Industries · Breweries & Wineries

IBC totes for breweries & wineries.

From brewing liquor and wort to must, CIP chemistry, and adjunct storage, IBC totes give craft producers flexible bulk capacity without a wall of drums. We supply food-grade and reconditioned totes — food-grade for anything that becomes part of the beer or wine, and dedicated industrial totes for cleaning. It's the same discipline as our food & beverage program.

The short answer

Use food-grade or rebottled totes for brewing liquor, wort, and must — anything ingested — and keep separate industrial totes for CIP cleaning chemicals. Sanitize on a clean-in-place cycle between batches and stay within the HDPE bottle's temperature rating on the hot side. One tote replaces about five 55-gallon drums, and buying reconditioned supports your sustainability story.

Est. 2009Circular since day one

275 & 330Gallon totes in stock

~99%Diverted from landfill

48 statesNationwide freight

Answer first

Draw one hard line down the middle of your cellar: product-contact totes and cleaning totes never mix. Food-grade, documented totes handle brewing liquor, wort, and must; dedicated, labeled industrial totes handle caustic and acid CIP solutions. Cross-use is how off-flavors and contamination start — so color-code, label, and keep them apart for life. See the food-grade guide.

In the brewhouse & cellar

Where totes earn their footprint.

Food-grade

Brewing liquor & water

Store and treat brewing water ahead of the mash. Food-grade totes with EPDM gaskets keep your liquor clean and your water chemistry predictable.

Food-grade

Wort & must handling

Move or hold wort and grape must between vessels. Because both are ingested downstream, only food-grade, sanitized totes belong in this role.

Industrial

CIP cleaning chemicals

Batch and store caustic and acid CIP solutions in dedicated industrial totes with chemically compatible fittings — kept permanently out of product contact.

Storage

Grain & adjunct storage

Repurposed totes make tidy bins for base malt, specialty grain, and dry adjuncts — keeping ingredients sealed, stacked, and off the floor.

Blending

Blending & carrying capacity

Buffer capacity for blending, rack-and-return, or holding finished product before packaging — 275 or 330 gallons at a time.

Footprint

Drum-slaying compact

One tote on a 40" × 48" pallet does the work of about five 55-gallon drums, reclaiming precious floor space in a small facility.

Sanitation & temperature

Clean cycles, honest heat limits.

Two things keep totes safe in a brewery or winery: a disciplined cleaning cycle and respect for the HDPE bottle's temperature rating.

Wash — warm caustic or a dedicated brewery cleaner to lift soils and biofilm from the bottle, valve, and gasket.
Rinse — a thorough rinse to clear cleaner residue before sanitizing.
Sanitize — a no-rinse acid or approved sanitizer immediately before refilling with product.
Temperature — keep hot brewing liquor and cleaning solutions within the bottle's rating; don't stack totes holding warm liquid.
Materials — confirm EPDM or Viton gaskets tolerate your cleaning chemistry and temperatures.

Answer first

Craft producers live and die by their story, and reused totes are a genuine chapter of it. Choosing reconditioned totes keeps HDPE and steel in service and diverts roughly 99% of each unit from landfill — the same circular thinking behind spent-grain donation and water reclaim. When a bottle finally retires, our recycling line recovers it. Tell that story on your sustainability page.

Food & beverage

The broader food-grade program behind our brewery and winery totes — juice, oils, sweeteners, and more.

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Shop

Reconditioned totes

Hot-washed, pressure-tested, documented food-grade totes at a fraction of new cost.

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Impact

Sustainability

How reusing totes cuts carbon and keeps HDPE and steel out of the landfill.

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Questions

Brewery & winery IBC tote FAQ.

All industries →

Can I use IBC totes for brewing water and wort?

Yes — but use food-grade or rebottled totes for anything that becomes part of the beer or wine. Brewing liquor (treated brewing water), wort, and must are all ingested downstream, so they require a documented food-grade bottle with food-safe EPDM gaskets. Cleaning chemicals and non-ingested duties can use dedicated industrial totes kept strictly separate.

Are IBC totes food safe for a brewery or winery?

Only food-grade or rebottled totes are. A food-grade tote has an FDA-compliant HDPE bottle that has only ever held food-safe contents and ships with prior-contents documentation. Reserve any industrial tote that held a CIP chemical for that role permanently and never rotate it back into product contact.

How do I sanitize an IBC tote between batches?

Run your standard CIP-style cycle: a warm caustic or dedicated brewery cleaner wash to remove soils, a thorough rinse, then a no-rinse acid or approved sanitizer before refilling. Confirm gasket and valve materials tolerate your cleaning chemistry and temperatures. Our reconditioning line also triple-rinses, hot-washes, and pressure-tests totes before they enter food service.

Can IBC totes handle hot liquid like brewing water?

HDPE totes have real temperature limits — sustained heat softens the bottle and can distort it under load. Keep hot brewing liquor and cleaning solutions within the tote's rated temperature, avoid stacking totes holding warm liquid, and let contents cool where possible. For hot-side work, confirm ratings before you fill.

Do totes make sense for a small craft brewery or winery?

Very much so. One 275 or 330 gallon tote replaces roughly five 55-gallon drums, cutting handling and clutter in a tight cellar. Buying reconditioned totes keeps costs down and diverts HDPE and steel from landfill — a natural fit for a craft producer's sustainability story.

Let's talk totes

Kitting out a brewhouse or cellar?

Send your quantity, size, and whether it's product-contact or cleaning duty. We reply by email within one business day with the right food-grade or industrial totes.