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abracadabra · 02-21-2007, 01:13 PM

I may have just violated my buy cheap and buy twice rule again

But last night I found a 5 Gal. Plastic water bottle / carboy at Target the regular price was $12.xx marked down to $9. That's a whole lot cheaper than a better bottle. The recycle # was 7 and the type only read other.

Does anyone know the better bottle # and type?

I really don't know if these will work well as a fermenter or not. But it seemed like a good deal so I decided to get one and post it here. Just in case anyone was interested in getting 1 for themselves or anyone has experience using one.

I'll post my results after I use it if nobody posts that they have tried them.

**the_bird** · 02-21-2007, 01:29 PM

Better Bottles are PET. #7 is not PET, it's "other" plastic, meaning it could be pretty much anything. No assurance at all about O2 permeability, the big issue with these bottles. I would absolutely not use it for secondary fermenation, I would hesitate even using it for primary (I know people have had real problems with their beers using #7 fermenters).

**Bobby_M** · 02-21-2007, 02:11 PM

I have come across water bottles with a #1 PETE before, but it's very rare. It's more expensive and they're now more likely to use recycled plastics which end up being the #7 other.

abracadabra · 02-21-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_bird

(I know people have had real problems with their beers using #7 fermenters).

Good to know Thanks!

Glad I didn't buy 2. I had a feeling something like that might be the case.

The other things I thought I might could do with it were:

Use it to store extra water on brew day so I don't have to run back and forth turning the hose on and off.

Or using it to transport cool wort from the boil pot in the barn to the frementer in the basement.

I also thought if nothing else I could use it to mix and store my sanitation solution for reuse.

**olllllo** · 02-21-2007, 02:52 PM

I've seen someone cut the top off one of those with the handle and use it to sanitize stuff.

abracadabra · 02-21-2007, 02:55 PM

I found this looking at recycling info

Plastic #7: Other
Common uses: certain kinds of food containers and Tupperware. This plastic category, as its name of "other" implies, is any plastic other than the named #1-#6 plastic types. These containers can be any of the several different types of plastic polymers. Recycling centers cannot recycle plastic #7

So I guess I'm back to square 1. Maybe it would, maybe it would not work. Do I feel lucky ? And do I want to gamble with 5 gal. of wort?

Here's what I'm thinking on my next brew. After my initial mash out do a second run like they did in the old days for a weak beer. And try that second run in the water bottle. Between the beer being weak and going light on the hops I should be able to taste anything that's off and not lose much if it's bad.

And I think like the Byrd mentioned use it only as the primary.

Comments?

zoebisch01 · 02-21-2007, 03:07 PM

Imo, it's not worth losing the money and time you invest in a single batch. Better off returning it, I say.

**the_bird** · 02-21-2007, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abracadabra

Here's what I'm thinking on my next brew. After my initial mash out do a second run like they did in the old days for a weak beer. And try that second run in the water bottle. Between the beer being weak and going light on the hops I should be able to taste anything that's off and not lose much if it's bad.

And I think like the Byrd mentioned use it only as the primary.

Comments?

I'd hate to lose a good bitter over this

It's small to use as a primary, anyway (unless you want to start doing 4 gallon batches).

You could always use it to store Star-San, or just return it. Better to get the $9 back now instead of using it on a small beer, having a wasted batch, AND not being able to get your money back.

AdIn · 02-21-2007, 05:44 PM

I use this kind of bottle for bottling. No problem.

IowaStateFan · 02-21-2007, 07:09 PM

Thanks for the post. You've saved me a trip to Target. I saw those advertised and was going to check them out. Personally, I wouldn't use a plastic bottle with a recycle code other than 1. From what I've seen 1 has a good gas barrier, and none of the rest do.