Plastic Storage Containers

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zymos
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by zymos »

jim81147 wrote:glass jugs have steel or aluminum caps with a plastic lining and mason jar lids have some sort of plastic lining as well . How are these plastics affected? or are they some sort of teflon material?
The mason jar lids are more like enamel. The softish plastic in the jugs lids is actually one of the only plastics mentioned in this thread that usually DOES contain pthalates...
Barney Fife
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Barney Fife »

We also store most of our stuff upright, right? So the lids are never in contact with our product.

That said, it's easy enough to whittle up a nice bottle cap for the big jugs using some oak.
zymos
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by zymos »

Not to be picky, but as students of distillation know, that liquid in the container evaporates, hits the lid and condenses, falling back into the rest of the liquid.
DeroCentral-Toolondo
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by DeroCentral-Toolondo »

Another good source of glass vessels is your local recycling depot. Slip them a couple of dollars and rumage through their glass area you will find spitis bottles and wine flagons (2 litres). Thanks for the info on plastic. I was considering PET but will stick with glass
kopek_beyaz
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by kopek_beyaz »

I'm not going to make an argument against the very traditional use of mason jars but a number of years ago I had acetone in a mason jar with traditional ring and cap sealing lid and the acetone melted the lining inside the lid.
More recently I had some brandy aging on oak cubes in a mason jar that had a spaghetti sauce jar lid on it and when I went to give it a good sniff to see how things were going along and got a big whiff of you guessed it, spaghetti sauce! I don't remember checking the lid before putting it on, I probably had been drinking so can't say it wasn't filthy to begin with.
eternalfrost
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by eternalfrost »

I dont trust mason jars for storage. even though its not in direct contact, its a sealed container full of volatile solvent with rubber inside... bound to have some leaching especially over long periods of time

IME wine bottles work great. I just take a stroll around my block on recycling day and can pick up 10-20 bottles ech week on my street alone. if your neighbor hood isnt like mine theres always the recycle depot. then just cap em with normal corks. the local bar gives em for free if you ask nice and give them a nice tip

the big 1.5L cheapo wine bottles work great! 9 of them fit perfectly in a milk crate (or 16 .75L bottles)

winebottles are quite beefy, i cant imagine one breaking. ive dropped one straight on the floor before...
Its easy to make a sort of 'wine cellar' wall that stores a lrge stash in a small space. its also nice cuz you can have lots of different recipes going on at once

if i ever have the volume to need it, id get some oak casks or Corney kegs
violentblue
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by violentblue »

stainless half keg would be great for storage, but not to sure about aging.
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Trapperjones »

Plastic is bad! Even if you can't taste it in the final product it's there. I only use plastic for fermentation. I have a few plastic food grade buckets made out of HDPE. I also have a few plastic carboys made out of PETE. I'm going to be slowly phasing them out and replacing them with glass 23L carboys The guys at the brew store said they are fine for low alcohol. They recommended glass for anything over 20%! Check the bottom of your containers for the little triangle. It will tell you what type of plastic your container is. If it don't say PETE or HDPE then I wouldn't use it for anything. Glass may be fragile....but considering the volitile acids and chemicals stored in them with no degradation I think it's the safest bet to keep your spirts in. I've only seen Nitric acid ever discolor glass and it's nasty stuff!
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Ugly »

Trapperjones wrote:Plastic is bad! Even if you can't taste it in the final product it's there.
You make such wide sweeping statements as if they were fact with nothing to back them up. While I personally lean toward this belief and am not starting an argument; if you're going to make a claim, back it up... and I mean with something more than a Google news story. I believe in science, not hearsay.
bcvwines
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by bcvwines »

does this rule apply to brief contact of plastic. For instance should i be concerned if i pour high proof alcohol into a plastic tube with an alcometer?
violentblue
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by violentblue »

Its fairly good practice to toss out any samples drawn for testing.

In the past I've used plastic funnels and other such things, I've made an effort to move away from that even though it only has very brief contact with the distillate.

I move distillate from glass container to glass container using a piece of 1/4" copper to siphon. and collect from the still in glass jars. I even have a glass pitcher for mixing and filling bottles.
pincplastic
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by pincplastic »

The softish plastic in the jugs lids is actually contain pthalates.


