5gal Water bottles as carboys?

I was wondering how well 5 gallon plastic water bottles work for use as secondaries long term. I've only used them for a few weeks at at time, but was thinking of using some for a lager. I have several laying around here.
Does the type of plastic they use fair OK regarding oxidation?

Look at the bottom of the bottle and if you see #7 - "Other: Use of this code indicates that the package in question is made with a resin other than the six listed above, or is made of more than one resin used in combination. Used for: Three and five gallon reusable water bottles." It probably won't work for very long. About the only oxygen barrier plastic in use right now for bottles is the new monolayer PET that some megabrews are testing (I think mainly because the empties can't be thrown very far at sporting events).

People do use them in wine making for long periods.

I've never used one for more than a week. I'm not saying you can't, just that I haven't. Never secondaried over a week. I use bottles beyond that point. Somebody did post a while back about the chance of oxidation due to the fact that plastic is porous, even if only microscopically so. Not sure I believe that, but, then again, I don't think on that small of a scale. Try a batch and see for yourself. What's the worst that could happen ? You still get to drink your mistakes.

since the main concern is oxygen getting through the plastic, you could submerge the waterbottle (except for the neck and airlock) in a large tub of water. Very little air will be touching the bottle's surface and this will GREATLY minimize the risk of oxidation.

-walker

david_42 said:

About the only oxygen barrier plastic in use right now for bottles is the new monolayer PET that some megabrews are testing (I think mainly because the empties can't be thrown very far at sporting events).

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Another niche market would be wilderness areas that don't permit glass containers or aluminum cans.

Not to mention the savings in shipping costs due to reduced breakage and the ability for plastic bottles to handle rougher handling processes.

There are lots of reasons for large commercial producers to use plastic--- the only reason that it isn't more prevalent is probably jsut a marketing/image issue.

Used one once, beer was "funky". They do make superb grain mill hoppers though. Cut the bottom off, turn upside down, voila.

You could check out this link http://www.beer-wine.com/info.asp?PromoID=23

D@VID said:

You could check out this link http://www.beer-wine.com/info.asp?PromoID=23

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No more siphoning
No more wondering if my hose/cane is thoroughly sanitized

Sounds great to me!

Hmmm, the "Better Bottle" looks a lot like a standard 5 gallon water bottle. At least the ones prevalent around here.
I've heard that the 5 gal water bottles use an oxygen barrier plastic in order to prevent the water from tasting stale after a few months. Well, I'll give it a try. Of course, once upon a time, in the old days of the internet, you could actually search for, and FIND, the info you were looking for.
Now a days you search for something and you get 200 things that have nothong to do with your search terms.

Walker said:

since the main concern is oxygen getting through the plastic, you could submerge the waterbottle (except for the neck and airlock) in a large tub of water. Very little air will be touching the bottle's surface and this will GREATLY minimize the risk of oxidation.

-walker

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Submerging the bottle in a tub of water won't really reduce the potential oxygen exposure. There is a lot of free oxygen in water - not all of it is bound th the hydroxy (OH) radical. In fact, there is probably MORE free oxygen in the water due to it's composition. Whether liquid or gas, oxygen doesn't care - it will move across any convenient pressure gradient to try and establish equilibrium.

ok, so boil the water first to get the O2 out.

(thread bumped because there is a similar one going on)

-walker

Denny's Brew said:

Now a days you search for something and you get 200 things that have nothong to do with your search terms.

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Can I get an Amen Brother?

Amen, brother!

Also, my girlfriend and her mother have brewed a mead that sat months in a plastic primary (the deep rock bottle they bought the water in). It's got this "green olive" smell to it. It's about seven months old. Go figure.

Actually, this is probably a good time to ask on it. I'll post a new thread under the mead forum. If you've got advice, please post it there. Thank you!