Can I Use a Plastic Water Jug As A Secondary?

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!

Can You Put Hot Water In Wine Bottles?

Here’s a question I received the other day that I found very interesting and am interested to hear how you would respond:

Hoping you can help me. I’ve been making grape juice for quite some time and have used your regular mason jars to store the juice and poured directly in the jar while hot then sealed with the jar lid.

I would like to store the juice in some type of wine bottle using cork or bartop finish. My question is, will I have an issue pouring hot grape juice in the wine bottle then use the cork or bartop finish to seal it. Usually when I pour the grape juice in the mason jar I’ll hear the pop sound of the lid then I know the bottle is sealed and can be preserved.

I hope I’ve made sense.

Thanks,

M.

My understanding is that carboys and wine bottles aren’t tempered and therefore not heat resistant. This means that the glass can potentially crack or shatter (and hurt anyone close by) when hot water is added to them.

I’ve also mentioned in earlier posts that you can now buy clear plastic carboys (see my “Winemaking Designer Carboys” post) and these you definitely need to be careful that you don’t add boiling water to them to clean them out.

Here’s proof from one of my readers:

So what do you think? Would you add hot water/juice to your wine bottles or carboy?

I’m curious to hear what your thoughts are so please leave a comment!

- Scott “The Wine Making Guy”