Fermenting in plastic bottles

[Chalkyt]

I am doing a few "experimental" small batches of different apples (and combinations) using different yeasts (Nottingham and EC1118) to get a handle on what works best.

Some websites seem to come out strongly against using plastic juice containers for fermenting.

I have used a couple of 2 litre/4 pint glass carboys (they are "expensive" as I have to buy them full of cheap bulk liquour like sherry or port, then tip it out because it tastes horrible!). The other alternative is cheap 2.4 litre/5 pint fruit juice in plastic containers from the supermarket then tip that out or drink it. Not a big deal because we can drink the juice.

Empty 2 litre carboys cost just as much as the filled ones after paying freight (we are out in a remote rural area), and nope we don't have a recycling centre.

So what are the issues (if any) with using the soft blow moulded type of plastic fruit juice bottles for fermenting small batches?

 

[z-bob]

What can you get in gallon or 5L glass bottles? Most of my bottles that size are from buying apple juice 10 years ago when it came in glass, or Carlo Rossi cheap wine.

Also, what are the largest bottles you can buy carbonated beverages in (glass or plastic doesn't matter)? Like Coca-Cola. Two litre Coke bottles would be almost as good as glass.

 

[Drewed]

Agreed, you are making test ciders, not $600 wine. I know guys who make cider in 1 gallon milk jugs.

 

[bernardsmith]

Not a chemist or a micro-biologist but alcohol is a more powerful solvent than water and may have a lower pH (may be more acidic) than what was in the plastic containers - so you may find that certain chemicals can and will leach from the plastic into the cider. Now, that may not result in a difference in taste that you can discern but the chemicals that leach may pose a health hazard. Short term and with levels of alcohol normally associated with cider the leaching may not be a serious issue... Longer term and if you age the cider ... well, there are known risks. That many folk choose to ignore such risks is their business, but then many people choose to take inordinate risks all the time.

Life, as Hobbes said can be nasty, brutish and short. Not sure that I would want to compound the problems by using plastic... but yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance

 

[lump42]

Not a chemist or a micro-biologist but alcohol is a more powerful solvent than water and may have a lower pH (may be more acidic) than what was in the plastic containers - so you may find that certain chemicals can and will leach from the plastic into the cider. Now, that may not result in a difference in taste that you can discern but the chemicals that leach may pose a health hazard. Short term and with levels of alcohol normally associated with cider the leaching may not be a serious issue... Longer term and if you age the cider ... well, there are known risks. That many folk choose to ignore such risks is their business, but then many people choose to take inordinate risks all the time.

This may be an argument for the 2 liter PET soda bottles. Soft drinks are very acidic already, so it should be chemically stable from the low pH. Plus, it is the same type of plastic that is used to make plastic carboys, so I would suspect them to be safe from alcohol leaching chemicals. It is also purported to be less oxygen permeable.

Being as they are pressure rated, you can even bottle condition in them :rockin:

 

[TGFV]

Seconding what Franken is saying above. Mostl colas have a more acidic PH than most alcohol you can make (except skeeter pre in some cases), lol bottles can work fine.

Another great option is to ferment the juice in the bottles to begin with into country wine, then reuse the containers.

I currently have a 4l container of cran rasberry and a 3l concord grape fermenting right now and am planning on reusing the bottles for small scale experiments.

 

[Evan55]

Clear plastic juice bottles are usually PET (most clear plastic bottles are in fact, including 2L coke bottles) which is the best plastic to ferment in. Air permeability is very very close to zero.
I frequently will buy a 1gallon jug of apple juice, pour a little off the top, pitch in some yeast and slap on a stopper with an airlock and it ferments great. Fast and super easy.

HDPE plastic is usually white or colored or semi-opaque white (milk jugs) and lets comparitively more air in than PET (still very little though) so use PET if you can.

 

[MindenMan]

I use PET bottles all the time to ferment my ciders in with no detrimental effects. For years I have been fermenting my ciders in the plastic jugs the juice comes in; just make some head space and screw the cap down just short of air-tight so the pressure doesn't blow the cap off.

 

[ericbw]

I would avoid plastic milk jugs.

Someone said Carlo Rossi wine. The wine is ok enough to drink or cook with. I think they have gallon and half gallon sizes.

Where are you located?

Even a 1.5L wine bottle would work.