Can I Use a Plastic Water Jug As A Secondary?
June 19, 2009 by Scott "The Wine Making Guy"
Filed under Ask The Wine Making Guy, Equipment
Here’s a very interesting question I received via my blog this week:
“Can I use the plastic 5-gallon carboys that I have water delivered in for starting the secondary fermentation? What I would like to do is start some strawberry and blueberry wine when the fruits are in season – which is when we are here in Maine.
I would like to get the secondary fermentation started here and then take the carboys home where I can finish the process and bottle it. My concern is if these water bottles will leave a taste in the wine.”
Here’s how I answered:
Great question!
As long as the water bottle is made of PET then you should be good to go.
I actually own a plastic carboy and there’s no issue with a plastic taste being transferred. I wrote an article about it on my blog called “Winemaking Designer Carboys” if you’re interested.
I’m curious what you think about using plastic vs. glass carboys and so reply to this blog post and let me know!
careful about the BPA. you mention "some manufacturer's have admitted to using BPA" -believe it or not, they're the "good guys" here since they're being forthright. If its a hard plastic that you can see thru, chances are its BPA – whether they admit it or not. best thing to do is look for recycling codes on the bottom. Only use plastics with recycle codes 1, 2 and 5 – specifically avoiding the numbers 3 and 7.
For more info on the codes and what they mean, try here: http://www.h2no.org/plastic_recycling_codes.asp
I prefer glass for my high end wines. I use plastic for the 4 weekers.
Good point Greg. Thanks for the heads up!
Scott “The Wine Making Guy”