Home Distiller

I think it's not so much "plastic" as the types they are using.. the cheap types.

Things like PTFE are hugely resilient, but they are also hugely expensive and cost the same or more than the metal or glass counterparts.

So as one poster above said "Its all about the money".

I'll stick with glass and metal, and only use PE for fermentation of things intended for distillation.

If I was doing beer or wine (or mead), I'd definitely use glass or wood for the process.

Will someone please give hard facts/research/medical/biological/physiological/etc. evidence about how 40% alcohol stored in plastic containers over X amount of time causes harm to the human body when ingested - and how that happens exactly?

(Hint: "I will never use plastic ever", "I don't believe in it", "You're an a-hole if you disagree with me", don't qualify as evidence.)

This is not a trick or rhetorical question. I don't have the answer either. I''m just trying to separate the heat from the light.

I think the powers that be are coming from the standpoint that most research/information about plastics that shows plastics are ok is focused on how the plastic is affected by alcohol, but little is known about how the plastic affects the alcohol. So with the absence of information about how the alcohol is affected it is decided to take a cautious stance here on the forum.

However, that's just my understanding of it, and thank god, I am no way in charge of such things. Now back to my UJSM, which is particularly tasty this evening.

FireH20 wrote:Will someone please give hard facts/research/medical/biological/physiological/etc. evidence about how 40% alcohol stored in plastic containers over X amount of time causes harm to the human body when ingested - and how that happens exactly?

The Chemist has stated here that EVERY water specimin he tested in his lab that came from a plastic bottle tested positive for plasticisers.

If water is a good enough solvent to extract plasticisers what is the ethanol capable of? Surely a solvent mix of water and ethanol is gonna be far more aggressive than water alone.

Tell ya what... why don't you go and dig around on the net and through science journals and try and find us some evidence that an ethanol/water mix stored in plastic is perfectly safe for consumption. You don't seem to trust the "better safe than sorry" stance, so you do the leg work please.

Holy,

I have no doubt that the chemist is giving true info, and you are getting quite exasperated with all this talk of plastic bottles. But May I make a simple observation?

Everyone is missing the point with the plastic spirit bottles issue.

The spirit NEVER TOUCHES the plastic. It is COATED with a BONDED LAYER of ...wait for it...CARBON.

The base material is PET plastic, sure. Gotta have something as a former. Could easily be wood, or glass, or metal, or whatever substance will hold a shape and be cost effective.

Sazerac has been using this technology since 1997 for its Ancient Age whiskey, as has Early Times. I haven't heard of one single case of problems, health or otherwise. Considering the hooha surrounding this issue, Don't you think the FDA would have yanked it if there were any issues? Has Sazerac gone broke over lawsuits? Not likely.

So, now that we are better informed as to what we are dealing with, is anyone prepared to say they would NOT let their booze touch CARBON???

If anyone is truly interested in being better informed, google BARRIER TECHNOLOGY. and pet bottles for alcohols here...
http://tinyurl.com/9d4qg4

Let's hope this is an end to the misunderstanding.

Harry wrote:
The spirit NEVER TOUCHES the plastic. It is COATED with a BONDED LAYER of ...wait for it...CARBON.

T
If anyone is truly interested in being better informed, google BARRIER TECHNOLOGY. and pet bottles for alcohols here...
http://tinyurl.com/9d4qg4

Followed that link and did some reading, and although SOME coatings are applied to the inside of the bottles, MOST seem to be applied to the OUTSIDE of the bottle, or sandwiched in a layer inside the plastic itself. Because the purpose of the coatings, to most of the manufacturers, is not to protect the beverage from exposure to PLASTIC, but to protect it from exposure to OXYGEN.

zymos wrote:
Followed that link and did some reading, and although SOME coatings are applied to the inside of the bottles, MOST seem to be applied to the OUTSIDE of the bottle, or sandwiched in a layer inside the plastic itself. Because the purpose of the coatings, to most of the manufacturers, is not to protect the beverage from exposure to PLASTIC, but to protect it from exposure to OXYGEN.

Yep. Many different coating and multi-layered options are available these days. You can 'dial up' just the requirements you need ant the manufacturers will provide the solution. In the case of spirits, at this juncture the preferred option is blow-molded PET with an interior bonded coat of Carbon.

By the way, all the closures used in existing GLASS bottle spirits, like synthetic corks and plastic caps, even the aluminum caps, are nowhere near as good as the Barrier bottles. But that's an area they are working on.

Will someone please give hard facts/research/medical/biological/physiological/etc. evidence about how 40% alcohol stored in plastic containers over X amount of time causes harm to the human body when ingested - and how that happens exactly?

I don't need anything more than my own experience to decide that I don't care for using plastics. Lots of folks have had plastic hydrometer jars... They all know what I mean... I've put spirits in plastic bottles and gotten funky plastic flavors in it. The chemists comments on the subject and a healthy skepticism of the FDA's real masters lead me to choose a no plastic ethic. I don't need some internet article of proof that alcohol and plastic are not great together.... I've seen it with my own eyes and tasted it too.

Good to see you post Harry. I do feel better informed.

junkyard dawg wrote:

Good to see you post Harry. I do feel better informed.

Aye JD. That was the aim.

Yup, me to too Harry. The more information we get, the more informed individual decisions we can take. Thanks

blanik

Harry wrote:If anyone is truly interested in being better informed, google BARRIER TECHNOLOGY. and pet bottles for alcohols here...
http://tinyurl.com/9d4qg4

Interestin'.

If ya have any more links with good plastic/alcohol info please post 'em.

yeah, cool technology at work there. Its surprising to me that some of those barrier technologies could be cost effective.

junkyard dawg wrote:yeah, cool technology at work there. Its surprising to me that some of those barrier technologies could be cost effective.

There's three basic Barrier Technologies. Each has specific uses in the packaging industry. Some are for oxygen-scavenging to prolong the shelf life of foods. Some are strictly a physical barrier between the food and the container itself.

The three types are:
Coating
Monolayer
Multilayer

In Coating...Bottles are blow-molded and then coated with a layer of material suitable for the designed end-purpose. In our case for alcoholic beverages it (the bottle) is coated on the inside with a layer of carbon. This is different to the other popular methods for obvious reasons.

Cost to manufacturers is at present between $6 and $8 per THOUSAND bottles. Less than a cent each to coat.

Read this...

http://www.ce-pip.com/docs/31-33_F345_PET_barrier.pdf

Good stuff, Harry. While serious caution with plastics is the smart default position to take, that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep an open mind to technical progress.

This is interesting.

I am one of the bold people who used to use plastic for storing normal bottle strength. Moved off that to glass. When I was storing in plastic most of what I was using was empty bottled water bottles. I never noticed any taste being added to the drink - but I think that it would be safe to state that there was probably no carbon coating on those bottles. Now re-using a plastic spirit bottle would be a very different thing as those bottles are designed to be used with alcohol.