StillSmart

I’m not a member of Home Distiller\HD so haven’t been hit with the no plastic stick directly, but I have adsorbed some of the mantra via osmosis and have a bit of a hang up about using anything but stainless or glass for spirit.
I recently completely ran out of storage, not a bit of glass was left, and I had some neutral in storage at a much higher ABV that I would normally be comfortable with.

I looked at the cost of buying some more DJs, and it’s about £60 for 6 delivered to the door, but I could get 12x 5L jerrys for £16.

A few months back I was at a local bottling plant meeting a supplier who does some printing for us, and they were unloading a 40ft arctic with IBCs full of vodka, now I believe these were HDPE, but not 100% sure. So knowing that the industry does use something like this is a bit comforting. That said I know single malt is transported in tankers round these parts, so it’s not the only way its done.

Basically, I freed up 5 DJs that had feints of malt, rum and corn left over’s, making sure there were about the 30% mark, and I am using these Jerrys for low proof storage.


Is anyone out there using anything similar, any issues or comments?

I am not an expert, but I think that temperature and ABV play a part with some plastics. I have seen 95% for sale in plastic. But that was in Mexico and I don't know what they have in place for restrictions nor which plastic it was.

Chuck

if you after more demijohns
have a look on your local freecycle or charity shops
thats where i get mine from and cheep aswell

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Magnu420 wrote:if you after more demijohns
have a look on your local freecycle or charity shops
thats where i get mine from and cheep aswell

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I've dried up all the gum tree and car boot sale supply too

A couple of weeks ago Amaark raised the question of using HDPE for distilling.

His statements related to the general use of the materials for distilling and I replied with a negative response due to certain components of the distillate being at a high perentage and a high temperature.

Your question is somewhat different due to the low strength and lower temperatures that you will encounter.

The following table is an extract from a study of lots of countries and their current usage.

S = Suitable
NS = Not Suitable
L = Limited Usage

From the table it appears that HDPE would be suitable for low strength low temperature storage, but dont get over confident and stick one of them under your column output.



As an aside - I was at the local dump/recycling plant dropping off some building rubble. There was a skip for glass, next to the skip was a sign which said words to the effect "Please put wine demijohns on the floor outside of the skip" I asked what the sign was all about and was told that one guy came round every now and again to take them away, a couple of calls later 10 demijohns at £2.00 a pop.

As always, glass is the best, as is stainless steel.
I have friends save all their empty wine bottles. (I have a lot of drunken friends).
I too sometimes have the need to store feints. I hate using my aging jars for this.
If you must store alcohol in HDPE, make sure it is low proof and only for a short period.

scarecrow

Stainless steel milk cans (50L)work great. I have 20 of them and use them for everything except fermentation. And they dont break.

I have a 50l SS keg with just a drain tap fitted that I use for storage of low wines and four 19l Cornelius Kegs for ageing spirit on oak. Before I acquired this collection I had to use 3l preserve jars and it was a right pain I the bum

AM

I have a friend at work that love's his westons cider .. which comes in rather nice 2.1 litre mini demijons with hand on the side ...

The odd one passes back with something nice in it .. and it's amazing how many I have accumulated lol !!!

Just my two cents worth on this topic,as I suspect many folk are too paranoid.
I never worried about just how much 'plasticiser' could be be squeezed into the 12 gram plastic spout of the Smart still when it was my only means of distillation,which may then leach out,into the many litres of alcohol,and poison me.

I cheerfully store tails in MDPE.I have even collected strip in it,but not stored.
From there it is collect and store in glass.
This summer friends that I taxied from the airport presented me with a bottle of my favourite blend,Famous Grouse,duty free,in a PET bottle.It tasted as always,and I didn't notice the nasties,if they were there.




This is just a little sensibleness that I found online.
It is your body,be responsible for it.
But for goodness sake don't be a-feared by the scare-mongers.

Robert.

I understand where you're coming from but just because someone is paranoid doesn't make them wrong!

There are all sorts of plastic containers out there and I, for one, have no idea where they've come from or whether the markings on them are genuine or what they were used for in the past. ...my paranoia

For me, the document you posted uses too many instances of "not very soluble in ethanol..." and "...resistant to most things... to be considered a definitive reference about the safety of using plastics in contact with ethanol intended for human consumption and, in the absence of qualified, absolute assurance, it is perhaps safer to look to alternatives where the qualified, absolute safety assurances are available.

If the alternatives to plastics were so wildly expensive and/or unavailable I'd be more inclined to consider their use but I'm not an industrial chemist so I don't know for sure that it's totally safe to use plastics with ethanol up to 95.6% ABV and for that reason I err on the side of caution and recommend everyone who asks to do the same.

I know I can absolutely clean and sterilise glass or stainless steel and I know for certain that nothing will 'weep' from those materials into my ethanol.

For me it's "better safe than sorry" everytime

AM

Chill AM,
I think we both paddle the same boat.
I too only collect and store high ABV spirit in glass,(I don't have the option of stainless storage).
And were I able to distill at 95.6%,no way would I let it drip into plastic.
The point that I was trying to make was that if the big distilleries,with their chemistry backing,feel that it is safe to bottle into PET plastic,which I grade as one below HDPE,then my short term use of HDPE,for low ABV ,I consider safe.
I also want to challenge the "laws" oft quoted from that other distilling site.
Equally,every shrink-wrapped package from a supermarket that I have consumed in the last many years,and all the bags of frozen peas etc may have contaminated my body.
I live on an organic farm, no chemicals used here for more than 25 years,and we produce much of our own veg,fruit and free range meat.

Perspective and reality.
Robert.

aidanmac wrote:For me it's "better safe than sorry" everytime

That explains how you got to be so old Aiden

True Cap'n C, but it doesn't explain my rugged good looks and irresistible charm

AM

So is hdpe safe for short term 40% storage?!