Glass V Plastic

I have been, up until now, using primarily glass carboys for my wine making. I have plenty of plastic fermenting buckets that I use for beer and I was wondering if there is any reason why most people recommend glass for wine instead of plastic. I have come across some cheap food grade plastic carboy style (not see though) bins with air lock etc and I was thinking of using these to get some extra wine going.

Anyone have any comments?

Make sure they are PET plastic.

I don't see any reason that you couldn't put wine in them.

Just to save you some time, this is one of those regularly discussed threads, so there's a HUGE amount of info already here...

Just look through these threads and make up your mind.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/gtsear...x8yvgpla&cof=FORID:11&q=Glass+vs+Plastic#1315

Click to expand...

Based on what I believe, if you got them, go for it, I've seen people fermenting in plastic jerry cans...

Post a picture of what you found...they sound interesting.

If you never want to think about it again, just use glass. Studies will continue to flip flop and put out warnings about this or that plastic every week, so if those stories bother you, just do what I do and use glass.

I am 99.9% certain that most plastics are perfectly safe. Look for a triangle with a 2 or a 3 on the bottom of the plastic container -- almost everyone seems to agree that those are safe. Most would say that a 1 is safe as well. Most agree that you shouldn't use a 7.

To enjoy my wine 100%, I just spend an extra $20 and get glass.

Spend an extra $20 to get glass?

My LHBS had 6-gallon glass carboys for only $2 more than a BetterBottle, but that was 6 months ago, I admit I haven't compared lately!

Cheers!

Pogo

Pogo said:

Spend an extra $20 to get glass?

My LHBS had 6-gallon glass carboys for only $2 more than a BetterBottle, but that was 6 months ago, I admit I haven't compared lately!

Cheers!

Pogo

Click to expand...

I meant $20 more than buying a 5 gal water bottle at KMart. I was just going to swipe one of the empties from the water cooler at work, but like I said, I like to be 100% sure whenever possible.

Well, you may find some places online still that are selling their glass carboys close to what they are selling their better bottles for, but that is quickly coming to an end. There's only one plant in the world now making glass carboys and I believe they will only just be starting to make 6.5 gallon carboys in the near future. If you can get glass carboys for $2 more than a better bottle, I recommend getting them ASAP. The guy at my local place told me a month ago when I bought a carboy that they would be going up soon. I went in there last week to buy a 6 gallon and he had restocked and they were $15 more. This guy doesn't rely on his HB stuff for his main source of revenue. His margins on his HB stuff are pretty low so it would be out of character for him to stick it to his customers.

I heard exactly the same thing. Real glass is going up. I think I have plenty of capacity given I'm really only making wine for my wife and myself (13 gallons glass).

FYI

--------------------

Letter from LD Carlson on June 27, 2008:

Dear Valued Retailer,

It is with regret that we inform our retailer network that the only North American glass carboy manufacturer has ceased producing 3, 5, 6 and 6.5 gallon carboys. The Mexican plant has long supplied the beverage hobby industry with affordable glass carboys under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The only other manufacturer of glass carboys for our industry is in Italy. Our purchasing department has worked with our global vendors to ensure that the transition from the Mexican to the Italian product is smooth and with little disruption to our supply chain. However, disparity in global currencies and increased costs of transporting these products from overseas will have a significant impact on their landed cost, resulting in a sharp price increase.

We anticipate that our inventory of 3, 5 and 6 gallon carboys will be fully maintained with only the possibility of short 'out-of-stock' periods while we adjust to a new receiving schedule. Unfortunately, the Italian manufacturer does not currently have a mold for the 6.5-gallon glass carboy and we anticipate there will be an extended period of time without inventory. They are developing a new mold to accommodate our industry's needs and we will bring those back into our inventory as soon as is possible.

The dimensions and tint of the Italian carboys are slightly different than those that were produced in Mexico. The usage of glass carboys is unique to the hobby beverage industry. From the glass manufacturer's standpoint these are low-margin, low-volume specialty products. The contraction of two global suppliers to one will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the cost of these products moving forward.

Kind Regards,
The LD Carlson Team