Life expectancy of fermenting bucket????

[Elmer]

I have had my bucket for atleast 8 years.
Made countless, countless batches.
The outside has some odd color stains (from what I have no idea).
But the inside is white and clean, with scratches and signs of years of use.

So what is the Life expectancy of fermenting bucket???

I have been thinking of getting a 2nd one anyway so I dont have to wait for one batch to be done before I can start a new one.
I do find that I will rush a batch into secondary just to free up my bucket.
However like any addiction, you must keep your actions in check.
I would worry that a new bucket would just cause me to not to throw my old one out and start making WAY TOO MUCH WINE. And then it would all get away from me and I would be overwhelmed.

but back to my initial question:
How often should you replace your fermenting bucket????

 

[jswordy]

Scratches are not supposed to be a good thing, since they are said to harbor nasties. But I have never had trouble, and mine is scratched, too. As long as the plastic is not brittle, I see no reason not to keep using it.

I'd suggest a Rubbermaid BRUTE trash container, available in gray at Home Depot for a reasonable price. You can get a 20-gallon, and make anything from 5 to almost 20 gallons of wine in it. If you prefer white, it is available from H-D online but there will be shipping involved.

BTW, the 5-gallon paint buckets at H-D are food safe, too.

 

[JohnT]

I agree with Jim, but a new one is rather cheap. Go ahead and get a new one. The price you pay will be well worth your piece of mind.

 

[jamesngalveston]

How big of a bucket are we talking.

 

[Elmer]

Scratches are not supposed to be a good thing, since they are said to harbor nasties. But I have never had trouble, and mine is scratched, too. As long as the plastic is not brittle, I see no reason not to keep using it.

I'd suggest a Rubbermaid BRUTE trash container, available in gray at Home Depot for a reasonable price. You can get a 20-gallon, and make anything from 5 to almost 20 gallons of wine in it. If you prefer white, it is available from H-D online but there will be shipping involved.

BTW, the 5-gallon paint buckets at H-D are food safe, too.

I have the standard 6.5 white fermenting bucket. My LHBS sells them with the top for $17

However I live 2 min from Home Depot and already have a bout a dozen of them around the house ( for water for the kids outdoors, for mixing chemicals for the pool, I have 2 which are growing potatoes, I have 1 to catch water when my furnance pump breaks, etc....)

20 gallons is just way too much!!!

But thank you for enabling me.
a Homer bucket it will be. This way I dont have to tell my wife what I am doing with it!!!!

 

[cmason1957]

I have two of those trash cans from Home Depot, one a 32 gallon one that I use for 200 lbs of fruit or more, the other is a 20 gallon one that I use for smaller things, like the 100 lbs of blackberry/blueberry we did. I also use the normal sized fermenting buckets for kits, skeeter pee, dragons blood, etc. Oh wait, the dragons blood is in a 10 gallon bucket I paid way more than I should have at the LHBS. We also have used the big see through storage containers, in the past. They are food safe as well.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Elmer,, bite the bullet....Get you one of the clear glass food storage containers..there very strong, air tight with a lid, and you can drill a hole for a bung and airlock....
I just bought a walk in cooler, 12 x 10 x 8...Im scared of a hurricane.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I have also used a huge ice chest as a primary, by cutting out the top for air....drain valve worked good also, when i had to transfer to secondary.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Keep them out of direct sun light, the UV will tear them up.

 

[Elmer]

during one of my many trips to home Depot last week I picked up a white 2.5 gallon bucket and a lid, for a total of less than $5.

I then notified my LHBS about this, because he had been looking to stock small buckets.

Once I got home I immediately started an 1.5 gallon batch of apple.
I am going to use the small bucket for specialty stuff and the large bucket for kits and DB!

Thanks for the help!

 

[jamesngalveston]

what is LHBS, and you can find all the plain white buckets in the world, from 1 pint to 10 gallons....ahhh i get it, local home brew store...duhhhh

 

[Elmer]

what is LHBS, and you can find all the plain white buckets in the world, from 1 pint to 10 gallons....ahhh i get it, local home brew store...duhhhh

I have to look up the acronym almost every time I use it. I always invert the letters and just got tire of typing "local wine store".

 

[reefman]

So are the "orange" Home Depot buckets food safe? How many gallons are they?
I never really even considered them until this thread popped up.

 

[Elmer]

So are the "orange" Home Depot buckets food safe? How many gallons are they?
I never really even considered them until this thread popped up.

I believe they are 5 gallon bucket and are food safe.
The bucket have HDPE 2 on them.
Thier web site indicated they are food safe.

I am not using the "homer" bucket. But a white paint buckets.
They have a bunch of buckets in the paint aisle.

I also picked up a clear 1 gallon measuring bucket meant for paint, but it is food safe and I use for water. (this was I dont have to keep stealing my wife's pampered chef glass measuring jugs!)

 

[reefman]

I just did a little research, and in addition to HDPE2 as Elmer mentions, there are other food grade buckets.
Here's a link to a short article I found on the net.

http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Food-Grade-Buckets

It has to be true, I saw it on the internet.....

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

The buckets I get at the store from the suppliers for my wine supplies are all #2.

 

[Runningwolf]

However I live 2 min from Home Depot and already have a bout a dozen of them around the house But thank you for enabling me. a Homer bucket it will be.

DON'T USE A HOMER BUCKET....I know you corrected yourself but just want to mention it again. I use mostly the white primary pails you buy at your supply house but I also have 3-4 different sizes of the grey brute cans from the smallest to the largest and have used them all.

 

[Elmer]

DON'T USE A HOMER BUCKET....I know you corrected yourself but just want to mention it again. I use mostly the white primary pails you buy at your supply house but I also have 3-4 different sizes of the grey brute cans from the smallest to the largest and have used them all.

I use the white HDPE #2 buckets I find in the paint section.Or the fermenting bucket from my LHBS

But why should we not use a Home bucket?