Where to find 1 Gallon Jugs

Hey guys... Is it cheaper to get 5 1 gallon jugs or just a 5 gallon carboy for aging? I have a 6 gallon Carboy that my mead has been sitting in for a month and a half, but Im ready to rack it from the secondary to another vessel for bulk aging...

My local publix has 3 liter glass jugs filled with wine.. but that is pretty expensive as well.

Just trying to figure out how I can get this mead to a spot with minimal air space to bulk age without buying $35 dollars worth of marbles. Anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe its just best to buy a 5 gallon carboy.

Check out your local home brew store. I picked up my 1 gal jugs for ~$5 a pop. I like them because I can do small batches and experiment. I think you can find 5 gal carboys online for around $30, but there is probably a hefty shipping cost. I'd guess you could save a few $ with the 1 gal jugs.

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/One-Gallon-Jug.html

$4.95 plus a little shipping. If you have other stuff might need to order than the shipping charges mean a little less to the bottom line. I just bought 4 of them for cider and mead experiments.

4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs make great fermenters and come with something called 'wine'. There are 1.5 liter versions that are great for making starters in too. Not too expensive.

If you have a glass recycle yard sometimes you can sweet talk the person working there into giving you glass bottles for free. My buddy does it to get wine bottles and gallon jugs he usually brings the girl a bottle of home made wine and she lets him fill his truck with anything he wants. It's worth a try cheers

Your best bet is a 5 gallon carboy, they only run 17.95cnd in my neck of the woods...and you arnt stuck drinking Carlo Rossi.

If you're after the gallon jugs.. try a local church.. communion wine. I purchased 4 for $10 at my LHBS.. Employee there told me they had gotten them from a church.

The juice aisle of your local grocery store. I pick up a gallon of organic apple juice for $8 every few weeks.

p4ttythep3rf3ct said:

The juice aisle of your local grocery store. I pick up a gallon of organic apple juice for $8 every few weeks.

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This is what I use, Whole Apple Juice out of glass containers, 1 gal. Can be found for the least prices around Fall, but I find that the vita cottage/wholefoods type stores the best. Then all you need is a rubber stoper with airlock. Be sure to get the right size of stopper at your brew shop because the size of the opening does change. Then you can just keep them and wash them out. I like to use the dish washer for this. Then sanitize.

Matrix

Thanks for all the tips everyone!! Looks like I have some options.

Believe it or not, Uline.com sells them in packs of four for $4.55 each plus shipping (and they pack it really good too).

http://www.uline.com/Grp_287/Jars-Jugs-and-Bottles

Dang...shipping raises it to $8 each for me. Oh well, I'll just keeping buying Apple juice. Great find though!

Yeah, glass is expensive to ship. That is where I got mine before I found them cheaper. But still not a terrible deal for someone not wanting to leave their house...lol

Check craigslist if it exists in your area. I always search for 'jug, gallon, wine, beer, homebrew'. They tend to go for $1-2 each in my area, if not free.

hard to find here.but did find a bunch at Whole Foods for 5.99 with the juice

My local bottle recycling center has them, last one I picked up for 0.50$

Ditto to the recycling center. My local sets the 1 gallon glass jugs and grolsh bottles aside and for their forethought they get 25c per bottle.

Like others I buy the cider jugs. Another source are vineyards that are a wedding venue. They serve lots of wine and not just their own. I have one I buy them at for $1 each. Some times they have an unusual shaped one that creates comments from visitors to my fermenting room.

Retire2016 said:

4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs make great fermenters and come with something called 'wine'. There are 1.5 liter versions that are great for making starters in too. Not too expensive.

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Paisano goes down well.

I like to get the Organic Apple Juice at Whole Foods.. $8 bucks and you get a gallon of good cider. All you need to to is add honey/sugar etc., and yeast and BAM. I have made all my ciders/cysers that way and now have 10 1 gal fermenters!

Best gallon jugs ever. Take a gallon of Rossi (I use sweet red) pour that in a large pot, add cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice berries. Heat to about 140 and let sit for an hour or till about 120. Add enough spiced rum or vodka to make it worth while. Pour a large mug for yourself and anyone else in the room. Use a funnel to re-bottle the remaining wine and then just reheat as much as you want to drink over the next few days until the bottle is empty.

I put the sticks in the bottle so it gets better over a few days, it is the best way to make Rossi drinkable and not waste good wine for a nice mulled wine on a cold night.