I am going to try this, unless there is a reason not too.

Get 1 large empty squash container from asda / tesco. The 5 litre ones
with a handles.

Using a wood / spade drill, drill a 25mm hole in the plastic lid. The
bung will airlock will be a snug fit in the screw cap.

There you go a free plastic demi john. Also square for better storage.

On Sep 24, 3:16*am, Space_Cowby > wrote:
> I am going to try this, unless there is a reason not too.
>
> Get 1 large empty squash container from asda / tesco. The 5 litre ones
> with a handles.
>
> Using a wood / spade drill, drill a 25mm hole in the plastic lid. The
> bung will airlock will be a snug fit in the screw cap.
>
> There you go a free plastic demi john. Also square for better storage.

Plastics are generally not suitable for storing wine for more than the
short period of time that it takes to conduct primary alcoholic
fermentation.

Medium-to-long term storage/ageing should be done in glass/barrel/
stainless steel.

Plastics are porous, and they allow too much transfer between the
contents, the container, and the outside environment. Food-grade
plastics are fine for the 1-to-2 weeks it generally takes to undergo
the primary ferment, but beyond this plastic vessels should not be
used as they can contribute to off odours/flavours and spoilage.

I know of a local commercial winemaker that would use large plastic
containers that had been used to ship orange juice from Florida to
here (near Ottawa, ON), and after the primary fermentation he would
transfer the wines to glass/steel/barrel.


Cheers,
Chris.

On Sep 24, 2:33*pm, wrote:
> On Sep 24, 3:16*am, Space_Cowby > wrote:
>
> > I am going to try this, unless there is a reason not too.
>
> > Get 1 large empty squash container from asda / tesco. The 5 litre ones
> > with a handles.
>
> > Using a wood / spade drill, drill a 25mm hole in the plastic lid. The
> > bung will airlock will be a snug fit in the screw cap.
>
> > There you go a free plastic demi john. Also square for better storage.
>
> Plastics are generally not suitable for storing wine for more than the
> short period of time that it takes to conduct primary alcoholic
> fermentation.
>
> Medium-to-long term storage/ageing should be done in glass/barrel/
> stainless steel.
>
> Plastics are porous, and they allow too much transfer between the
> contents, the container, and the outside environment. *Food-grade
> plastics are fine for the 1-to-2 weeks it generally takes to undergo
> the primary ferment, but beyond this plastic vessels should not be
> used as they can contribute to off odours/flavours and spoilage.
>
> I know of a local commercial winemaker that would use large plastic
> containers that had been used to ship orange juice from Florida to
> here (near Ottawa, ON), and after the primary fermentation he would
> transfer the wines to glass/steel/barrel.
>
> Cheers,
> Chris.

I agree about normal plastics such as the 'squash' (cordial) bottles
mentioned above. My point of view does not come from experience but
from a lot of research and anecdotal evidence I have found. However,
using plastic 'Better Bottles' - which are my main secondary
fermenters - I have happily bulked aged for close to 18 months now and
there is no sign of oxidation taking place that I can discern
visually, by smell or by taste. The manufacturers state a negligable
permeability for those particular vessels and at this stage I am
starting to believe them.

Jim

jim c wrote:

>
> I agree about normal plastics such as the 'squash' (cordial) bottles
> mentioned above. My point of view does not come from experience but
> from a lot of research and anecdotal evidence I have found. However,
> using plastic 'Better Bottles' - which are my main secondary
> fermenters - I have happily bulked aged for close to 18 months now and
> there is no sign of oxidation taking place that I can discern
> visually, by smell or by taste. The manufacturers state a negligable
> permeability for those particular vessels and at this stage I am
> starting to believe them.
>
A friend of mine uses old lemonade bottles as wine bottles in the absence of
anything better. They seem ok to me. I'm trying a similar experiment but I
won't be able to report back for about a year, by which time I'll have
probably forgotten all about this.

--
Malc
R1100RS old and tatty

You laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at you because you are all the same

I had the idea becuase our local brew shop actually sells plastic
demijohns and they look exactly the same.

I am confused though about food grade plastic. I may be a little thick
here but if i buy bottles full of juice and then reuse them to ferment
or store wine what is the problem ?

Sorry to be a littl ethink.

On Sep 25, 10:35*pm, Space_Cowby > wrote:
> I had the idea becuase our local brew shop actually sells plastic
> demijohns and they look exactly the same.
>
> I am confused though about food grade plastic. I may be a little thick
> here but if i buy bottles full of juice and then reuse them to ferment
> or store wine what is the problem ?
>
> Sorry to be a littl ethink.

I believe any plastic food container should be food grade. In the UK
containers made of suitable food-grade materials should have a knife
and fork logo embossed on them somewhere, usually on the base. I
don't know about the plastic demijohns your wine shop carries, but
there are lots of different sorts of plastics. The Better Bottle
brand I refer to claims the plastic lets through almost no oxygen
compared to other plastics (I think it is made of P.E.T.E.) -
therefore it is more protective of your fermenting/aging wine than
most plastic containers. Shorter term storage is fine in P.E.T. I
believe. I think other plastics are shunned because they can release
chemicals into the wine, let gases in which spoil the wine or change
the flavours significantly.

I would guess if you plan to drink your wine straight out of the
fermenter or after a few months then you'd probably be fine in any
food grade plastic. If you want to age the wine for more than a few
months I'd invest in some Better Bottles or glassware.

Jim

"Space_Cowby" > wrote in message
...
>I am going to try this, unless there is a reason not too.
>
> Get 1 large empty squash container from asda / tesco. The 5 litre ones
> with a handles.
>
> Using a wood / spade drill, drill a 25mm hole in the plastic lid. The
> bung will airlock will be a snug fit in the screw cap.
>
> There you go a free plastic demi john. Also square for better storage.

Why not just go for the glass demijohns which you know wont give you any
problems? Theyre not hard to find. Second hand shops, ebay - theyre all over
the place.

McK.

Why not just drill a hole a little bit smaller than the airlock - the plastic top grips it and forms a seal - no bung required and a smaller hole is easier to drill.
texteditor

I have some Elderflower champagne that has been sat in 2ltr empty pop bottles for the past 2 years and a variety of other wines stored in empty 5ltr water bottles for just as long,tastes the same to me