5 gallon water jugs

[mikder82]

Is there a downside to using the 5 gallon water jugs you can buy at the grocery store instead of a 5 gallon better bottle? At a quarter of the price, they are very tempting.

 

[loucurr]

I use them all the time and have only had one recent issue in two years and have brewed many good beers. I only use them for secondary though. Recently one of my bottles separated at the seam on the bottom...thank god it was during cleaning and sanitizing that I discovered it and not after putting beer in it...that would have been bad.

 

[FlyinDan1017]

I used to have concerns with the handle maybe causing issues, and just started using them recently. I think what sealed it as ok was seeing quite a few on the shelves in a winery's storage room. Prob either personal or test batches, but if good enough for them....

 

[mikder82]

The ones I've found are the ones without handles. They actually look very similar to the better bottles. At $9 a piece, I figure I'd give them a shot. I'm picking grapes next weekend. Roughly #100.

 

[IslandLizard]

I use them all the time and have only had one recent issue in two years and have brewed many good beers. I only use them for secondary though. Recently one of my bottles separated at the seam on the bottom...thank god it was during cleaning and sanitizing that I discovered it and not after putting beer in it...that would have been bad.

I don't use any Better Bottles, but I've read in one of the beer forums that Better Bottles also tend to split on the bottom seam. IIRC they were pointing to hot washing with PBW. To prevent cracking, I also think they rock these on a tennis ball to oxygenate the beer.

 

[Trail]

The major issue with water bottles is material. A lot of them are #6 (polystyrene) plastic - you want #2, which is not a known carcinogen. You know, like #6 plastic is.

I've heard a lot of hooplah about plastic fermenters leeching oxygen into the brew but this appears to be apocryphal.

 

[tokerlund]

To me, it is all about the plastic number. I have found a few that are #1 or #2 and I use them for short term fermenting. Anything that will sit for a month or two, I try to use my better bottles instead. Probably just superstitious, but. . .