I purchased a 6.5-gallon HDPE bucket to use as a primary fermenter. I have not used a bucket for primary fermentation since my third batch. However, when I specified my requirements for a fermentation vessel, the lowly plastic bucket was the only fermentation vessel that came close to meeting them. The most critical requirement is that I need to be able to carry my fermentation vessel from my garage down into my basement while using only one hand going down stairs. I am reaching an age where I need to use the handrail, especially on stairs with small treads. A plastic bucket also has the advantage of being able to carry it with a solid lid and then switch out to a drilled lid. This decision was not easy for me to make because I have always considered buckets to be on the bottom of the heap. I thought about using one of this no-chill cubes to transport wort down into my basement and then transferring to a little less ghetto fermentation vessel, but then I would have to clean and sanitize two containers.
I have a 6.5 gallon bucket for my occasional 5 gallon batches. The only negatives: the handle digs into my hands when carrying it full and getting the lid off is a bit of a pain.
Carrying 5 gallons of beer down a flight of stairs is tough. Be careful.
Have you considered a hand truck? I’ve been using one to haul fermenters around for several years.
I’ve been using the same bucket I bought with a brew kit when I started brewing eleven years ago. I’ve killed off infections in it and brewed everything from one to five gallons in it. It’s my trusty fermentation vessel for anything not sour/brett that is more than a gallon. I know people dump on them because there’s no cool factor with a bucket but unless you transfer under pressure or you are aging fragile beers they cannot be beat for their ease of use.
Since I’ve eliminated lifting hot water chest high with a pump, because I use a BrewBucket with two side handles carrying the FV downstairs without access to the handrail is probably the riskiest thing I do on brewday.
I’ve considered, then quickly dismissed, running a hose from the brewhaus down to the FV in the basement.
Then I’ve thought a simpler solution may be to rack to a keg which is easier to carry one handed and then push the wort into the FV with CO2. …but then I would loose the dead space of the keg and ferment less than my desired 5.5 gal.
I need some sort of trolly or dumb waiter. One of those stair climbing hand trucks might work. I could sell it to the finance committee as a way to get seasonal decorations up and down the stairs.
…of course a bucket is a whole lot cheaper and could aid in further trüb removal if I let the wort settle and rack carefully.
Down stairs?
If you ferment in a keg, you could seal it and roll it down the stairs ;D
I say this with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but I could forsee a future where I put some padding at the bottom of my basement stairs and give this a try.
A lot of hand trucks wheels are designed to go up/down stairs. Granted, you have to be cautious when navigating a full flight.
Same here.
I found this on YouTube. https://youtu.be/huZ2ZnO2630
I was amazed.
Kegs are available in bigger sizes.
Also, is “finance committee” a euphemism for “spouse?”
Yeah, I know, I’ve done it. But with a bucket of liquid? Even covered, I see the bumps on the stairs as a problem.
Ah, I see what you’re saying. Then again, I guess you just have to weigh that against the potential dangers of carrying down the stairs. I would think as long as you have a good seal on the lid and strap the bucket to the hand truck the worry of spilling is reduced.
The only hand trucks that I know of that are equipped to go downstairs are designed for delivering appliances.
As one who’s done it, I can tell you it ain’t easy and it’s a mess. At least when I did it.
That is cool, want.
IM a relatively young man and the thought of carrying any fermenter down stairs gives me pause. ANyway you could just use a hose and gravity feed it?
I could carry a 6.5-gallon lead acid carboy with 5.25 to 5.5 gallons of wort in it down a flight of stairs with one arm in my thirties (I was used to carrying 90lb dumbbells). However, that was after over a decade of benching over 350lbs and squatting over 550lbs. I beat my body up starting in high school in an effort to get stronger in order to play middle linebacker. If could go back, I would slap the younger me silly because my joints are shot due to bad lifting habits. Today, carrying and swinging a 24kg (53lb) kettlebell is a serious workout for me, but I will 60 next year.
Why do you feel the need to carry it down in one trip? I brew in my detached garage and have to go across a patio then enter the house and down the stairs and to the opposite side of the basement where my fermenter is. It was hard enough before I had a hip replaced so I started cleaning and sanitizing two plastic buckets that I fill to about 3 gallons each which is much easier to carry.
Another option for summer brewing that I haven’t tried yet is using Kveik yeast and not moving the beer out of the garage at all.
A few years ago I was working a lot, hadn’t been to the gym in years and so on. I decided to just do 3 gallon batches.
It was really manageable, and it slightly shortened my brew day.
I’ve been working out a lot over the past year and 5-6 gallon carboys seem pretty easy now, but in 10 years I can imagine switching to 3 gallons.
when im 60, maybe it’ll be 1 gallon…