Water Cooler Bottles?

[jbowers]

Hey guys,

I was at 7-11 filling up with some petrol when I saw something that gave me an idea. Would there be any issue with using one of those water cooler type plastic bottles, 15-20 litres, as a fermenter?

Cheers,
James

 

[Supra-Jim]

No real problem to ferment in, however they do present a few impracticalites:

1. No tap or provision for a tap, so you will need to rack your beer out. No big issue, but it is a little extra work/effort
2. Internal geometry could be a bit of a prick when it comes to cleaning. Small neck hole makes it difficult to get anything in there, plus the moulded hollow handle would be hardto clean well.

Cheers SJ

 

[Pennywise]

I wouldn't think so, seeings as though it has food stuffs in it to start with, I thought of that a while ago whilst filling up my water bottle at work. But SWMBO would kill me if I brought another fermenter home.

 

[jbirbeck]

a fine idea. Would be a plastic version of the glass carboys. Get a carboy cleaning brush and cleaning should be easy enough. Bit like a better bottle...

 

[jbowers]

Yeah I thought about the handle issue. Aren't there some that dont have a handle? Or is that my imagination.

It would just be useful as I'm brewing smaller batches at the moment, so losing some headroom would be excellent.

 

[Pennywise]

I wonder how they'd hold up for no-chilling in? Anyone know if it's the same plastic fermenters are made of?

 

[jbowers]

From my limited experience, they feel a lot harder than fermenters/cubes - so squashing the air out and sealing it up wouldnt really be an option.

 

[raven19]

I reckon they would melt if filled with hot wort.

They are a lot more brittle and thinner walls than a cube if they are anything like the ones we use at home for drinking water.

Would not want it melting when filling in the brewing safety boots (i.e. thongs)

edit - it all comes down to the material they are made of, if high quality HDPE then I would say ok, otherwise no way...

 

[Bribie G]

From my limited experience, they feel a lot harder than fermenters/cubes - so squashing the air out and sealing it up wouldnt really be an option.

I get the feeling they are made of polycarbonate, unlike cubes that are High Density Polyethylene. HDPE is basically a very long chain and very tough version of candle wax and is a very pure substance, being just chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. I dunno about Polycarbonate if exposed to boiling liquids.

 

[Pennywise]

From my limited experience, they feel a lot harder than fermenters/cubes - so squashing the air out and sealing it up wouldnt really be an option.

I was thinking more along the lines of just chilling it in a fridge like some do in the fermenter, then pitching as soon as desired temp is reached. I've read a few post on here regarding that with some good results

 

[shmick]

I get the feeling they are made of polycarbonate, unlike cubes that are High Density Polyethylene. HDPE is basically a very long chain and very tough version of candle wax and is a very pure substance, being just chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. I dunno about Polycarbonate if exposed to boiling liquids.

Polycarbonate is ok up to 140C so should be ok for boiling liquids (within reason).
It makes great HLT sight glasses but can be a little brittle in thin sheets.

HPDE is only rated to 80C however.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Without knowing, I had always told myself that the water bottles were PET. If that were the case, all would be good.

If they are polycarbonates and you have an issue with bisphenol A, you will not wish to use them as the thing that seems to characterise them is their manufacture, detailed ad nauseam here.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'm pretty sure they are PET - at any rate I hope so because I brewed my first dozen batches fermenting in one of them. They work perfectly well.

However - over time and do doubt helped along by cleaning with hot water and nappisan, they became quite brittle and eventually cracked across the base. Took a while though and I think if you kept it to no more than warm water.. that'd probably keep em alive for a bit longer. They are kinda handy for medium small batches. 10-12L works perfectly in them.

 

[Melthar]

The other thing that you would have to be aware of is that they would let in more light than the denser opaque plastic of a standard fermenter, this could impact the hops flavours.

 

[Dacky]

I use those 15 litre bottles as the water in my brew...

 

[white.grant]

I liberated a couple of these on the weekend and was thinking that they may be useful for a lambic. Any thoughts on using these for a longer ferment and the oxygen permeability of the polycarbonate?

cheers

grant

 

[Wonderwoman]

I had a brewer recently tell me that they used water cooler bottles for a long time when they started brewing and it made them very ill because of the plastics leaching into the beer... only anecdotal evidence though.

 

[Wolfy]

Not so sure about using them as a fermenter, but I use one for the hopper and another for the bucket on my grain mill.

 

[yardy]

another use here http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/index....g19715#msg19715


cheers

 

[brendo]

Not so sure about using them as a fermenter, but I use one for the hopper and another for the bucket on my grain mill.

+1 for use as a hopper... capable of holding double batches (and beyond) grists for milling...