What's your opinion on this?

An air-tight container having a capacity of thirteen-some gallons. The flat sides is what interests me: There is no curvature of a bucket to flatten-out by virtue of tightening-down the backnut to 600 pounds-feet of torque. A huge opening up-top to get in there and get it nice and clean. Molded-in handles to move it around. I’d have to imagine that the plastic is 98.6 percent opaque, removing the fear of a light-struck batch. Its price merits free shipping via amazon. A ten-gallon batch would have thirty percent headspace above it-- no worries about a too-high krausen blowin’ into your airlock. Pet food container, so it’s BPA-free…

14-gallon air-tight lid

I have something that looks a lot like that to store grain. Mine is not completely smooth inside, so I think it would be tough to get every nook and cranny clean.

I also think it would be tough to reach in and scrub. It seems pretty tall.

This is a good point. may want to consider a brush maybe the bristles can get into any low-frequency ‘noise’ bump pattern on molded plastics. Looks like enough room between handle and rim of lid to drill a hole for airlock cork …if not, at least a rubber grommet the correct size? If anyone gets one, try putting it upside down on a light of some kind see if it glows through and report back… Seems way easier to store or move around/clean than many carboys.

A couple things I’d consider. Not sure how much pet food weighs, but is this container capable of holding 80+ lbs of liquid? The built in handles look finger holds. Will you be able to move it if necessary using those handles? Lastly, assume you’re going to modify the lid for an airlock. Will you also install spigot? Going back to the weight issue, will the sides deform with the weight of the liquid thereby causing a leak at the spigot? Food for thought.

It’s thirteen inches on a side. Looking at the lefthand image, we can see that the opening is gettin’ close to the width of the thing. The container is blow-molded, so the interior is more than likely rather smooth. The website says the thing holds up to fifty-four pounds of pet food. Fifty-four pounds of water is only six-some gallons. Ten gallons of wort would be up there at around eighty-three pounds.

I think I’ll get in contact with the seller and ask what is the thickness of the wall. Our beloved 6.5-gallon buckets have a wall thickness of around 0.090 inches.

Amazon.com: Mighty Tuff 13 Gallon/up to 54 Pound Pet Food Storage Container with Airtight Lid and Built-In Handles for Easy Transport, BPA Free, Made for Durable and Versatile Storage

A size comparison…

They’re called a Vittles Vault® container by United States Plastics Corp. Home Depot sells 'em.

Sent an email asking what is wall thickness, and are the interior walls “smoothish and glossy?” We shall see what shall obtain…

The other issue I might have with these are will they absorb odors from the beer you are fermenting in them which could be problematic? PET plastics won’t do that but not sure about this plastic.

A member here (Dean Palmer) used to ferment in Vittles Vaults, but I think he soured on them eventually. See the post below. My recollection is he had some more info on his website, but it doesn’t appear to be up any longer (sadly).

I have 2 “Vittle Vaults” that I store grain in. One is an angled lid one, the other is the 13 gallon vertical one I used to use as a fermenter. I drilled a hole for a spigot and brewed many a batch with no issues. I switched to a 14 gallon Mini Brew conical because it was part of homebrew setup that I bought. I now use 2 8 gallon SS brew buckets as I want to split batches occasionally.

Sent an email asking what is wall thickness, and are the interior walls “smoothish and glossy?” We shall see what shall obtain…

Received a reply; was told the texture of the interior is the same as that of the exterior. We can see the exterior is “roughish” or “pebbly.” If the interior is the same, that will not work for makin’ beer.

Just between us, I do not believe the bloke who answered my question gave a flyin’ fudge-cicle about how true or untrue was his answer. The Vittles Vault is blow-molded, so the interior has to be without texture-- just like is a one-gallon milk jug.

Given the report of the member who tried one and found it wanting, I’ve decided to pursue the Vault no further…

Just checked my Vittle Vaults. The reply is 100% correct. Both inside and outside have a rough texture.

Rough texture inside? Nothing a disposable liner couldn’t fix.

I really do like this idea. Nice tight seal, handles on the sides. Seems like someone with a little ingenuity could make this work pretty well as a fermentation vessel.

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What would be the brand name of a disposable liner? Maybe I should do a little web research before asking a question that might be answered with a quick search…

While not scratching the DIY itch, I heartily endorse going with a Fermzilla if you want an upgrade from 5 gallon buckets. The model I landed on can hold up to 8 gallons. It is clear which means you would have to throw a towel over it if you are fermenting in a sun drenched room, but I really enjoy being able to see the progress of the yeast and whether I’ve cleaned it sufficiently. A tri-conical Fermzilla starts at around 150 bucks, so about twice what the vittles vault containers cost, but well worth it.

Fermonsters aren’t bad either.

I also have some reconditioned pinlock kegs that I use as kegmenters. They can be a very cheap way to go stainless if you catch the right sale.