bottle conditioning in one gallon juice jugs

I have read several posts advising not to bottle condition in one gallon juice jugs since they are not rated for internal pressure and the caps may not provide a perfect seal. While I understand the concern, I would like to hear from those of you who have actually attempted to condition/carbonate in these bottles, and what your experience has been. I have many of these bottles and would really love to use them if possible.

I have successfully bottle-conditioned a batch of Ed Wort's "Apfelwein" in #1 PETE 2-quart and 3-quart bottles. I have also successfully used 2-liter plastic soda bottles. The carbonation does cause some minor distortion in the plastic, but nothing that would lead to an explosion. I would think that glass bottles with screw-on caps would also work successfully.

glenn514

+1 juice bottles are certainly not rated for pressure, but soda bottles and anything else that was originally carbonated certainly is. You can carb in 2 liter soda bottles, no problem!

glenn514 said:

I have successfully bottle-conditioned a batch of Ed Wort's "Apfelwein" in #1 PETE 2-quart and 3-quart bottles. I have also successfully used 2-liter plastic soda bottles. The carbonation does cause some minor distortion in the plastic, but nothing that would lead to an explosion. I would think that glass bottles with screw-on caps would also work successfully.

glenn514

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Glass doesn't distort, it breaks

Please don't use vessels that aren't designed for pressure. Exploding plastic can be downright deadly.

JeepDiver said:

Glass doesn't distort, it breaks

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True that. But I didn't use glass. There was some minor distortion of the plastic molded "hand holds" but that was the extent of it. And while the V8 and apple juice bottles were not intended to hold the pressure of carbonation, they did, indeed, hold those pressures just fine.

I just walked back to my brewing storage room, and checked the remaining bottles of conditioned apfelwein. They are STILL holding pressure [you can't squeeze in the sides of the container]. That batch of apfelwein was put in the bottles on 31 May 2010...over 2 years ago. Guess it's time for me to have some more apfelwein!

I would think that glass bottles would also work successfully for almost any bottle-conditioned beverage. The weak link would be the screw-on top, just as on my plastic bottles. I have had absolutely no problems with the screw-tops, however.

glenn514

glenn514 said:

I would think that glass bottles would also work successfully for almost any bottle-conditioned beverage. The weak link would be the screw-on top, just as on my plastic bottles. I have had absolutely no problems with the screw-tops, however.

glenn514

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My experience and that of others on these forums says otherwise. The weak point is usually where the sides meet the base. Nothing beats lifting a growler up by the handle only to have the bottom stay where it is, dumping a half gallon of beer on your ankles.

This reminds me a lot of this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/32-oz-gatorade-bottles-pretty-awesome-bottle-conditioning-337076/

I'll repeat what I said there, before the thread was locked: If you want to do something dangerous and stupid, like pressurize a plastic vessel that's not designed to be pressurized, you're welcome to do so, but please don't tell others that it's a safe practice. Just because you haven't injured yourself yet doesn't mean that it's safe.