Can bottling buckets handle boiling water?

[bigben]

I need to know if the standard bottling buckets can handle boiling water. I ask this because I can't spend any more money on equipment right now and I need a HLT.

I batch sparge and use a 5 gallon round cooler for MLT...so I was thinking....

I will heat up my mash water in my keggle at the start of my brew day. When I mash, I will use a pitcher to transfer water 64oz at a time to the MLT for the mash....wait about 45 minutes. Then I will heat up all my sparge water in the keggle to near boiling. Then I will use the pitcher to transfer the sparge water to my bottling bucket/HLT. Then I can drain my first runnings into the keggle and transfer hot water from the bottling bucket(using the spigot or pitcher) to the MLT for a sparge.

I figure I need to heat the sparge water to near boiling because the bottling bucket isn't insulated...so if I insulate it, it won't have to be as hot...but like I said...no more equipment...yea not even a few dollars worth.

Notes: I don't have a pump and I don't have a spigot on my keggle, and I repeat...no more equipment

 

[Bobby_M]

Well, getting a spigot on your keggle is kinda important (I think).

I've been using HDPE buckets to transfer hot water and wort between the keggle and MLT without any problem, but I try not to exceed 180F because it gets really soft after that. I believe it has an ultimate failure temp of 220F where the weight of the water would just bow out the bottom permanently. I've seen no data that suggests its max "food grade" temp whereby nothing is harmfully leached out.


The safer way is to collect your runnings in a spare bucket and continue using the keggle as your HLT until the sparge is over. THEN transfer the wort into the kettle. You'll only lose 15 minutes.

 

[bigben]

Yea, I guess that is a safer way of doing it.

So is hot side aeration really a myth? That's the main reason I was thinking of doing it this way...so I dont have to dump my first/second runnings into the keggle.

 

[Drunkensatyr]

What I do is drain the MLT into a bucket since it is only 152-155 then dump the sparge water in to the MLT. Transfer the wort to kettle and away you go!

 

[cheezydemon]

I have mashed in my bottling bucket several times(ale pail with a spigot)

I had researched it and it's supposed to be safe well beyond boiling temps. My brews have tasted great too, thank GOD.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, I mentioned I've used them for 180ish temps, I just wouldn't go boiling because it gets really soft.

I've sloshed the crap out of my hot wort prior to boiling without getting any cardboard flavors. I think it matter much more AFTER the boil.

 

[bigben]

Yea, I thought I even read that people use them as boil kettles using eletric heating elements. I wasn't sure if they were the same exact type of buckets tho.