________________
Gundarak
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Gundarak »

Hi all,

I have just registered so I can enjoy this great forum and to ask a question related to alcohol storage.

I have recently started creating limoncello in bulk and have purchsed 3 of the following plastic containers.
http://www.bigtray.com/carlisle-store-n ... 15480.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I am using a 100 proof (50%) neutral grain vodka for the extraction of the oils from the lemons for my limoncello. I have them sitting this these 1 gallon jugs for that process, which usually takes me about 90 days.

I just want to make sure that there would be no harmful effects of doing this in these plastic containers. I actually called Carlisile, the manufactuer and they assured me that even though these containers werent originally designed for this, that there would be nothing harmful going into the alcohol.

BTW, after the 90 days, the limoncello is filtered 5x and bottled in glass containers. Its just the 90 day process I'm worried about.

Thanks!
rad14701
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by rad14701 »

Personally, I'd find a non-plastic option in place of Polyethylene, especially for a 90 day acidic maceration at that proof.... But that's just me...
FlyboyTR
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by FlyboyTR »

Hi Everybody! :D
After a long departure...I'm back... I started this tread way back when. Glad to see it's still alive! Lots of new folks on the forum.

As an FYI...From some of the original concerns about storing on plastic...I moved all my spirits into glass Mason jars. I am currently searching for 1 gallon jugs that I can cork...so no plastic at all.

Our local "Old Time Pottery" received a small shipment of 5 gallon carboys and was trying to get rid of them for $5 each (a friend called and gave me the info)! When I got there a gentleman was loading them (all of them) into his truck. ...He wouldn't part with none of them. Oh well...

I do have a lot of wine bottles and corks...that may be the ticket for the time being.

FlyboyTR :lol:
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LWTCS
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by LWTCS »

FlyboyTR wrote:Glad to see it's still alive!
Hehe, its immortal.

It got the rare distiction of being stickied.
Trample the injured and hurdle the dead.
acreofcorn
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by acreofcorn »

These are kind of expensive, maybe overkill, but Glass Reagent Bottles Apothecary Style are all glass. Here's a blurb about some I found:

"These are very attractive to use when storing any liquids but can tolerate strong bases, strong acids, and solvents. They have ground glass stoppers for a good air-tight seal. These are a throwback to the old days of chemistry and pharmacology."
likkrluvr
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by likkrluvr »

on Amazon i saw a bunch of deals and if u sign up ( then cancel) a person can get free shipping

not to bad id ur in the US
A walmart ive seen some sals going on also.
Ive been using growlers that i get been in for tails to run later. its a 1/2 gallon, but have been looking at big pickle jars those look great and usally like 2$ each
whiskymonster
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by whiskymonster »

i have been using empty glass wine bottles with screw caps to store the high proof (easy to collect the amount the mrs gets through.)

it just occurred to me, there's a plastic sealing ring in the metal cap.
same thing on the small pickle jars i have for small samples.
any idea what this is likely to be?
have i just spent all this time eliminating plastic seals and pipes from my setup, only to collect it in a jar with a poisonous lid?
It's much easier to cut a bit off than weld a bit on...
Dnderhead
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Dnderhead »

In my opinion,using bottles with with plastic seals is not so bad,this is much less contact
than a whole plastic bottle,although you could use corks even most of those are glued
together.I just minimize contact as much as possible.
whiskymonster
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by whiskymonster »

i was just reading up about corks, and apparently a lot of em are held together with latex.

spose your right dnder. i guess if i make sure the bottles are stored upright, it will have next to no effect.

ok, panic over!
It's much easier to cut a bit off than weld a bit on...
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Titus-a-fishus »

Currently storing my neutral in glass bottles and jars.
Problem is storing the glass bottles and jars. :roll:
So bought a 50ltr SS keg and am about to start using it instead.

TAF
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by alonzomerrill »

Titus-a-fishus wrote:Currently storing my neutral in glass bottles and jars.
Problem is storing the glass bottles and jars. :roll:
So bought a 50ltr SS keg and am about to start using it instead.

