2 liter plastic

mixed a batch the other day and it is happily bubbling away. However mt batch was not big enough for a 3rd 1 gallon bottle so I put the excess into a 2 liter plastic soda bottle and fitted it with an airlock. The 2 liter bottle is also fermenting just like the gallon jugs. Is there a problem doing this in plastic? I am concerned about any alcohol effect on the plastic. I had intended to use the 2 liter to top off the gallons when I rack them. Also, I see some distilled spirits like vodka and others in plastic bottles. Are they a different kind of plastic that would be ok for small amounts of fermenting wine? I did some ginger beer in 2 liter bottles once and it got nasty. I don't know why? Bottles or method/ingredients?

Reply to
Pat Kennedy
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IMHO, you can get away with using your 2 liter soda bottle, but you will get a little flavor from whatever was previously in the bottle. Mild flavored sodas or club soda /tonic water bottles minimize this cross-contamination of flavors. I cold stabilize some of my small experimental batches of wine in the refrigerator in 2 liter club soda bottles.

I've also cold stabilized fruit wines in 1/2 gallon white cranberry juice plastic bottles, but I wanted a touch of cranberry flavor anyway.

Please also keep in mind that the plastic soda bottles contain very small amounts of partially polymerized plastic (intentional, needed to keep the PET plastic soft... they do that in lieu of adding other plasticizers). The alcohol in the wine will extract traces of the partially polymerized stuff, so I wouldn't choose to keep wine in plastic soda bottles on a regular basis. I keep some 48 ounce glass juice bottles for my excess storage. No contamination, and the wider mouth makes it easier to fill and empty.

BTW, what reason do you choose for not using an open top fermenter for your primary fermentation? A new, 5 gallon, food grade plastic bucket would work well too (i.e. NSF rated HDPE bucket).

Gene

Reply to
gene

gene wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bigfoot.com:

I have a very damp basement and I am concerned about mold getting into anything that is not tight and the kitchen is the next best place to ferment for me.

Reply to
Pat Kennedy

2L bottles are PET; wine and hard liquor plastic bottles are HDPE

I choose method & ingredients.

I strongly disagree with this. My 2L bottles get dosed in washed, pressure rinsed, and sanitized. Never a residual taste.

There is no question that glass is better than plastic. While I support the use of PET bottles, I too would not keep any beer or wine in one for more than a month - and a month is pushing it.

I see no reason to use an open-top fermenter when a top with an airlock is the alternative.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

I guess your 2L bottle cleaning process is more efficient than mine, or else my taste buds are hyper-sensitive :) I'm glad your experience is better than mine.

For white wines, no question that you are right, Dick. I'm curious, though, for reds during primary fermentation... how do you do a pump-over or cap punch-down through the small opening?

Gene

Reply to
gene

For short term storage (through the first or second racking) it may make sense to use well-cleaned 2 liter bottles, but transfer the contents as soon as you can to keep your larger carboys topped off. Oxygen will penetrate soda bottles, I brought some bottles of Sprite from a small general store that had been closed for a while when the elderly owner was ill. After he died, his son cleared out the inventory and I got a few 2 liter bottles that were a year old or so. The soda was flat, and the Aspartame had decomposed and was tasteless. It is a shame that the 1 gallon glass bottles are not as common as they used to be.

Another alternative is to use the 1.75 and 3.5 liter bottles that many inexpensive wines are packaged in.

Reply to
Bruce_Nolte_N3LSY&

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