Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi Guys and gals, after going over quite a few "large fermenter" posts I feel comfortable that this is a goer but would appreciate the once over from the wise and experienced just to confirm.

About 5 years ago I bought 2 of the garbage bins shown below from Bunnings at $8 each - I was going to convert them into a tumbling composter but ended up using them to store scrap wood offcuts.






As can be seen in the photo the plastic is hdpe 2

The lid clips on but I am not sure about the seal as it is clipped in just 2 places (see image) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on whether, or how, to improve the seal.

I will fit a maze HI-FLO thread tap high enough to clear the trub.

I have used pink powder to cleanse and sanitise the bin which was pretty clean anyway.

Any thoughts, warnings, well wishes, or exclamations of envy, will be deeply appreciated.

(Dimensions: ~600mm diameter, ~800 high)

Niiiice. If you're doing large washes and you'll do them within a coupla weeks of fermenting out (and you dont disturb it in the meantime) you dont really need a seal. Mines the same size barrel (volume wise olive barrel) and has a seal but I never use it. I just screw the lid shut and then back it off half a turn so the gas can get out.
If you still want a seal a very thin and CAREFULLY and EVENLY applied bead of silicone sealant to the rim of the barrel should be able to make a half decent seal when dried. However it wont be perfect unless you can clamp the lid somehow around the outside. Then you'd need an airlock.

G-day mate,I have used glad-wrap over the top of fermenters secured with a elastic band or two,with a couple of pin holes to let out gas,also leave the hydrometer inside ,with the clear top you can keep an eye on ya fermentation and see your hydrometer reading without disturbing the cover .cheers hillzabilly

warramungas wrote:Niiiice. If you're doing large washes and you'll do them within a coupla weeks of fermenting out (and you dont disturb it in the meantime) you dont really need a seal. Mines the same size barrel (volume wise olive barrel) and has a seal but I never use it. I just screw the lid shut and then back it off half a turn so the gas can get out.
If you still want a seal a very thin and CAREFULLY and EVENLY applied bead of silicone sealant to the rim of the barrel should be able to make a half decent seal when dried. However it wont be perfect unless you can clamp the lid somehow around the outside. Then you'd need an airlock.

Yep, I like an airlock as it gives me a good idea of a) how it's going and b) when it's likely to have finished.

I like the idea of a silicon bead, like all good ideas, I can't understand why I didn't think of it myself :roll:

I am thinking if I can get a good think bead around the rim (of either lid or bin, it doesn't matter) if I can make the other surface not stick to the silicon (vaseline? wd40?) then I could press the lid on to mould a very good sealing surface that would only need some weight on the lid to keep it sealed - the lid has 2 clamps that may mean I don't need the weights even.

OTOH maybe weights on the lid would be good enough anyway (without silicon) - I think we are really only trying to keep fruit flies etc out aren't we? - the positive pressure from within the bin should keep any airborne dooby-twits out (oh I just realised that the lid may not provide a positive pressure - I think I need some way of testing that).

hillzabilly wrote:G-day mate,I have used glad-wrap over the top of fermenters secured with a elastic band or two,with a couple of pin holes to let out gas,also leave the hydrometer inside ,with the clear top you can keep an eye on ya fermentation and see your hydrometer reading without disturbing the cover .cheers hillzabilly

I have used that method in the past (for beer) and it works fine, I have considered that BUT for this fermenter it would need to be ~700 mm wide (not sure about 2 or more strips?) - that probably exists somewhere but I am in a rural environment so limited in options. I DO like the idea of leaving the hydrometer inside though.


Thanks guys - great food for thought.

:text-thankyoublue:

HDPE (high density polyethylene), same material as your kitchen chopping boards are made from. Not much will adhere to it easily or long term.

That said, you can try the silicone but another option would be to look at the range of adhesive backed rubber door sealing strips at Bunnings.

HiString wrote:HDPE (high density polyethylene), same material as your kitchen chopping boards are made from. Not much will adhere to it easily or long term.

That said, you can try the silicone but another option would be to look at the range of adhesive backed rubber door sealing strips at Bunnings.

Good point, I use HDPE as a glide on my table saw fence for that very reason.

To be honest I don't think I will need a seal, the 2 clips on the lid hold it down pretty well and if it lifts on the edge away from the clips I can put weights on it.

When I fit the tap I will see if it can hold any sort of pressure as is.

I do have some weather strip I could try but I was worried about it holding contaminants as it's foam rubber.

A proper rubber seal would be a better option.

I believe the stuff the o-ring like seals on some fermenters (screw type lids) is available in long lengths that you cut to size and then adhere the ends together - I haven't seen it on any of my travels but I will investigate it further - if any one knows what that is called it would be a big help.

