StillSmart

Hey! that man thinks like me! Great minds Brian, great minds!

That's what I do too! I got an engineering friend of mine to make me a two ring cutter which slices out the silicone by putting it on the sheet and tapping all around with a light hammer to make a nice clean seal which fits the 3lt Kilner Preserve jars I use for flavouring spirits.

I just remembered I loaned that cutter to a brewing acquaintance who has not returned it and now deserves a rollicking!

AM

I tend to store my bottles upright and at 40%, I haven't noticed any off smells or tastes from them. However, if you cap a demijohn with a rubber bung you can get some horrible smells from it, especially at higher strengths. If they're rubber ones on the bottle you mention Stephen, I'd definitely avoid having them in direct contact and if possible replace as the guys have mentioned.

Just to echo what has been said, if you can avoid it then do. I have stored a 2L preserve jar with 55% whisky for the best part of 12 months (forgot about it) that had a white rubber seal, without any issue.
It was in the cool, I know some of the aussies cant even brew in the summer time due to the heat, so low ambient temps may be a factor in this case.

I was just about to start a thread wrt the safety of seals on the storage jars so of course got to read this thread again.

ime, Kilner is the standard for jars, never had a leaky one yet but some of the Ikea ones don't seal properly. There's a brand more expensive than Kilner,something to with Parfait iirc, looks classier than Kilner with a price to match.

To test, half fill with water and invert. The Kilners are such good value though, no point imo to risk a duff seal by buying cheaper.

I've been using Ikea Slom bottles for well over a year now. I DO try to make sure that the spirit does not come in contact with the lid seal aty all times. When the bottle is empty, I give the seals a soak in boiling water and an 'airdry'.
To the best of my knowledge, the seals are still working well, the spirit does NOT take on noticeable 'flavour' from the seals, however the seals DO have a tendency to take on some of the scent from the bottled spirit (even after cleaning).....

I use Kilner jars too and managed to get some silicone and cut out seals for them - much better that the rubber seals as they don't appear affected in any way by the spirit while the rubber ones always got discoloured, smelly and perished.

AM

I ordered some silicone seals from an ebay link Brian YHB posted but they're smaller. They do work after some messing with them.

Also, my 2 litre Kilner jars seem to have silicone seals already.

I buy spirit style screw top bottles and capa from here.

They have a good range.

http://www.colouredbottles.co.uk/

I hear a lot of people recommending the use of silicone seals. A friend who works in the Bushmills distillery says that the use of silicone in spirits production is completely forbidden by health & safety legislation, this includes the use of rubber and silicon seals on bottles containing alcohol with an abv higher than 19%!!! Be careful people,very careful.

I have not heard this before, any chance of some form documentation that will identify the problem. All the charts and literature I have indicates that silicone is suitable for sealing whiskey and ethanol.

YHB wrote:I have not heard this before, any chance of some form documentation that will identify the problem. All the charts and literature I have indicates that silicone is suitable for sealing whiskey and ethanol.

I only know that their use is forbidden in distilleries. I would hazard a guess that rubber is not used because it contains sulphur compounds that could taint the spirits. Why do you replace rubber seals for silicon ones? The use of silicon in many products is controversial and I can tell you from personnel experience, having once been a dairy farmer that the use of silicon suction cups and other silicon fittings in Northern Irish Dairy farms are prohibited.
If you Google prohibited materials in commercial distillation for human consumption I'm sure you'll get all the "documentation" you are looking for.
regards Ricky