plastic or glass

[Magnu420]

you allways mentioned not to use plastics,polycarbonate etc always use glass

but in the videos what wineworks made,he uses plastic jugs to mix his
essence and flavours up is this acceptable ??
cos im thinking of getting a 2 1/2 ltr or a 3 ltr jug (only got a 2ltr plastic type atm) but glass,but they seemed not a lot of glass types about only the 1ltr type

[YHB]

There are many types of plastic, some more tollerant of alcohol than others. There are many charts around that indicate the resistance of various grades of plastic to high strength alcohol, but without knowing which particular type of plastic a jug is made from it is impossible to answer your question.

Many forms of plastic will leach chemicals into alcohol, and the ingestion of any unknown chemical into the body is probably an activity that should be avoided.

Glass is inert but the larger jugs are expensive and subject to breakage, the other readily available substitute that is virtually unbreakable and reasonably cheap is Stainless Steel.

Try Googling "2 litre stainless steel jug" and there are plenty available -

here is a 2 litre one for under ten pounds. http://www.stephensons.com/measuring-ju ... re-br.html

Or a 3 litre one for eight pounds

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Milk-Ju ... 10188#shId

They should last a long time without any danger, is it worth the risk?

Brian

[Admiral Toad]

The plastic food grade jugs and buckets such as those that come with filters should be ok for mixing when around 40% ABV
For longer term storage or higher ABV stick to glass or stainless as YHB says

[metalmickey]

you need to look for HDPE (high density polyethylene) i think the symbol is a triangle made out of arrows (one on each corner) with a number 4 in the middle.

http://www.dynalabcorp.com/technical_info_hd_polyethylene.asp
MM

[Almanac]

It's true to say there are certain types of plastics that are 'safe' for use with volatile liquids such as ethanol but the surface of the material is easily scored and damaged creating problems with sterilising/cleaning the material effectively.

Stainless Steel is much more durable and easy to sterilise and clean plus a Stainless Steel jug will last much longer and costs but a few bob more.

The general principle we promote here is that no plastics should be used once the wash has been stripped. In other words, once you start collecting anything from the output tube, on whatever kind of still you have, it should only be collected in Glass, Stainless Steel or Copper. Such containers are relatively cheap to buy - ref the links provided by YHB.

This principle is based on experience, common sense and the knowledge that the right materials don't cost much more than the 'cheap' alternatives. e.g. 2lt HDPE Plastic Jug £4.95 (best price I could find for the 'real' thing); Stainless Steel 2lt Jug £9.89 - less than £4 in the difference and you only need one!

BTW the recycling symbol (triangle of three arrows) with the number 2 inside indicates HDPE.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people, despite making over 90% savings on the cost of alcohol they make and drink over High St prices, still want bargain basement prices when it comes to their equipment.

AM

[Capt-Cudellez]

There is normally a cheaper solution - I've never had the need to use a jug bigger than 1L as that's what I have.
Why not measure out 1L at a time and pour it into a big soup pot, I've got a 12L stainless bucket that I use to blend the cuts into, that also works nicely to sit a DJ in when stripping in case I miss the change over.

[wormwood]

I have an even cheaper solution. I have a nice collection of 3 liter wine bottles and 4 liter glass jugs previously used for cheap red wine, all liberated under cover of darkness from the recycling bins at our local WalMart. I've even managed to score a couple of one gallon pickle jars too.

Alternatively, you could spend about 12 bucks for 4 liters of Carlo Rossi (their reds are actually not bad for the price) and get a free glass jug for your hooch. These usually cost about $5 each, plus shipping if you buy them online.

[Jimmy]

Another free solution is to use your still for the mixing, if you have an AirStill it's a good size for mixing those 'three bottle' type essences, then you just bottle with a Pyrex 1 litre jug or similar. I also use my T500 boiler when diluting and bottling a large batch of neutral, the tap on the front makes it a doddle!