Ive used 60L storage tubs before, for vodka and whisky. Had no bad taste and im still here. I started using glad wrap over top but recently just used the lid that came with it. found it worked fine and had no infections and i kept checking it also. like the ones below


so basically, it was never sealed. You will be fine with the lid it has

WTDist wrote:Ive used 60L storage tubs before, for vodka and whisky. Had no bad taste and im still here. I started using glad wrap over top but recently just used the lid that came with it. found it worked fine and had no infections and i kept checking it also. like the ones below


so basically, it was never sealed. You will be fine with the lid it has

Ha! I have 15 of those exact same tubs - but they are all full! (yes I'm a hoarder :roll: )

I suppose my only real issue with the seal on the lid is that I like to have an airlock so I can monitor the progress.

ive got about just as many ha ha, its why i used them. I have tubs filled with shit i havent used in years :shifty:

I fill the same type of tubs up with citric acid for cleaning my copper too

One thing I have learnt with fermenting is ,an airlock may give you a false idear of where your brew is ,where as the hydrometer will not.When I started brewing I was the same ,I liked to go by the airlock .Now I ferment in 200lt drums ,and makeing mistakes is going to be 6times more costly than the old 30lt ones ,so my advice is if you go big use all the tools available to give yourself the best chance at success,and double your efforts on cleanliness.I am not sure the lid seal is critical but I know the other stuff is.And good ferments are the start of good spirits .cheers hillzabilly ;-)

WTDist wrote:ive got about just as many ha ha, its why i used them. I have tubs filled with shit i havent used in years :shifty:

I fill the same type of tubs up with citric acid for cleaning my copper too

That makes me feel much less "strange" - thanks. ;-)

Now that you mention the copper mine has gone black as the ace of spades after only one (first) run - is that normal? Looks like I'll have to clean after every run. Is citric acid preferable to white vinegar?

BTW, I am just doing a leak test after fitting the tap (it was a pain to stop a dribble resulting in a thread strip but it seems to be all good now) and I was thinking to myself (which I do occasionally) what if I have weakened the structural integrity of this bin? - there's 150 kg of water in there, perhaps I should be doing this outside ha ha.

When I have let it sit for a while, I will open the tap with the lid on - if it is self sealing it should affect the flow rate.

The other thing I forgot to mention was,when you put a standard airlock on a large fermenter what I found was it blew all the liquid out ,as there was 6times the gas going thru it.cheers hillzabilly :angry-banghead:

It sux to walk into your fermenter area and find half the mash on the floor, maybe could make a s bend out of 2" food grade pvc for a 200l fermenter :D

And you may end up with something like this.cheers hillzabilly

hillzabilly wrote:One thing I have learnt with fermenting is ,an airlock may give you a false idear of where your brew is ,where as the hydrometer will not.When I started brewing I was the same ,I liked to go by the airlock .Now I ferment in 200lt drums ,and makeing mistakes is going to be 6times more costly than the old 30lt ones ,so my advice is if you go big use all the tools available to give yourself the best chance at success,and double your efforts on cleanliness.I am not sure the lid seal is critical but I know the other stuff is.And good ferments are the start of good spirits .cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Thanks hillzabilly duly noted.

BTW do you just simply scale up a recipe for 200lt ferments? I read somewhere that you can do with less yeast but it was a bit vague on by how much.

hillzabilly wrote:The other thing I forgot to mention was,when you put a standard airlock on a large fermenter what I found was it blew all the liquid out ,as there was 6times the gas going thru it.cheers hillzabilly :angry-banghead:

Ha! I had considered that may happen, if it did my plan was to add another airlock or two, but I suppose the old trick of hose pipe into a jug of water could be scaled up accordingly.

Well I can confirm that the lid is definitely not air tight, so now I have to decide whether to seal it, or run without an airlock.

The glad wrap trick is looking better all the time ;-)

Bundaboy wrote:

hillzabilly wrote:One thing I have learnt with fermenting is ,an airlock may give you a false idear of where your brew is ,where as the hydrometer will not.When I started brewing I was the same ,I liked to go by the airlock .Now I ferment in 200lt drums ,and makeing mistakes is going to be 6times more costly than the old 30lt ones ,so my advice is if you go big use all the tools available to give yourself the best chance at success,and double your efforts on cleanliness.I am not sure the lid seal is critical but I know the other stuff is.And good ferments are the start of good spirits .cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Thanks hillzabilly duly noted.

BTW do you just simply scale up a recipe for 200lt ferments? I read somewhere that you can do with less yeast but it was a bit vague on by how much.

I donot use less myself,the only reason I can think of why one would ,was to slow down fermentation as the more volume you have the more difficult it can be to keep it on temp at the vigarouse early stage were she's generating a lot of warmth,thats when haveing some form of temp control be it fermenting fridge ,air con ,cooling jacket will be a big benefit.And a little more yeast for me makes sure your brew gets going before infections can start ,its the cover of CO2 that helps keep the badies out,and the sooner she starts the sooner she'is done .cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Look for an o-ring splicing kit.
Sick the ends together with super glue.
Loctite 406 i think.

hillzabilly wrote:I donot use less myself,the only reason I can think of why one would ,was to slow down fermentation as the more volume you have the more difficult it can be to keep it on temp at the vigarouse early stage were she's generating a lot of warmth,thats when haveing some form of temp control be it fermenting fridge ,air con ,cooling jacket will be a big benefit.And a little more yeast for me makes sure your brew gets going before infections can start ,its the cover of CO2 that helps keep the badies out,and the sooner she starts the sooner she'is done .cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Great, thanks, that keeps it simple.

I do my fermenting in the laundry where it rarely gets above 22C - the odd times it has been I just push my portable AC in there.

To be honest the problem will be keeping it warm enough but I think that mass of water will stay warm over night well enough.