Trying to get buddies into brewing need help with cheap fermenters

[Professional beer tester]

If your university has any of those plastic water-cooler bottles, a bung and airlock works great too.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Also another good idea. Man thanks everybody by the time I'm done with this the dorms will be full of random vessels all bubbling away hahah!

Canuck

 

[Tex083]

Bottles can get expensive, if you want to brake up the costs, make the work and start the ferment, drink 2 slabs of VB/coopers long necks and fill them with your uni-made beer!
That way you get to drink the brought beer while you wait for ferment to finish.

 

[slash22000]

Best bottles are those Grolsch sorts that have a swing top. You don't have to **** around buying a capper and caps, you just flick the lid on.

 

[Anthony.R.M]

I know it's been previously mentioned but eBay is the place to be. I grabbed a steal with everything i needed including three fementors for under $100. There are heaps listed everyday from people who never started or just don't have time anymore.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Bottles can get expensive, if you want to brake up the costs, make the work and start the ferment, drink 2 slabs of VB/coopers long necks and fill them with your uni-made beer!
That way you get to drink the brought beer while you wait for ferment to finish.

Yah bottles seem to be the sticking point that I can't seem to get around. Buying slabs then filling them is a good idea except then I'd have to incorporate a capper of some sort into my calculations. Also considering these guys will have never brewed in their lives I dunno how comfy I feel with them priming in glass. I'd hate to have bottle bombs wreak havoc all over the campus

Best bottles are those Grolsch sorts that have a swing top. You don't have to **** around buying a capper and caps, you just flick the lid on.

Grolsh bottles are also awesome but I'd still worry about bottle bombs. I think the best way to minimise on costs would be for them to prime and condition in 1.5 litre cola bottles. They can re-use the lids and I don't think they'll have any issues finishing the bottles in one sitting hahaha we are uni students by the way.

Canuck

 

[Edak]

If your university has any of those plastic water-cooler bottles, a bung and airlock works great too.

I love that idea!

 

[jollster101]

Just cover any opening with sanitised cling wrap and get a good size rubber o-ring around the outside to keep it on. It means you can see inside as well, if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Stupid question but how does one sanitise cling wrap?

 

[JDW81]

You don't. Take it off the roll, put in on your fermenter and strap it down how ever you like. It is extruded onto the role at pretty substantial temperatures, so it is unlikely that you will get an infection.

 

[MartinOC]

wine bottles are best for storage due to light and easy enough to source.

I'd stay WELL clear of wine bottles for beer - they're not designed for carbonated beverages. If you over-do your priming, you're gonna end-up with glass grenades. NOT a good idea at all. Plastic screw-tops (PET) are fine to start-off with, as long as you keep them dark, whilst you collect empty beer bottles & save-up for a capper.

 

[Yob]

Keep an eye on the forum as well, people often 'give away' their bottles when they upgrade to kegs, entire systems come up every so often as well.

ebay fro fermenters? I dunno about that, you dont know how they have been treated etc, rest of the kit, Yep, fermenters? Get brand new HDPE 25l drums from bunnings.

 

[stakka82]

If you're worried about bottle bombs, get a bunch of cardboard boxes to put the bottles in, and keep the boxes in a cupboard.

I only ever had a few grenades over years of bottling, but this approach always minimised damage/harm.

 

[sponge]

Stupid question but how does one sanitise cling wrap?

As JDW said, there's little chance of there being nasties on there as is, but even just as a precaution, I always spray the underside (beer side) with some starsan before use.

Might be overkill, but doesn't hurt for that bit of added security

 

[MelbourneDave]

I'd stay WELL clear of wine bottles for beer - they're not designed for carbonated beverages. If you over-do your priming, you're gonna end-up with glass grenades. NOT a good idea at all. Plastic screw-tops (PET) are fine to start-off with, as long as you keep them dark, whilst you collect empty beer bottles & save-up for a capper.

Any bottle over primed is dangerous. Wine bottles might not be designed for carb but the glass is just as thick as most beer bottles. I used them for a long time without a single bomb. I only recommended it as a free source of 750ml bottles, most people drink beer from stubbies. When I put the call out for wine bottles I had all the free "longnecks" I needed in a couple of weeks. My main problem was some screwtop lids don't reseal well for carbed beer, maybe one in 20 was a dud.

Having said all that, Martin is right that bombs should be a concern for new brewers. Maybe go with PET till they're confident with priming and sanitation.

 

[Mardoo]

I know nothing about using wine bottles for beer so I can't speak to whether or not it is safe (although I myself wouldnt do it). But I work for an online wine seller and I do know a bit about wine bottles. The wall thickness varies greatly. You're safest with champagne bottles, which are rated to at least 4 atmospheres, and very often 6 atmospheres. Of course you'll need to use tirage caps.

For the following reason I wouldn't use wine bottles for bottling beer. If a wine is from a major producer that ships internationally you will generally find a thinner wall thickness on their wines as they can save a LOT of money on shipping costs by doing so. Also Chinese bottles are being used more and more and they have thinner walls for the same reason. We see 12-bottle cases of still wine vary in weight from 14.65 kilos to 20.85 kilos, and the difference is almost entirely bottle weight.

Stick with the champagne bottles if you must bottle in wine bottles. They're made for carbonated beverages. The other ones are too much of a crapshoot IMHO.