Long term aging in plastic vessels trick

[amcclai7]

Ok, so we've all been told that we can't age a barleywine, sour, RIS or anything of the like in a plastic bucket b/c of oxygen permeability. I HATE glass carboys and will do anything to avoid them. so what about this? There has to be something you could spray or rub on the outside of a plastic bucket to reduce the O2 permeability. Hell, Vaseline might work but I was hoping somebody could think of a less messy idea.

Any thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

Ok, so we've all been told that we can't age a barleywine, sour, RIS or anything of the like in a plastic bucket b/c of oxygen permeability. I HATE glass carboys and will do anything to avoid them. so what about this? There has to be something you could spray or rub on the outside of a plastic bucket to reduce the O2 permeability. Hell, Vaseline might work but I was hoping somebody could think of a less messy idea.

Any thoughts?

That still leaves a very wide headspace. How about a plastic carboy? There are several brands, and they work well.

 

[amcclai7]

Thanks for the clarification. I was actually planning to do this in a plastic conical that I could keep purged with CO2 or a plastic carboy filled almost to the brim. The question then becomes how to stop oxidation from the sides. Any thoughts about something O2 impermeable that could be sprayed or rubbed on the outside?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the clarification. I was actually planning to do this in a plastic conical that I could keep purged with CO2 or a plastic carboy filled almost to the brim. The question then becomes how to stop oxidation from the sides. Any thoughts about something O2 impermeable that could be sprayed or rubbed on the outside?

I think most fermenters, like Better Bottles, are not O2 permeable. http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html

http://www.better-bottle.com/pdf/CarboyPermeabilityStudy.pdf


I never used a plastic conical, and I don't know the details of them as far as o2 permeability (that's a question for the manufacturer), but I have left wine in topped up Better Bottles for over a year with no notable oxidation.

In Better Bottle cases, more o2 comes through the silicone bung/carboy cap than anything.

http://www.mocon.com/assets/documents/PPS_Article_highq.pdf (scroll down for the data of various types of closures/airlocks. )

For the plastic conical, that may or may not be oxygen permeable.

 

[amcclai7]

I've done some research and sent some emails but haven't gotten anything definitive so far. The plastic conicals I'm looking at are made of polyethylene which, according to some people on chat boards, has negligible O2 permeability. The ones I'm looking at are medium density so I'm sure that makes some kind of difference but I'm not sure how much.

I'll keep looking but if anybody finds anything please let me know.

Here is an example of one of the tanks I was referring to. http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=c15