"Polycarbonate", a mysterious beast

I work in a health food store, which means that I deal with people on a daily basis who are terrified that they are being poisoned by plastic. Don't worry, they'll be fine. One solution that these hemp-clad folks seem to be satisfied with is this stuff called polycarbonate. I am still of the opinion that polycarbonate is the stuff that they froze Han Solo in, but apparently it's not. They say that this stuff, which looks and feels like plastic to me, but a little harder, doesn't leak that "plastic taste" and is supposedly just barely porous. I love glass, but something that's light as plastic and shatterproof (and cheap, let's not forget that) but acts more like a glass fermentor would be a Godsend. Has anyone ever come across this stuff before and tried to ferment in it? We sell these 5 gallon bottles for around $8. I'll probably end up giving them a try anyway, just hoping to garner some feedback maybe first. Thanks.

Actually the brewing indsutry was seriously looking into ABS for fermenters but thaought the cost was to high at the time. Though with the price of all metals going way way up lately, any new brew equipment may just endo up being ABS plastic.

Polycarbonate is fairly expensive so that mya be why I have yet to see any homebrew gear made with it yet. Though with our off the wall hobby addiction buying habbits... build it and they will come.

Just FYI, polycarbonate IS plastic. It is very tough and fairly expensive within the plastics family. I have seen the "Better Bottles" (see link below) which are PET which is a much better plastic for this perticular application (see description for reasons). A lot of plastic mugs and pitchers are made of polycarbonate which is more commonly known by GE's trade name of Lexan.

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/1041

Hope this helps.
Jimi

However, the kinds of people who are looking for 'plastic free' solutions, don't believe that PET is safe. They say it 'gives off' harmful chemicals that make them sick.

Here's a link to one of those 'plastic is bad' folks. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/Out-Of-Diet-PG5nov03.htm

And here's where many folks get 'exposed' to this idea: the age old chainletter.

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/dioxins.html

These are the same people that KNOW the frutose in corn syrup is a bad chemical and the frutose in honey is good and totally natural.

Polycarbonate is manufacturered from Bisphenol A (BPA), which in turn comes from acetone and phenol. It is fairly inert & doesn't outgas, but it ain't natural.

Natural? Implying coming from nature? Plastics are manufactured. If memory serves, originally from organic materials. Are they all still, I don't know. Does organic = natural. You make the call. I can think of alot of things that are natural that aren't good for you.

I had a boss, who has since gone on to greener pastures, and is a homebrewer, that came upon a plastic while doing a project as part of his masters program, that is impermiable to oxygen. He told me that the big brewers were looking into it as a replacement to the plastic bottles they now use. They new that the present packaging was substandard, and only use it in high turnover markets (like major league ballparks). The problem is, I don't recall what it is. When I go back to work, I will see if anyone has a way to contact him, and get an update.