StillSmart

Ive always been told that alcohol and plastics dont mix, but ive been reasding that PET is safe for storage of alcohol. Mainly WIKI and some trade websites.

can anyone confirm

mm

It's reported as being safe, and indeed some alcohol is sold in plastic in the States I believe. However, I wouldn't trust it. There's a guy on Home Distiller who does chemical analysis for a living and he said he tested some spirit that had been sold in plastic and he wouldn't drink it. Make of it what you will, but my view is that I don't particularly like it short term (i.e. plastic trial jar etc) and I definitely wouldn't want to use it long term for storage, alcohol is a solvent after all.

Incidentally, you may have seen the 'Betta Bottle' plastic carboy for wine making? This plastic is totally different to the water dispensers, even though they look the same so bear that in mind too. Water dispenser bottles are actually slightly porous, strange as it might sound. These are generally considered safe for wine strengths but even then some won't touch them.

My wife has bought 37% abv brandy for hot toddies in a plastic bottle from Tesco. I would not store spirit in plastic containers.

i was looking for a lightweight alternative to glass, but your views carry weight.

It may be some years until commercial plastic vessels are used for spirits.

my search for small cheap glass gift bottles continues...

thanks

mm

Speaking to a guy the other week when we did a local real ale brewery tour and he was saying even the 'plastic, type kegs are out of favour he'd just ordered a very costly batch of SS firkins

so... if plastic bottles are no good for spirit, then how come 99% of them have tops that have some kind of FOAM type insert to seal the top?

Nee idea me no chemist !

I think some of the guys keg problems were bursting bungs etc in the cellars not good!

i dont drink wrote:so... if plastic bottles are no good for spirit, then how come 99% of them have tops that have some kind of FOAM type insert to seal the top?

I "think" the insert is probably expanded PTFE or is PTFE (teflon) coated, PTFE is very resistant to ethanol, even at high temps, and is ideal for using in gasket seals for our purposes.
Not all plastics are equal when it comes to solvents. We use solvents at my work and have special plastic containers that have a coating that protects the plastic - if the coating gets scratched with a tool the container "melts" at the point of contact.

I use glass or stainless for storage.

Well, as far as the difference between "better bottles" and water cooler bottles, the better bottles are made of P.E.T., whereas the water cooler bottles are polycarbonate.

A lot of the issue as to whether they're "safe" or not, isn't about whether they'll leach any part of the chemical plasticisers or no, but about whether and to what level, they are air permeable.

It would seem that P.E.T. is less so than water cooler bottles, hence it's the material of choice when it comes to use for home brewing - additionally, polycarbonate, being slightly more porous, is more likely to pick up flavours and staining than P.E.T.

As for storage etc, well I've seen 95.4% ABV alcohol shipped in 500 litre "IBC" containers, both too and from distilleries and bottling plants. The IBC's are made of HDPE.

Take from that, what you will. Personally, I don't mind plastics for home brewing (buckets of HDPE and water cooler bottles that will get binned as soon as they show any residual smell or staining), but for long term storage of higher strength alcohol, I prefer glass.

It seems that there is some scope for further research. Ive read that HDPE has some resistance to spirit but its the classification that is ambiguous. The info i found showed a "limited" resistance to spirit, although no strength was listed, nor the definition of "limited".

Ive found somewhere that does quite cheap glass containers ,but its the shipping thats the killer. I doubles the price of the units.

the site was called http://www.colorlites.co.uk/

MM

I was given a bottle of mount gay rum in a plastic bottle and it's fairly common in spain that spirits (even reasonably good quality ones) come in plastic bottles.

Not sure what the composition of the plastic is but there are obviously some exceptions to the "no plastic and spirit" rule.

MrCat wrote:I was given a bottle of mount gay rum in a plastic bottle and it's fairly common in spain that spirits (even reasonably good quality ones) come in plastic bottles.

Not sure what the composition of the plastic is but there are obviously some exceptions to the "no plastic and spirit" rule.

Well that might be dependant on the market it's aimed at.

I've actually been to the Mount Gay distillery, and what they sell in their "gift" shop, irrespective of whether it was the good stuff or the over proof looney juice, it was all sold in glass. As was the Barcardi Black (Puerto Rican) that I got in the exchange on the base........