You only place wine on it's side when you have it in bottles, with corks, that you need to keep wet. Not needed with PET carboys with rubber stoppers. The potential of losing your batch (or a significant portion of it) is simply too high to really consider doing this. Plus, it's 100% unnecessary. Purge the headspace of air/oxygen (you can use CO2) and install a solid stopper if you don't want to have an airlock to check on from time to time.
The number of negative things that can happen from doing this far outweighs any [perceived] positive things. In fact, I can't think of a single (valid) reason to do this.
I agree with this ^^
And I would not trust the caps linked to stay put. They state that they are just pushed on. 5 or 6 gallons of pressure on them for long term????
Name-calling gets deleted. This includes calling ideas stupid. Stop it.
The OP has his reasons to want to do this. Feel free to point out risks, or better yet propose solutions.
You only place wine on it's side when you have it in bottles, with corks, that you need to keep wet. Not needed with PET carboys with rubber stoppers. The potential of losing your batch (or a significant portion of it) is simply too high to really consider doing this. Plus, it's 100% unnecessary. Purge the headspace of air/oxygen (you can use CO2) and install a solid stopper if you don't want to have an airlock to check on from time to time.
The number of negative things that can happen from doing this far outweighs any [perceived] positive things. In fact, I can't think of a single (valid) reason to do this.
I would use the plastic cap that is made for the better bottles. I wanted to be able to stack them using something like this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VFCN18/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
That style cap is routinely used for water bottles stored on their side. So, I think it could work for you, and isn't nearly as bad an idea as others have said.
But, I have seen that style cap dribble a bit of water out of a stored jug. It may not be a perfect seal. There is a risk of failure and you will have to weigh that risk against the benefit of higher density stacking with that style shelf.
For me, there wouldn't be enough benefit since side stacking will only work during aging. I would still need shelving for upright storage during fermentation.
I may order some of those caps now that I know where to get them. I have a bunch of drinking water bottles that I can fill cheaply at Walmart. I just need caps.
Agreed. Water is just about always bulk stored on it's side in these jugs, even in the truck that delivers it. The 3 beside our water cooler at work are in the rack that the OP linked to. From visiting a bottling place, I can attest that the caps just push on there also. The ones that dribble are probably bad places in the neck or didn't get seated all the way.
I see no problem doing this.
Looks like I will have to do some testing of my own. I was really just asking if anyone on here has already done it. I am planning on making a 6 gallon batch of mead every two weeks or so and then bulk aging for nine months to a year. I am going to store the better bottles in a room that has a slanted ceiling so larger racks are out of the question. Thanks for all the input. I will let you know how my test turnout.
Cheers
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