Carboy question

Hi, new to the forum but not home brewing. I haven't done this in a few years. Recently I've gotten the itch for some hard cider. Was thinking of doing a 5 gallon batch. I need to purchase all the equipment again to do it. My question is this, I have a 5 gallon plastic water bottle that has had nothing but water in it. You know the ones you see on water coolers? Can I use that as a carboy or should I use a glass one?

Thanks in advance.

If it's HDPE you can use it. If you cannot tell, then I wouldn't. Also, don't put a 5 gallon batch into a 5 gallon carboy. You need headspace (20% is pretty normal) so only put ~4 gallons into it, total. If you go with less than that, have a blow-off tube/assembly either fitted to it, or on standby.

I've noticed very little kreusen with my cider. I do 5 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy and the most I ever see is a small layer of CO2 on top. I used safeale 04 dry yeast.

You could also just buy some one gallon apple juice jugs and add yeast/cinammon sticks/raisins/yeast nutrient to each one gallon jug. Aerate, Top off with a #6 or #6.5 stopper and airlock, and you would likely be good to go. That would also allow you to experiment with different spices in each jug to nail down a recipe that you like (cloves, apple juice concentrate, brown sugar, etc)

Just finished my first cider and it was a big hit around the house. Going to be a staple from now on.

Just a thought, since they are in season now, have you ever thought of just buying gallon glass bottles of cider, pouring out a pint from each bottle, and pitching the yeast straight in?

Had to look up HDPE and according to wikpedia it's not. Ah well. Yeah I've thought about doing one gallon batches only problem is finding the cider in glass bottles. All I've been finding is plastic jugs.

dougdecinces said:

Just a thought, since they are in season now, have you ever thought of just buying gallon glass bottles of cider, pouring out a pint from each bottle, and pitching the yeast straight in?

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+1 to this... it works.

rstanavech said:

Had to look up HDPE and according to wikpedia it's not. Ah well. Yeah I've thought about doing one gallon batches only problem is finding the cider in glass bottles. All I've been finding is plastic jugs.

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If you have an organic grocery near you, give that a shot. Often the organic ciders are in glass jugs. (They're also more likely to be preservative-free, which is a necessity for hardening cider.)

I hear that Whole Foods has one gallon glass jugs. Also gives you a long time inventory of small carboys for future experiments.

I use Carlo Rossi wine bottles (4 Liter), but I hear that some have found 5 Liter bottles in their states.