Any ideas on nice sealed vessels for holding 55# sacks of grain?
Vittles vaults. Check Costco. Mine had the angled versions for cheap last time I was there, but $33 from Amazon isn’t bad.
Vittles Vault Outback Stackable 60 lb Airtight Pet Food Storage Container Amazon.com
I’ve been using five gallon buckets with gamma lids. I like these as I don’t feel like I’m wasting volume when they are half full. Each bucket holds about 25lbs
I second the 60-lb stackable vittles vaults.
I’ve got three of them on the bottom shelf of one of those wire shelf rack things, they fit great even if they aren’t stacked. I’ve got 3, I typically keep two varieties of base malt on hand, and use the third for whatever odds and ends I collect.
5 Gallon buckets here. Cheap cheap cheap and they work great. Buy “gamma” lids at Lowes/Home Depot (cheapest I found is like $7) or a bucket opener to save your hands.
Thanks everyone. Vittles look nice. So 60# over the 50# is the consensus?
Yes, if you want to use them in the stackable configuration you’ll want the 60 if you don’t want to spill grain on the floor when you open the lid.
60 it is. Thanks again all.
Digging that avatar btw Chris - love Vermont.
Thanks! The winters can be long and tough, but man it’s nice living in a brewing mecca!
Another vote for Vittle Vaults.
A vote for 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids. 2 buckets takes care of a 50 lb bag. They nest when empty, saving space.
Honest question, do the gamma lidded 5-gallon buckets for for 55 lb bags? I seem to remember when I was researching storage options there being some reason for 6.5 gallon gamma lid containers being “better”.
And FWIW, at my local Lowes the gama lids are $12 each, and that doesn’t include a bucket. At that point I just spent the little bit more to have the vittles vaults. (which have gamma lids BTW.)
I do have two food grade 5-gallon buckets with gamma lids, but I only use them for storing milled grain when I can’t brew right away.
My lowes had the lids for $8 last time I was there. Two buckets won’t quite hold a 55# sack on it’s own. A little is left over. I don’t need to worry about rodents, so I leave the grain in the sack until I am ready to use it. I remove what I need and put the rest into buckets.
Me too–I have 2 and they are terrific.
Another vote for 5 gal buckets with gamma lids.
I use the Vittle Vaults as well… they work great.
$40 airtight holds 3 sacks. Homedepot Roughneck 45 Gal. Black Wheeled Trash Can with Lid plus Armacell
2 in. x 30 ft. R-1 Foam Insulation Tape (cut to line the interior of the lid seal).
Wow three sacks in one container…I brew a fair amount of 10 gallon batches, but I would be concerned storing 3 sacks of grain in one container. You must brew a lot of beer!
I brew 10 gallon batches as well. That container is typically holding 3-5 partial sacks of different base grains. All of my various small bags of specialty grains are kept in the rolling pet food storage containers.
I gotcha - you keep the grains in the sacks and store the sacks in the container - I do that with smaller bags of specialty grains in a gamma seal bucket, but I never thought of storing larger sacks that way in a big container like a garbage can - great idea and reasonable cost alternative! My large vittle vaults are a bit pricey, but they hold a full sack (which I just open and pour in then screw on the lid for an airtight seal). I typically have 4 grains on hand in large volume (still only a sack or less): Weyermann’s FM Pilsner and German Pale, Maris Otter (by varying maltsters, depending on the LHBS selection when I run out) and Vienna (often just 2 or 3 small sacks of 10 pounds each).