Another type is the inexpensive plastic carboys used for office water coolers. These carboys are usually easy to find at regular retail stores and are significantly less expensive than glass carboys or better bottles. However, these carboys can be made of any number of different types of plastic, and a homebrewer should identify the type and make sure it is suitable before attempting to use one as a fermenter. Looking at the recycling code on the bottom of the carboy, #1 plastic is PET (like the better bottle) and should be suitable for fermenter use. Other codes are less suitable, particularly #7 which represents "Other", and could thus be just about anything. Using a carboy made of unsuitable plastic may mean excessive oxygen permeability, and the plastic may be porous enough to allow it to stain and harbor odors and possibly infections. These carboys are also typically only available in a 5-gallon size or smaller, making them unsuitable for use as primary fermenters for 5-gallon batches as they have insufficient headspace for krausen.
You can argue that point with the makers of the Better Bottle, which is also made of PET. Thousands of people use those (myself included) and I don't recall there being any kind of uproar about their safety. If you want to believe everything you read about plastics, you'd probably wind up having to give up every single plastic food-related item in your home.Eves said:I believe #1 is not acceptable either. Supposedly its good for one use. After that you risk the plastic leaking bad stuff
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