Plastic water containers

[beatts]

Hi,

I have a 5 gallon batch of wine almost fermented, however I have no demijohns available to rack into before bottling.

If I was to use the plastic 5L water containers that can be bought in any supermarket, could I:

A: empty then immediately add the wine would this be ok or do I still need to sterilise.?

B: also will they hold a little pressure, allowing me to release the CO2 every couple of days till they are bottled?

Thanks

[bobsbeer]

You probably don't need to sterilise, although I would. They will hold a little bit of pressure, but I would stick an airlock in the lid if it is still fermenting. If they have stopped you should be okay, as you will notice then bulging if co2 is still being produced, and you can just release the lid and close again.

[aamcle]

I think you may have a problem those bottles will let oxygen through.

So it comes to how long the wine will be in these containers before you bottle it.

If its going to be more than a quick in and out would you be able to leave it in the FV and get your self off the the nearest carbooty to get a few glass demi Johns.


Aamcle

[bobsbeer]

Yes PET bottles do let oxygen through, but lets not get to anal about it. If you are going to leave for 6 months or more it may be an issue, otherwise don't worry about it. The surface area of a 5lt pet will not let that much oxygen in, and a small amount is actually good for wine.

[DeadFall]

I've used them before with no issues. I used the water to make the wine and sanitised the bottle. I just drilled a bung sized hole in the lid and used an airlock & rubber bung.

[beatts]

Ok thanks for that

[aamcle]

The surface area of a 5lt pet will not let that much oxygen in, and a small amount is actually good for wine.

That's good to know.

Aamcle

[lord.president]

Has anybody used the containers from office water cooolers etc?