Gallon Glass Jugs

[bronzdragon]

I felt it necessary to come back and post a warning on this board, since, in many posts I had advised new people to this hobby to go out and buy cheap wine in gallon glass jugs and use them to store their drinks in.

Several months ago I mentioned the topic but wanted to plainly state it. I used these gallon jugs for a couple years without hassle or fault. And then earlier this year I had two basically explode or implode, whatever the correct term is ... with good beverage inside. This made a huge mess and was a big waste, and possibly could have been a hazard if I was in the area when it happened.

I ordered small barrels and transferred most of what I had been storing as soon as possible. I did have some left overs of about a quart I had kept in one of the "good" bottles. Today I just recognized when I was looking for some things, that the bottle had a huge crack going all the way down the side and was just waiting to fall apart.

So I felt that I needed to come back and retract my advice to use these jugs for anything other then temporary storage or blending.

cheers

~bd~

[theholymackerel]

Weird.

I have a couple dozen of the glass gallon jugs that the cheap Gallo wine comes in and I've used em for years and years without any problems. I even dropped one a few years back on my tile and broke a tile, but not the jug.

Nice heavy, sturdy jugs.

[Husker]

I have had 2 'problems' with them.

The first was when I dropped an empty bottle onto the concrete floor. The bottle received a hairline crack. I was smart enough to look closely at the bottle after I dropped it, and did see the crack, and culled the bottle.

The other 'problem' was my fault. I had about 6 jugs 3/4 full of sugared backset with about 2 inches of corn in the bottom. I had them 'stored' in the fridge, as a ready supply to keep sour mashing going. Well, I pulled out 3 of the jugs and sat them on the table in the basement, when I needed room in the fridge (to hold a couple deer I did not feel like cutting up). Well, I got busy (hunting, of course), and was gonna put off the deer until the weekend. Well, after about 4 days, we had a HELL of an explosion downstairs. The corn started to ferment, even though I had put boiling backset over it. That was a heck of a bomblike boom in the basement, but nothing about the jug caused it (other than they are pretty damn tough).

H.

[Dnderhead]

Iv stored allot of different stuff in them, from yeast to white dog. with no problems of the jugs fault.
but remember high proof should not be stored in still room, that is like storing gasoline next to the furness.

[junkyard dawg]

If you store high proof in them you can't seal them up tight. Alcohol expands and contracts with the temperature. If they are sealed up tight then they can easily break with temperature swings. I lost a good gallon learning that...

Now I either leave an airspace, or if its a full bottle then I make sure it can breath and not build up pressure.

If you start scouting around the right places you can find some nice small stainless beverage containers that work great for storage. That unbreakable stainless is the way to go it you can find it. I use the glass for wine mostly.

[poidog]

...I have a couple dozen of the glass gallon jugs that the cheap Gallo wine comes in and I've used em for years and years without any problems...

What kind of closures do you use on those jugs?

[junkyard dawg]

fwiw, I use the screw caps, corks, oak stoppers and coffee filters with rubber bands on mine. A simple cork can do everything... I like a screw cap next and an oak stopper after that... A real cork with a coffee filter and rubber band is a good closure for aging for a couple of months.

[junkyard dawg]

I mean, whats not to love about...

Nice heavy, sturdy jugs.

[Husker]

I mean, whats not to love about...

Nice heavy, sturdy jugs.

I could not agree more

H.

[eternalfrost]

i use recycled wine bottles. the bigger 1.5L ones are great. 9 of them fit perfect in a milk crate for storing.

picked up ~100 of them at the local recycle depot. seal em with wine corks pushed back in the top from a bar.

[heynonny]

One problem I have run across a few times was that in the manufacture of these jugs, (750ml bottles too), in the molding process, the glass is spread very thin in area(s) inside the molds. I, occasionally, like to cut bottles in half, ends out, holes on sides etc. (scribing a line w/ a glass-cutter, and tapping on the inside), and have come across quite a few where where I tried to cut was actually less than 1/32" thick. You might look closely for this, it seems to be 'usually' on the sides, just up from the bottom, above the rounding from bottom to side. If you can cut the bottom off a wine bottle at a little below the 'punt' (that large dimple in the bottom), it makes a top that will spin for quite some time, spin it on a piece of glass or a smooth tile. I have odd hobbies, , , ,-hey-