I just inherited a 50 gal stainless container with a rolling stand and a
nice stainless ball valve at the bottom.
I have in the past made 5 or 6 gal batches of wine or beer and have had
pretty good success. I would like to utilize this vat for something but I
am on a limited budget and not sure what I could make that would be good
but relatively inexpensive. My glass carboy total capacity is about 40
gallons. I live in SE pennsylvania and the apples are in soon but I
understand a mix of varieties are better for wine or hard cider.
Any Suggestions???

If the tank has a floating lid, you may not need to worry about batch (or
budget) size.

Jeff

"Pat Kennedy" > wrote in message
. 196...
>I just inherited a 50 gal stainless container with a rolling stand and a
> nice stainless ball valve at the bottom.
> I have in the past made 5 or 6 gal batches of wine or beer and have had
> pretty good success. I would like to utilize this vat for something but I
> am on a limited budget and not sure what I could make that would be good
> but relatively inexpensive. My glass carboy total capacity is about 40
> gallons. I live in SE pennsylvania and the apples are in soon but I
> understand a mix of varieties are better for wine or hard cider.
> Any Suggestions???

Pat Kennedy > wrote:

> I just inherited a 50 gal stainless container with a rolling stand
> and a nice stainless ball valve at the bottom.

That has to be one big sucker. Can you get it through a door?

> I have in the past made 5 or 6 gal batches of wine or beer and have had
> pretty good success. I would like to utilize this vat for something but I
> am on a limited budget and not sure what I could make that would be good
> but relatively inexpensive. My glass carboy total capacity is about 40
> gallons. I live in SE pennsylvania and the apples are in soon but I
> understand a mix of varieties are better for wine or hard cider.
> Any Suggestions???

In my opinion, your storage capacity should be at least three times your
batch capacity. So you are looking at more carboys for storage, a few
hundred dollars a batch, and low variety in product output.

Unless you have severe emotional ties to this vat, have it appraised, find
a charitable organization that wants it, and take the tax deduction. OR
sell it on ebay.

Dick

(Dick Adams) wrote in
:

> Pat Kennedy > wrote:
>
>> I just inherited a 50 gal stainless container with a rolling stand
>> and a nice stainless ball valve at the bottom.
>
> That has to be one big sucker. Can you get it through a door?
>
>> I have in the past made 5 or 6 gal batches of wine or beer and have
>> had pretty good success. I would like to utilize this vat for
>> something but I am on a limited budget and not sure what I could
>> make that would be good but relatively inexpensive. My glass carboy
>> total capacity is about 40 gallons. I live in SE pennsylvania and
>> the apples are in soon but I understand a mix of varieties are better
>> for wine or hard cider. Any Suggestions???
>
> In my opinion, your storage capacity should be at least three times
> your batch capacity. So you are looking at more carboys for storage,
> a few hundred dollars a batch, and low variety in product output.
>
> Unless you have severe emotional ties to this vat, have it appraised,
> find a charitable organization that wants it, and take the tax
> deduction. OR sell it on ebay.
>
> Dick
>

It is only about 26 inches in diameter.

In article >, Dick Adams
> writes
>
>In my opinion, your storage capacity should be at least three times your
>batch capacity.

I'm a bit puzzled by this statement Dick, could you explain it please.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Alan Gould > wrote:
> Dick Adams > writes

>> In my opinion, your storage capacity should be at least three times
>> your batch capacity.

> I'm a bit puzzled by this statement Dick, could you explain it please.

I arrived at this rule of thumb by considering brewing schedules. If
you brew a 5 gal batch, you need a 5 gal primary, a 5 gal secondary,
and 5 gals of bottles. That's three times. With a conical fermenter,
it's two times.

But if you finish fermenting a second batch before the first batch has
been consumed you need more storage. Brew something that needs to age,
e.g., Barleywine, Lambic, Mead, etc., and you need even more.

Brew a beer a week you'll approach 5 times. A friend got out of the
homebrew game and had 540 pint bottles, i.e., 70 gallons!!


Dick

In article >, Dick Adams
> writes
>Alan Gould > wrote:
>> Dick Adams > writes
>
>>> In my opinion, your storage capacity should be at least three times
>>> your batch capacity.
>
>> I'm a bit puzzled by this statement Dick, could you explain it please.
>
>I arrived at this rule of thumb by considering brewing schedules. If
>you brew a 5 gal batch, you need a 5 gal primary, a 5 gal secondary,
>and 5 gals of bottles. That's three times. With a conical fermenter,
>it's two times.
>
>But if you finish fermenting a second batch before the first batch has
>been consumed you need more storage. Brew something that needs to age,
>e.g., Barleywine, Lambic, Mead, etc., and you need even more.
>
>Brew a beer a week you'll approach 5 times. A friend got out of the
>homebrew game and had 540 pint bottles, i.e., 70 gallons!!
>
Thanks, I can see your point. I hadn't thought of storage in that sense.

--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.