Primary fermenter for 1 gallon batches?

[Killa J]

I want to try out a few random wines, but I don’t want to make 5/6 gallons of it until I know how it will turn out.

What do you use for fermenting 1 gallon batches? My local store has 1 gallon glass jugs, but I’d want something a little bigger in case of foaming. I plan on using the 1 gallon jugs as secondary and for storage.

Rubbermaid has 8 qt buckets available that only cost $5. The description says they are BPA free, food safe polyethylene. It doesn’t specify HDPE or LDPE, but the temp range is -20 to 212F, so I think it’s HDPE. I’m thinking this is my best bet, but I wanted to know if there’s something better out there that isn’t expensive.

 

[wpt-me]

I bought a 2 gal. fermenter at my local supply store a few years ago..
I have read some vintners using icecream and frosting buckets.

Bill

 

[salcoco]

I bought 2 gallon bucket from either Northern Brewer or Midwest Supplies they also offer a big bubbler with a widemouth glass carboy fits about 1.2 gallons.

 

[meadmaker1]

My daughter worked at dairy Queen. They throw away 2 and 3 gallon topping buckets regularly
I like the strawberry buckets cuz they smell good.

 

[Barb Minette]

I picked up a few of them from Home Depot, in the paint department, they were like 3$ I think, really cheap either way. They are food grade.

 

[Killa J]

I picked up a few of them from Home Depot, in the paint department, they were like 3$ I think, really cheap either way. They are food grade.

They were all out when I went unfortunately. I went to Rubbermaid’s commercial website and it says HDPE. So it’s a 2 gallon food grade HDPE bucket for $5. Not terrible. I ordered a few on Amazon with something else I was ordering.

 

[wildhair]

I got mine from the bakery dept. at my local Piggly Wiggly - 3+ gal frosting buckets. Cost $2 each with a lid.

 

[Donatelo]

Wal Mart sells water bottles in 1, 3, and 5-gallon sizes. Look at the water refilling station . They are food grade, clear and have lids. I use the 3 gallon size all the time.

 

[Trick]

Wal Mart sells water bottles in 1, 3, and 5-gallon sizes. Look at the water refilling station . They are food grade, clear and have lids. I use the 3 gallon size all the time.

I got a 2 gal glass jar from Walmart for kombocha. That should work for 1 gal wine batch. You can even fit in a lot of fruit. There are quite a few two gal drink dispense jars to choose from. Most have a spigot which can be very handy for racking.

 

[RonObvious]

Walmart carries a 2 gallon glass crock that only costs a few bucks and works perfectly for me.