Ben_Persitz
Well-Known Member
Anyone used PET carboys?
Thinking about buying a 5 gallon.
Are they as safe as glass? do they leech flavors?
Thinking about buying a 5 gallon.
Are they as safe as glass? do they leech flavors?
I've got 2, 5 gallon ones. I stopped using them after my first time. A Pain in the buttowski if you ask me. When ever you pick them up, the plastic is pressured, hence, everything gets sucked in. Ironic you post this because I just pulled mine out of storage as I will have to use them for my secondary for a Helles I just brewed (my glass secondaries have a Flanders brown in them). I;ll palce them into Milk Crates to thrawd what I was talking about above. Also, the neck of these things has to be completely dry for them to accecpt an air lock. Another annoying factor. Safer, yes. Much safer then Glass. But, a pain in the ass to deal with. I have been fermenting in glass for going on 18 years, and with a little common sense, and (knocking on wood here), Ihave never had an issue with breakage. I keep all my glass carboys in Milk Crates.
They have some cons, but as long as you realize what they are, they work great. The biggest one is that they can scratch. Once that happens, you start risking infections. The only other real con is long term storage o2 permiability. Im talking years like if your doing a sour. For everyday ale/lager use, they dont seem to have much of an effect.
Overall I went the other route and sold my BB for another glass carboy. Never have to worry about the BB cons....though glass has the ultimate con...it can break and cause injury.
are normal Culligan water bottles made of PET? I would like to bulk-age some cider without taking up real estate in one of my glass carboys. Would a water bottle impart off-flavors after 6-12 months of cider fermenting/aging?
I know what the BB website says, but the fact is that all information available on "special o2 reducing" PET shows that it is still considerable higher in o2 permiability than glass. If your long term aging a beer, I personally wouldnt use one. If its a couple months, then your not going to notice a difference. Do what feels good to you though!
I have 5 of them (all 6-gallon bottles). They stay full.
I had 5 glass carboys. Broke one while full. Gave one away. Returned one to the store. The last 2 sit empty, perpetually.
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