Water Jugs?

So, in talking to a friend of mine the other day and talking about how expensive better bottles are ($30 a piece at the LHBS), he asked me, "Why don't you just get one of those 5 gallon water jugs that they put in water coolers?"

I thought about this for a while and couldn't come up with a good answer as to why I hadn't thought of that before. I noticed on one of the ones that I recently picked up, it said that it was only for use with water. Anybody have any experience with these? I'm currently fermenting a Honey Steam Ale in one right now and the exhaust coming off of it smells normal. I'm curious if alcohol could potentially react with the plastic somehow and cause problems, but that doesn't make a lot of sense since 5 and 6 gallon buckets are made out of plastic too.

Thoughts?

They start to crack at the edges. Better bottles last much longer.

This has been HUGELY discussed on here. There were at least 2 threads this week alone. You can find a bunch of the discussions in the similar threads box below. Or all through out here. The bottom line, as long as they have the recycle code on the bottom <2> or <3> they are fine to use. Despite the 10,000 arguments against you might hear. There's also plenty of "arguments" in all the threads for them. It's up to you do decide.

Makes sure to get the Pet water bottles. I also heard the inside is not smooth, so you could have issues bacteria hiding.

hoppymonkey said:

They start to crack at the edges. Better bottles last much longer.

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Really? I've been using 2 of them for over 5 years and they haven't "cracked at the edges" yet.....

After quite a bit of searching I recently (finally) found a 5 gallon water bottle with a #1 recycle code. It cost $11 and came with water. :rockin:

The brand I found was Poland Spring, but make sure to check the recycle code to be sure. Most of the ones you'll find will be #7, which are not good to use for brewing.

onipar said:

After quite a bit of searching a recently (finally) found a 5 gallon water bottle with a #1 recycle code. It cost $11 and came with water. :rockin:

The brand I found was Poland Spring, but make sure to check the recycle code to be sure. Most of the ones you'll find will be #7, which are not good to use for brewing.

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Why is that?

cactussam said:

Why is that?

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#7 can leach BPA's into your wort. #7 plastic is only suitable for water.

http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/number-7-plastic/facts-about-plastic-7/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/22well.html

Ah, I'll have to look into that to see how it looks. If it's got the #7 then I guess I'll be returning those to the grocery store after I'm done with them, lol.

Revvy said:

Really? I've been using 2 of them for over 5 years and they haven't "cracked at the edges" yet.....

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One of the things I liked about the better bottles was the little indention on the bottom. When you wanted to aerate your wort you put a tennis ball in that indention and as you shook and rolled the the bottle it wouldn't stress the edges. This made sense to me. If you don't use this method to aerate I don't know that you will crack the edges.

Revvy said:

Really? I've been using 2 of them for over 5 years and they haven't "cracked at the edges" yet.....

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Mine did after just a few batches. Of course you are a long ways from me. Maybe it was hot time in the garage.

onipar said:

#7 can leach BPA's into your wort. #7 plastic is only suitable for water.

http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/number-7-plastic/facts-about-plastic-7/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/22well.html

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But why only water? Is it due to the Ph of wort? What about say...ciders or wines?

Well, I guess the lucky thing about it is that at least 1 of my bottles is a #1 plastic. I'm guessing (and I'll check to make sure) that the other bottle is the same since it came from the same store and had the same markings on it. Can't be too safe I guess, but I'm glad that the luck of the draw came out in my favor at least

Bottling a fantastic IPA tonight that JUST finished dry hopping. Can't wait for this to be ready! (too bad it won't be drinkable for another 2-3 weeks)

drathbone said:

But why only water? Is it due to the Ph of wort? What about say...ciders or wines?

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I honestly don't know. As far as the chemistry and science behind BPA's and all that, I haven't read into it beyond the very simplest explanations.