1 Gallon Plastic Water Jug - Secondary Fermenter?

[davidg410]

I've seen a ton of discussion around using 5 gallon water jugs as fermenters.
That's not my plan.

I was wondering if anyone has used 1 gallon plastic water jugs from the grocery store as a short secondary fermenter? Only 5 - 10 days of secondary.

Has anyone done this?
What size stopper did you use?
Did you have any issues with oxygen?

 

[bobeer]

If you're only doing 5 or 10 days of secondary why bother? Just leave it in the primary for the extra time. It's all good! Even if you're going to put some sort of addition in just do it in the primary.
But I don't see why this would be an issue if you wanted to do it anyway. As long as you follow proper sanitizing procedures, and the jug isn't beat to hell with scratches, I think you'll be ok. Just use some ole common sense and make sure it's clean and doesn't have any 'water residue/markings' in it.
Idk what i'd use for a stopper though. If it were me I'd probably just cover it with tin foil since it's not a long secondary.

 

[davidg410]

If you're only doing 5 or 10 days of secondary why bother? Just leave it in the primary for the extra time. It's all good! Even if you're going to put some sort of addition in just do it in the primary.
But I don't see why this would be an issue if you wanted to do it anyway. As long as you follow proper sanitizing procedures, and the jug isn't beat to hell with scratches, I think you'll be ok. Just use some ole common sense and make sure it's clean and doesn't have any 'water residue/markings' in it.
Idk what i'd use for a stopper though. If it were me I'd probably just cover it with tin foil since it's not a long secondary.

I want to try different tinctures and spice bundles in 1 gallon batches out of a 5 gallon batch. 5 - 10 days is all i need to develop the flavor.

 

[bobeer]

Right on. If it were me I'd still just dump in whatever additions you're going to do in the primary. I've oaked a beer in the primary for 6 weeks before and it turned out great. Either way you go though you should be ok as long as your 1 gallon jugs are in good shape. Good luck!