Using "food grade" container as secondary

It should be easy enough to adjust the recipes. One Imperial gallon 6/5 US gallon. One US gallon = 5/6 Imperial gallon. Any other volumetric measurements (e.g. quarts, pints, teaspoons, etc.) should be adjusted by the same ratio.

The exception is one Imperial fluid ounce = 1/160 Imperial gallon 0.0075 US gallon, whereas one US fluid ounce = 1/128 US gallon 0.0078125 US gallon. So to go from Imperial fluid ounces to US fluid ounces, multiply the Imperial fluid ounces by 0.96 (or treat them as equal, since a 4% difference is probably less than your measurement error).

Fortunately, British and American measures of weight (pounds, ounces) are the same in both countries.

Food-grade plastic containers are fine for primary fermentation, BUT there several reasons you don't want to use them for secondaries.

1) they leave considerably more airspace than "bottle-shaped" carboys, but more important, they leave far more SURFACE exposed to air (and thus oxidation). 2) if you top them up (to try to reduce the amount of air IN the container), there is a good chance that the liquid will get into the airlock, rendering it inoperative, (and mix with the sterilizer in the airlock, which may then get sucked back into the container and mix with your wine). 3) similarly, if you top them up, you won't be able to move them without risking spillage. 4) Also, since the plastic is flexible, when you pick it up or move it, the walls of the container compress, forcing the liquid higher (risking overflow and/or airlock entrance). This applies to plastic bottles and carboys as well. 5) The lids are probably NOT air-tight, so -- if you really top them up (and risk overflow) --- you can probably do without an airlock, but it doesn't really provide the same protection as a proper secondary with an airlock.

You can use probably use such containers as a secondary while the wine is still fermenting and giving off CO2, but as soon as it stops, you are risking contamination.

A 1-gallon glass "carboy" (usually called a "jug") can be purchased for $2-4 depending where you get it. Or you can purchase a 4-litre bottle of Carlo Rossi wine for $8, have a cheap party, and be left with a very nice secondary (with the added advantage of the glass being tinted rather than clear, and providing protection against light.) Some apple juices still come in 1-gallon jugs, and cost less than the price of a new jug (check your local Sam's club and Walmart).

Find someone who buys the Carlo Rossi wine on a regular basis, and ask him/her to save the empties for you.

For larger batches, a 3-gallon or 5-gallon carboy can be had for about $15-18. Get it at your local homebrew store, because the shipping cost for an internet order will be about $10 per carboy! Or, find someone who has some old 5-gallon glass "water-cooler" bottles, and trade him for (lighter and easier to handle) plastic ones (which you can buy at the place that sells the bottled water for about $5). Don't use the plastic ones for your wine, for the reasons stated above.

Did you ever consider REDUCING the recipe contents by 17%, and using ONE U.S. carboy? :-)

I don't think I can add anything to the above but ...

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing. The extra bottle give you something to top up with when you rack.

Another option is go bigger. Stop fooling with those one gal batches and move up to 5 gal (British) batches and use a 6 or 6.5 gal carboy. Then rack to a 5.

Ray

I thought of something else. Long-term storage in plastic, even food grade plastic, may impart flavour from the plasticizers into your wine. There has been a lot of debate (in this newsgroup and elsewhere) as to whether or not this is a concern, but (in light of the other disadvantages of plastic) why take chances?

I think small batches are better for a beginner. They are easier to handle, and --- if something goes wrong --- less frustrating. After a year or so, there will be a natural progression to 5-gallon (or perhaps larger) batches.