I have been away from the forum entirely now for years. I used to be quite a lurker as I gathered up all the information I could about this amazing hobby that sometimes seems more than just a hobby. Recently I began lurking again, and so I thought I would just type up a post. It seems not much has changed, with a constant influx of newbies needing questions answered, contrasted with the handful of knowledgeable brew-masters ready and willing to help. Thank you to the Masters!!! Dragging us all along after all these years. I brewed my first few batches before the age of the internet, dropped a full and slippery carboy between my legs with flip flops on, and cut my achilles tendon. I took 15 years off and came back to find a vast array of knowledge at my fingertips thanks to forums like this. One thing that hasn’t changed is the stress that new brewers have over the small stuff. This is totally natural. Just as Papazian said all those years ago though, relax and have a home brew! I have my own saying for this, “bro…I brew in TRASH CANS!” I can fit a 20 and 32 gallon brute brand trash can in my large chest freezer and knock out a 40-45 gallon batch between the two. Follow the basic rules of sanitation, have a solid recipe, keep your yeast happy and pitched in large amounts, watch your temps, and the beer makes itself. Beer is so much more forgiving than we sometimes give it credit for. I recently scored a 17 gallon conical with all the bells and whistles and fermented a batch in it. I honestly don’t think its going to be any better beer than what came out of my trash cans. My favorite things about brewing are the myriad of ways to skin a cat (aka, brew beer), mixed with all of the things that you can build yourself instead of buying new, if you just search for it and give it a try. So to the new guys worried about thier airlock bubbling, or oxidation during transfer, or all the other stuff there is to freak out about, I say…bro…I brew in trash cans.
Well then, welcome back! That has got to be one big a** freezer! I started with Carlie P. and do like to look back at his book, relax and have a home brew! Sneezles61
Trash cans…that’s…awesome!
Maybe not made of food grade plastic though???
Hah! Well said my man
I get the underlying message but wouldn’t the trash can take on odors and flavors that could transfer to the next brew. I am fairly new to home brewing and this is interesting to me. I have looked at non conventional products to use and have been dissuaded due to the stress on sanitation. From what I have gathered so far is that stainless steel is the best you can buy and behind that is glass and behind that is plastic but it has to be food grade.
Is this something that is personal preference or just all around safer to brew with “brew ware”?
I believe Rubbermaid Brute cans are food grade. Don’t see how the lids would seal completely but buckets don’t always either.
I do like jon_h’s attitude though. Sometimes we worry too much about something not as complicated as we are making it. I also started out with Charlie P’s book.
Yep, I stand corrected:
“Meets NSF 2, 21 approval and USDA meat and poultry group listed,
ensuring regulatory compliance for food storage and clean ability”
Brew on trash can man!
Yes, the brute brand trash cans are food grade of course. I have never had any issues with flavor transfer from one batch to another. I would not recommend fermenting in this style unless said trash can is in a chest freezer. With a large pitch the entire chest freezer is usually fully blanketed in co2 within 24 hrs, which basically turns it into a death trap for anything that might get in there from that point forward. Open the lid and the blanket just stays put. This would not be the case with a standup freezer. Hundreds of batches and thousands of gallons later and I have only ever lost one batch to infection, and that’s probably because I got lazy and left it in the fermenter for too long. My practice is never to leave it in the primary for more than 3 weeks total, as well as getting it out quickly once I have crash cooled it. Crash cooling beer in my experience tends to knock most of the co2 right out of suspension, at which point I have lost the security blanket that I rely on in order to brew in this fashion. No doubt that it would be nice to ferment in something with a sealed top, but the options for such large batches are really expensive. The trash cans set me back $45 and they are ridiculously easy to clean post-ferment.
Likely no moreso than the buckets that many of us use.
I used to use trash cans for fermenting wine like 20 years ago. Would add fruit, sugar, water, yeast, and other ingredients, put on the lid and stir it 4-5 times a day for a week or so. Then transfer to plastic buckets for 2ndary. Never lost a batch to infection, which was amazing because I had hordes of fruit flies in the house while fermenting.
I have some plastic 5 gallon drinking water jugs from Wal-Mart. Im thinking of using them for fermentors. Youve inspired me
We need some pics of the set up!
I will try and get some pics sometime soon and share it with y’all. Right now I have been pretty enamored with my new 17 gallon conical and the ease of smaller batches.
If they are the water cooler type bottles that essentially replaced what we call carboys, I tried it a long time ago. First batch went well. The second an infection. I believe it was due to the rough finish inside the bottle making it very difficult to properly clean.
If the bottles are smooth inside you might have better luck.
Well they are meant for water but they arent the culligan man type. They have a screw on lid and a handle.
Here is a link
I have a 2 gallon version of this bottle that I use for starters. Been meaning to get a second. Thanks for the reminder! 
Might work. The ones I tried were from a big box store and more rectangular. The cleaners and sanitizers are also better these days then back then. If they have a deposit to return them they must have to be sanitary to be filled and resold.
So if you brew in trash cans, what the hell does your boil setup look like??!!
Should be find. Some people eat out the trashcan
I remember, as a very small boy, my father used to brew beer and wine in a trash barrel… He called the beer “sudz”… He didn’t even use a cover… Just a towel to cover. If I’m not mistaken, I seem to recall a cat or two falling in on occasion… HA!
