I am an using plastic buckets as my primary fermenters. My question is how long are they good for. I am thorough in cleaning and sanitizing them. I figured that they were good for a long time until someone told me that I shouldn’t do too many batches in the same bucket. Only being about 5 batches into my homebrew career I think I have plenty of time left. I usually soak the bucket with pbw after I empty it and starsan it before I fill it back up.
Anyone have any advice. Let me know
Clean your buckets with a pbw soak, and no scrubbing - a gentle wipe with a soft cloth is needed if the pbw soak doesn’t remove everything. The buckets will last a long time - just don’t gouge 'em with scratchy stuff.
I’ve used the same bucket for three plus years. Not all batches have been in it, but I imagine more than 25. Just make sure it’s cleaned and sanitized well and relatively free of scratches.
A bucket can last you a long time so long as you keep it free of scratches. Even so, the bottom of the buket, where it is connected to the underside, that can harbor bacteria.
I would recommend just getting a Better Bottle. They’re about $28 and will last a good long time so long as you stick with your PBW / StarSan regamine. Definitely never touch them with anything that can scratch. Even your finger nails can scratch.
Hard to judge them by the number of batches, but I use them until I feel they need to be replaced. By then they have had many batches ran through them. Take good care of them and they will last quite a while. They also get replaced if I have an infected batch in one.
depends how much I use it, if it is a heavy brew year I will replace them yearly since they are cheap. If I dont use it that much it will go more. It is Very hard to see scratches in a bucket anyways.
I retire them to my sour beer fermentations after I am done with clean beers
I have some that are several years old.
