Racking into plastic storage jugs?

[dougget]

Hi,
My dad made wine and cider when I was a kid so I don't remember much other than the glass airlock bubbling away under the stairs in the basement

I tried to homebrew a few batches of beer about 15 years ago, but didn't have good luck. Now with all of the hard cider products on the market, I got the urge to give cider a try.

I have 2 gallons started right now and the airlock is bubbling about once every 4 seconds. Looks great! It's only been going for a couple of days, so I probably have another 15-20 days before I need to rack it.

The long term plan is to get some flip top bottles (Grolsch style) and use those. For now, can I just rack it back into the 1 gallon plastic bottles the cider came in?

What next steps do I need to take?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[natehoekstra]

Plastics can impart funky flavor so most prefer glass, but if you don't want to invest, the plastic should work as a storage medium.

 

[Randzor]

Id go right to bottles to make it easy on you being newer.

 

[dougget]

I kinda thought that would be the response. I found a homebrew store near were I work and they sell 1L flip top bottles for $3.50 each. Flip top like the resealable Grolsch bottles. I've seen them mentioned on this forum and they seem like a good option. I'm going to pick up 8 some time this week. Going to get some Star San too. I did my initial cleaning with the bleach mixture, but would much prefer to use the non-rinse cleaner in the future.

The 2 gallons is still looking good. Bubbling at 3 to 4 second intervals. Yum, can't wait.

Doug

 

[tokerlund]

My first several batches went right back into the 96oz bottles they came in. Actually sometimes I even fermented in the gallon plastic jugs if I could get that size juice.

I found benefits:
- Less cost
- Less number of vessels to rack into (due to large size)
- Easier for transport
- Easier to clean (throw away)
- Great for when I am likely (with help) to drink larger volumes

and complications:
- pouring out of them led to getting lots more sediment into the glass
- regular pouring led to stiring up the settled out yeast
- zero carb. . . or more likely distended bottles from cider that wasn't done yet
- poor presentation. . . it just turns people off when you pour them booze out of an unmarked plastic jug
- Confustion. . . This one was serious, I also had a relative try to pour a glass of apple juice for a kid because (despite masking tape and magic marker) they thought it was an apple juice bottle


Long story short, I still rack into them on occasion when I need temp storage, or I just can't be bothered. Grolsh bottles are WAY better though!

 

[natehoekstra]

Check Amazon for grolsch-style bottles. Some merchants sell for quite cheap. My enabler (wife) bought me 4 cases for Xmas, and they're great as long as you clean them as soon as you use them.

 

[MindenMan]

The jugs my apple juice comes in is what I ferment in unless I am making a big batch. In three years, I have never had any problems using anything made of plastic, nor have I had any odd flavors.