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wimbymoonshine

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Hi all,

Im sick of paying 17 for a 5gal fermenter (rip off in my opinion). So i found another option....

Any food grade plastic container will do the job, so i was walking past my local curry house after having a few at the local and noticed these big black handled barrels, labeled 'Mango chutney'. They were empty and being thrown out, so i fleeced em!

Ever since i've been on the lookout for where to find free fementers...... SOOOOO many places! the best I found are (and places if your are in London):

1- Indian restaurants - old mango chutney bins (best one is the Bombay bicylce on kingston rd, wimbledon)

2 - Greek restaurants - old olive bins and fetta buckets (the fetta buckets are smaller than 5 gal though)

3 - Food markets - especially near the olive and cheese stalls (best is borough market in inner london).

I saw some 220L olive bins at the markets the other day, shame i was with my gf and she wasn't keen on my carrying these bins back on the tube :(

Im peeved i've spent 51 on plastic buckets when they have been asking me to save them from the trash heap!
Anyone else got any places for any free gear?

Cheers :party:
 
:blink:

id rather pay the $10-$15 and get a fresh fermenter thanks anyway
 
Any food grade container with the #2 recyclable symbol is great to use for HBing.

But, depends what has been in it and really for how long too!

I just bought a second fermenter to start bulk priming and racking my brew, cost me $37 complete plus tubing for racking which was another $10.

But felt the customer service could use a great deal of improving!
 
Interestingly I noticed last week that the BBQ chook shop in Penshurst had at least 4 large plastic mayonnaise buckets out the front with a sign saying "Free - please help yourself".

I was walking, and a bit away from home, so didn't grab one, but was left wondering whether you can get the smell of the mayo out of the plastic as I'd like to use that sort of thing to rack some brews and see if it makes much difference to the end products.

Cheerz Wab
 
Yep you can get the smell out. Mayo buckets are great, you should grab them when you see them. :)
 
Have recently added 2 x McDonald's pickle buckets to the brewery. A couple of rinses with water gets the vinegar smell out quite nicely, and they're unbelievably handy to have around.
 
TP: Most catering-size mayo buckets are around 20L.
 
also discussed here

most takeaway food places use commercial sized containers that are good for HBing. Mayo bucket from memory is about 20L.

Ive got 4x25L cubes that held washing detergent. I soaked them in water and vinbager then ran a brew with out of date cans that i got for free through them. they are all good for use now. then again when cheap water cubes come on special its just as cheap to buy them once you take into account time and effort.
 
I was watching a show on Fox last night with that Anthony Bourdaine guy. He was in Korea getting a tour of all the local foods.

They were fermenting fish sauce in Ceramic Vats that they would bury in the ground. The vats looked cool and i instantly thought "can i brew in them?"

Googled it this morning and found nothing on where to find a vat.
 
The 20 litre mayonaise buckets are great. With two buckets, a drill, a tap and some insulation you have a zapap mash/sparge bucket.

If you wanted to, you could convert one into a fermenter that takes about 18 litres of brew, depending on headspace.

They are great for storing grain.

For brewday projects, fill one halfway with napisan and use an elcheapo dustpan brush to clean brewgear. Anything that needs cleaning, drop in the napisan. Fill another with five litres of sanitiser and drop anything in there that needs sanitising. For fermenters, use about 2 litres, slosh everywhere a few times over 10 minutes, then drain the sanitiser back into the bucket. At the end of brew day, chuck the sanitiser.

Not so sure about the pickles buckets and drums, have a few of them and it takes ages to get the aroma out of them. This is with many changes of water. A weak solution of bleach, napisan, bicarb soda or PSR help. Please note, only use one cleaner at a time.
 
I've found that hand cleaner drums require a lot of rinsing, bleach and a week in the sun before they can be considered odour-free. Having said that, 25 litres is a handy size, as I brew 25l batches (mostly).

Detergent drums are worse to rid of odours, and take a lot of washing and time in the sun to clear the smells. :icon_vomit:

Cheers
Les :p
 
I was watching a show on Fox last night with that Anthony Bourdaine guy. He was in Korea getting a tour of all the local foods.

hey i watched that a couple of weeks ago.. the korean chick was really hot and damn she could put away the kim chee!

i go to bunnings for 25 litre water drums ($13) and my taps ($1.5), much cheaper than the $35 and $4 respectively my hb shop has them for. admittedly the proper fermentation drums require no "modification" ie cut a hole for airlock.. but as secondary fermenters or grain storage? not free but pretty good
 
:blink:

id rather pay the $10-$15 and get a fresh fermenter thanks anyway

:blink: from where? Fresh fermenters at any brew shop I've been into start at about $30...
 
3 - Food markets - especially near the olive and cheese stalls (best is borough market in inner london).

Not to hijack the thread... but oh how I miss Borough. One of the best off licenses in London (Utobeer), amazing wild boar sausages right across from it too. Great olives, the juiciest fresh blueberries during season, great bread and even better cider!

Then there is the Market Porter to quench your thirst or for a few scoops. Not to mention the incredible cheeses at Neals Yard Dairy. I remember walking away with 50 quid worth of cheese one day. I still don't know how we managed to eat it all.

Slightly more on topic, mayo buckets are perfect for grain storage or crushing into.
 
:blink: from where? Fresh fermenters at any brew shop I've been into start at about $30...

Aussie disposals have the round one labelled as water drums, or kyak thingoes...

30L ones fer about $16 i think it was, and the 60L ones were $29 or around there...

i dont look for equipment in HBS, as thye buy from other shops and resell it as specialized equipment.
 
:blink: from where? Fresh fermenters at any brew shop I've been into start at about $30...

Sammus your brewshop is a ripoff! The 60L ones are pricey no matter where, but the smaller 25-30L ones are available for easily under $25.
 
Not to hijack the thread... but oh how I miss Borough. One of the best off licenses in London (Utobeer), amazing wild boar sausages right across from it too. Great olives, the juiciest fresh blueberries during season, great bread and even better cider!

Then there is the Market Porter to quench your thirst or for a few scoops. Not to mention the incredible cheeses at Neals Yard Dairy. I remember walking away with 50 quid worth of cheese one day. I still don't know how we managed to eat it all.

Slightly more on topic, mayo buckets are perfect for grain storage or crushing into.

Oh yeah! Thats it, im going by myself to have a few wild boar sausages, down a few pints of Timothy Taylors from Utobeer, then fleece the olive drums from the market and cheese buckets from neals!

Olive and cheese drums are quite good as they are filled with water and the product so dont have such a pungent smell. Im gonna go a 'fruit cider' in the mango chutney ones keep with the existing aroma's.... hopefully the cider will have a good nose, sublte mango wiffs!

But seriously, whats the best way to rid the smells?

:party:
 
Sammus your brewshop is a ripoff! The 60L ones are pricey no matter where, but the smaller 25-30L ones are available for easily under $25.

To be fair actually I don't know the 30l prices at mhb which is my current hbs. But before i knew about that place I'd bought fermenters from two others which i guess were rip offs - if its normal to get a 30L brewcraft fermenter with tap, sediment reducer, airlock and grommet easily for under $25
 
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