TAF
As per my view glass storing more safe other than plastic storage because plastic is not good for our health. I have heard that many people don't like to use plastic storage containers and other all place storage. I want to know your opinion about it.
johnny
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by johnny »

Must admit im guilty of storing contents of my fermenter in those 25Litre plastic bottles that bulk water comes in, but only for a few days until I could run them, I have been searching for demijohns for a while now and got lucky today, picked up 5x 54Litre and 3x 20Litre, so will just use the 25Litre plastic ones for storing wate!!!
alonzomerrill

Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by alonzomerrill »

To store more water the plastic container is useful but at other side it will harmful you. If you store water in that container you have to take care of that it will not stay for a long time. And before use just check it.
HdPilot13
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by HdPilot13 »

I'm a newbie but I know one thing for certain:

NEVER store your Liker in a milk jug, I've learned this the hard way...

A buddy gave me a gallon jug filled with high proof. I had little knowledge of distillation. I brought it home and put it on an oak table and went to bed. The next morning when I saw the jug, a few ounces of its content had leached out and had eaten away the finish of my oak table, leaving a big white spot.

This is SERIOUS business, use glass or learn the hard way. If someone gives you product in plastic, I'd be gracious and then toss it, its not worth it !!
Zippo
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Zippo »

acreofcorn wrote:These are kind of expensive, maybe overkill, but Glass Reagent Bottles Apothecary Style are all glass. Here's a blurb about some I found:

"These are very attractive to use when storing any liquids but can tolerate strong bases, strong acids, and solvents. They have ground glass stoppers for a good air-tight seal. These are a throwback to the old days of chemistry and pharmacology."
The only problem I can see with them are the fact you can get them bigger then a few Oz's....


Deffently some good ideas, I was planning on making use of the 30+ booze bottles my room mate has stored around the house, :mrgreen: But i do like the idea of hitting up local bars and getting there old hard liquor and wine bottles.
I Am a Master ASE Diesel Technician, AWS Certified Welder in ARC MIG TIG and Under-water. Alls that means is if i break it i can fix it one way or another.
Fritz The Cat
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by Fritz The Cat »

There is no way in hell I would ever store spirits in plastic containers under any circumstances. I would pour them down the freaking drain first. Plastics leach plasticizers into any liquid that's in them. Alcohol will greatly accelerate this leaching.

DON'T DO IT !!!!!
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Re:

Post by MilwaukeesWorst »

The Chemist wrote:Just today, I have been checking some distillates received from a major rum distiller by GC/MS. They sent it in their half-gallon polycarbonate bottles--at about 70% alcohol. Lo and behold, what do I see: a nice peak for bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate...yum...
Yea, check out BPA type plastic they have been using since the 40's starting with canned food. One of it's major side effect's to people (worst for the young still developing) is...lack of a better description "Homosexual" path in life (nothing wrong with it) But not a "Born that way" situation, along with certain type of cancers and neurological damage . So any kind of plastic should be a no no as well as not havong a good water source (Floride(that name can encompass up to 15 different elements that are not floride as how they sell it to you) Florid is in ALL bottled water, soda ect.. If u live in the city you should get a good filter setup for your water source)
friendly1uk
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Re: Plastic Storage Containers

Post by friendly1uk »

Standard metal lids are coated in a plasticisers that hold pvc components in suspension. You can get ptfe coated one's though. Glass bottles capped with lids you sourced yourself might be the most acceptable approach. Be sure you get the right lids though.

Just watched a still spirits vid. Plastic catch tank and greasy plastic looking measuring jug used. No glass at all.
As I look about my kitchen I see glass jars with quite unsuitable lids, and mildly unsuitable plastic water bottles as there lids are safer. However, what I call unsuitable might impart so little upon the product it's actually acceptable in law. We have all seen the plastic bottle's being used, and the questionable components in stills marketed for alcohol production by accountable companies like still-spirits. There is no blanket ban on plastics, but you need to be very careful and in all fairness few of us can test a product for such contamination. It is best avoided.


Having consulted the dictionary that is 'moonshiners' I find Tim and Tickle always use milk cartons. They all do. So it must be fine :) (this was a joke of course)
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