. I would be concerned about using something that I couldn’t prove to be food safe. I siphon from my primary to keg or bottling bucket, so I don’t worry about a spigot. When I bottle, I siphon from the bottling bucket too. I try to squeeze every last drop from the fermenter and bottling bucket. Cold and time has adequately cleared my beer.
I could do that; I have enough fermentation buckets to do so. Or I could go this route: https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/bucket-16-5-gal/ It has a lid, too: Lid & Ring Only - 16.5 gallon bucket | BSG | Bulk Brewing & Beer Supply Company I don’t know if they sell to individuals. I might be able to acquire one if I order it through my LHBS. That is from where I got my two BSG Handcraft 7.8-gallon buckets. They are drilled for fermentation (the lower periphery of the one-inch hole being a little over 1.5 inches from the bottom) and bottling (the lower periphery of the one-inch hole being only about half an inch from the bottom). I have two 6.5-gallon buckets from my LHBS and a third set of 5-gallon punks I’ve had since October 1990.
Good thing I have an eight-gallon kettle. I could bring the total volume up to 7.0 gallons (58.4+ pounds), mix it up good and split equally in the pour. That kettle is going to be dam-ned heavy until I get half of it poured into one of the fermenters.
Just looked at the label: Made in USA. Now no doubt it’s food-grade, considering all the millstones the EPA and the Consumer Producer Safety Commission hangs around the necks of companies that make things for sale to the general public. You never know when a two year-old is going to chow-down on the kitchen garbage can. Gotta have whatever you’re selling be safe for a toddler who puts everything into his mouth, y’know…
Completely agree!!! If you want to make more than your bucket will hold, take two buckets and split the batch. Of course, you are going to do whatever you think is right, but in my mind, using a plastic trash can for something to consume is only leading to health risks that you don’t have to take. Just my opinion, and I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. LOL
I damaged my lower back in early August of 1973. Fifty years ago. I was fifteen years old. I’ve learned to live with it, but I have to be careful in how I move, how much weight I can lift and how much I can carry. Good thing I’m a truck driver: I spend the majority of my days on my assets with minimal physical movement.
I’m going to go ahead and ferment in the garbage can. I’m not worried about it being or not being food-grade. I’ve been a truck driver for dam-ned near thirty years. I’ve driven through a bunch of winters, through many a Spring with high winds and an empty trailer, and have been through major American cities like Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Franfreako and many others many, many times. I used to jump from the swings at the apogee of the forward arc when I was in grade school. I rode a minibike in Italy when I was a teenager in the 1970s. I include that because Italians do not stop at stopsigns in residential areas. They just toot their horn and blast on through. As you can imagine, they have a lot of two-vehicle accidents and always blame the other guy for the collision. My parents were always worried that I was going to be injured or get killed on my little bike because of how reckless are Italian drivers. I learned on that bike to always expect the alpha-hotels in my immediate vicinity to do something exponentially-stupid within the next few seconds. It has served me well as a trucker since late January 1994.
im sure others will reply, and i dont want to make it sound like people are jumping all over you, but i sell industrial PPE and have experience when i was younger (a few decades ago) working in crappy jobs where/when people didnt give a rats ■■■ about protective equipment, indoor pollutants, chemicals, waste, safety in general.
this stuff is super important, i know you seem to be a senior citizen, but toxins/contaminants/carcinogens are cumulative and you dont want to gamble on even increasing the likelihood of any of these things by any margin. the difference in cost broken down per pint of beer in buying proper, safe brewing equipment is going to literally be pennies if you brew often. a few cents,
and not just that you may get flavour and/or fermentation problems caused by plastic leaching or anti-microbial properties in the plastic. reconsider this, you can likely return it and just say “it turns out it was the wrong type” or something.