I have a bucket with a spigot on the bottom for emptying. It came with my very first brew equipment kit to be used as a bottling bucket. Since then I’ve acquired two more buckets for fermenting in. There are a few things I’ve learned to make them as successful as possible and get as much life out of them as I can.

Take care of the bucket, take very good care of it. Never use metal utensils, scrubby pads or Chlorine. One scratch in the inside plastic will harbor bacteria that will contaminate the batch and render it undrinkable. Trying to sanitize it with Chlorine or iodine will get those scents soaked up into the plastic. Iodine isn’t so bad, though it might stain the plastic, but the Chlorine can actually contribute off flavors to the brew, be it wine or beer.

That little spigot on the bottom? I clean that EVERY TIME before I use it. My typical method is to soak the entire five gallons in One Step (with other things in there like my auto-siphon, stir spoon, wine thief or whatever else will fit). As I drain the bucket I tip it up on edge, when the level of the santiizer is at the spigot level, I unscrew it, take it apart and soak it in what remains at the bottom. If its particularly nasty I’ll give it a good soft scrubbing with a washcloth to get the goo out of the threads and the like.

Plastic buckets have been very handy as fermenters especially when I do big beers or fruit beers. When I have to add something bulky to the ferment, having a big lid to open makes it much nicer.

Take care of the bucket and it will give me many more good brews.

Cheers!
Tony