Cubes As Fermenters

[under]

I use the aldi version, thats in a white container.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Have found a few litres of a bleach solution - a few shakes over a little while - and the plastic smell is gone

Cheers

 

[zabond]

Napisan "vanish babycare"white jar,no smell & it"ll get the crap/smell outa ya nappy,sorry fermenter like ya wont belive,new cubes-2ltrs hot water-1 scoop napisan-lid on shake the crap out of it -leave 1-2 days shaking when ever ya remember-rinse well-spray with starsan-no more smell or bugs

 

[Eggs]

where did you find the upright rectangular bottles? Ive only seen the usual cube shaped water bottles that dont have flat bottoms or barrel ( traditional fermenter) shaped water bottles bunnings sell.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Doesn't a tall, thin fermenting vessel cause issues with fermentation?

 

[justsomeguy]

I've been using the same jerrycans for my fermeneters for around 12 months now with no issues. THe main reason I got them was that I can squeeze two into a bar fridge for double batches of lagers.

Doesn't a tall, thin fermenting vessel cause issues with fermentation?

In a conical fermenter thats 15 foot tall. The head pressure at the bottom of the fermenter is quite high and supposedly can cause yeast some problems. Given the height of a jerrycan I doubt there would be enough pressure to cause the yeast any problems.

garyd.

 

[Nick JD]

Where did ya get the jerry cans?

 

[mxd]

Where did ya get the jerry cans?

I assume the blue willows from bunnings around $20

 

[Pollux]

Those are Bunnings jerries, ~$18 from memory.

On the topic of nappy soakers.

Coles smart buy is lemon scented, it's in tiny letters on the front.
I use homebrand, can't say I have noticed a scent to it, but I just went and opened a near empty container and had a good sniff, it does have a hint of lemon to it....

 

[Nevalicious]

where did you find the upright rectangular bottles? Ive only seen the usual cube shaped water bottles that dont have flat bottoms or barrel ( traditional fermenter) shaped water bottles bunnings sell.

I got them from Bunnings... Done my first low temp lager in my new (1960) brew fridge. I have to say I didn't think that it would take that long to ferment out, but considering its at 11 odd deg.??!! I used the standard Coopers/LHBS fermenter and I can only fit one in there. This way, I figure I can do double batches of similar styles/ferment temps (ie lager/pilsner) or two ales. Over 40lts of temperature controlled fermented beer in one hit :beerbang:

I assume the blue willows from bunnings around $20

They are the cheaper ones. The blue willow jerry cans were my preference... When I found the aisle that had them (stupid oversized hardware stores!) I found the ones I got (piccy in OP) for $10 bucks! No joke. The willow equivalent was $28 ea. Pffffttt, I dont care who made them. Truth be told they were probably all made in the same place.

Note: They were on sale for $10, however the sale ended before I got them and they scanned at $44 (for two). I explained that they had the tag still in place from the sale a few days b4... Price honoured!! h34r:

Tyler

 

[Pennywise]

On the topic of nappy soakers.

Coles smart buy is lemon scented, it's in tiny letters on the front.
I use homebrand, can't say I have noticed a scent to it, but I just went and opened a near empty container and had a good sniff, it does have a hint of lemon to it....

To be honest I don't think it makes any difference with the coles lemon scented stuff, I've left fermenters soaking in it for days and never noticed anything carrying over to the beer.
For anyone a bit parranoid, this place sells pure SP for about $7 for 400g.

http://www.organicsaustraliaonline.com.au/prod4878.htm

 

[manticle]

I did buy it by mistake and use it a couple of times. A good rinse was enough (although my current sanitation procedure sees a lot of rinsing).

I'd prefer the peace of mind though - I think my unscented brand is a woolworth's brand.

 

[Bigbott]

I use these cubes there 25lts and work quite well !!,
Just drill the hole in the lid for the air lock & off you go,
The good thing about them is after fermitaion you just rinse out
& chuck a power ball tablet from the dishwasher and juck it in with
some hot water & leave for a few days turning upside down every day or so,

There also good when mixing up the goo & LME you have to use a funnel
but thats no big deal put the lid on & shake the **** out of it !! i only
use warm water & soak the goo can & malt can in boiling water for 10 min first.







Cheers Rob.

 

[thesunsettree]

I use these cubes there 25lts and work quite well !!,
Just drill the hole in the lid for the air lock & off you go,
The good thing about them is after fermitaion you just rinse out
& chuck a power ball tablet from the dishwasher and juck it in with
some hot water & leave for a few days turning upside down every day or so,

There also good when mixing up the goo & LME you have to use a funnel
but thats no big deal put the lid on & shake the **** out of it !! i only
use warm water & soak the goo can & malt can in boiling water for 10 min first.


View attachment 36112

there is plenty of blokes on here who advocate clingwrap lids and fu&^ing off screw lids and arilocks. maybe u could cut a bigger hole to make it easier to input wort etc and use the clingwap technique, just for thoughts

cheers
matt




Cheers Rob.

 

[MarkBastard]

So what is the actual draw back to use a jerry can as a fermenter? Other than not having as good access for cleaning obviously.

They seem to have a lot of benefits, easier to carry, can use them as a cube first, can probably just screw the lid on semi-tightly to act as an air lock, can fit two of them in a bar fridge etc etc.

 

[Nevalicious]

I just got my two ales going today (On holidays ) and the only drawback I can find is filling them with wort, although the use of a funnel makes it reasonably simple... The other thing I usually do with normal shaped cylindrical fermenters is to swirl the hot wort in the bottom to dissolve LDME. Unable to do exactly that so I boiled them in my grain, hop mix to dissolve... This takes time due to clumping etc...

As for cleaning, going by what ppl on here have said regarding jerry can cleaning, the use of napisan and water filled to the brim and shaken a bit seems to solve that one. They are now sitting happily side by side in the brew fridge!

Tyler

So what is the actual draw back to use a jerry can as a fermenter? Other than not having as good access for cleaning obviously.

They seem to have a lot of benefits, easier to carry, can use them as a cube first, can probably just screw the lid on semi-tightly to act as an air lock, can fit two of them in a bar fridge etc etc.

 

[manticle]

No major drawback Mark. This has become a reular thing for me. One extra benefit is that you can step up a starter with the exact wort profile if your no chill cube has a tap. Normally I'll start it with a dme 1040 wort (if my brew is significantly different - eg 1062) and slowly introduce the actual wort and step it up that way.

 

[Nodrog]

this certainly looks like the way to go, but how does it go combining 'no chill' with fermenting in the same cube?

I believe 'no chill' in the cube requires all the air to be squeezed out so no oxygenation of hot wort?

To ferment in the same cube will require some head space, so does it need to be a bigger cube than used for no chill, or is it possible to use the same?

When does the cold wort get aerated?

Seamax, how do you get past the above with your standard brew day?

as per post#3

 

[manticle]

I've done it. The cube holds about 23 L so if I fill it to 20 and squeeze the air out that's usually enough headspace depending on the yeast. If it climbs out, I clean it up (or you could drill a hole in your lid and use a blow off tube).

Once the brew is chilled, undo the lid to let oxygen back in, re-tighten and shake to aerate, undo again to add yeast then tighten finger tight and back off.

The only potential issue to keep in mind is that you will get all of your cold break in there.