Home Distiller

I recently learned the hard way about storing low wines in plastic. I have always stored them in plastic buckets from Lowes or Home Depot. Last time I went to run my gin, I opened my bucket and found nothing but juniper berries. I examined the bucket and the alcohol had caused the plastic to crack on the bottom, so over the course of a couple days, all the low wines drained out. I didn't know this because my lab is in my basement, which periodically floods and it was flooded at the time. Expensive and time-consuming lesson. No more.

I guess now you're willing to listen to the rules? They are there for more reason then just saving your toxic low wines from leaking out. You got lucky, I say.

8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process. HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)

Thanks for posting your ignorance, and you learned a lesson. Now go take plastics out from all your uses after fermentation. And maybe sure if you talk about it again, it is only to warn against it.

Wow.

Before I came here I was wondering why my plastic proofing beaker tubes were so brittle. Bad manufacturing, I thought.
Then I saw how the high proof was crazing them as if I'd sand blasted the plastic. And I was drinking that!

Dude! Dump the plastic! Even 40% is no excuse and not acceptable.

I use glass carboys with a cork to decrease the angels dipping into the carboy.

B

Ouch! Sounds like you have learned your lesson. I broke the bottom out of my last tube for my hydrometer and used a plastic one I use for beer. 100 proof crazed the plastic and cracked the sides. As said before, no plastic except for low alcohol levels (like mash) .

There are used 5 gallon home brew kegs available here for $30 plus shipping. I've purchased a few for beer.

https://www.homebrewing.org/Home-Brew-Kegs_c_223.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I'm thinking about getting one just for storing low wines and ageing spirits with barrel staves inside. I'm going to remove the rubber o-rings in the ball locks and make an oak lid.

bitter wrote:I use glass carboys with a cork to decrease the angels dipping into the carboy.

B

Invest a bit of money in glass jugs and carboys. Look at your local online used market and look for people selling home brewing and wine making equipment. I've gotten carboys for $10 but I had to buy all 5, was a great deal and still use them as storage and for small batches of ciders and beer. Never ever use plastic unless it's been made to hold ethanol (ie chemical totes) but still just use glass. Also 40% and over is flammable so keep that in mind. We have all made mistakes and just keep in mind the safer we are the better image our hobby has.

I recall reading somewhere (but I can't find it) that anything over 17% is capable of dissolving (in general) plastics.

This site shows compatibility between chemicals and substances. Select ethyl alcohol, and check the results. PTFE gets and A+, Silicone a B. That's not a B as in "very good", but rather a B as in minor degredation, so not good.
https://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance

Ugh. I've just done my first two days of stripping and put 15L of 45% into my only available container – a food-grade plastic brewing bin. That will now have to go into the 'window cleaner' bottle (glass). And I will do more reading here before I fire the still up again, and get some stainless steel storage bins. At least I didn't drink any of it. THANKS to this board for saving me from that.

If it's only been a couple of days you might get away with it. Look up it's chemical compatibility.

copperkettle wrote: a food-grade plastic brewing bin.

There in lays the problem , your not dealing with food, your storing high grade solvents.

What type of plastic is it? It should say on the bottom. Most of the brew buckets are usually food grade PP (Polypropylene) or HDPE. If it is, I wouldn't worry about it. All the datasheets, manufacturer tests and independent tests have tested ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) at 96% abv at 60'c-80'c for 30 days and all tests have shown that no indication of plastic degradation was found. Same with HDPE it seems. Manufacturers store gins etc in HDPE lined barrels or HDPE IBC's for transport to bottling plants if they don't have on-site equipment.

A lot of the time it's people scared of micro-plastics and stuff. I bet those same people then microwave their food in plastic containers or spray roundup in their garden. Use the right plastic and don't worry. I wouldn't store drinking spirits in plastic, make a still out of it or grate it over my pasta like Parmesan cheese personally, but low wines aren't a concern. Everyone says use glass carboys but if you don't have the room to store 10 of them practically in a safe place then two food grade HDPE or preferably PP buckets make more sense for the stripping runs, if you're still scared then you can always water it down.

Admin edit: 8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process. HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)

I use a 5 gal 'corny' keg, the rubber o-ring got a double (or triple) wrapping of teflon tape. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it works for me.


Admin edit: 8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process. HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)

I was watching a programme the other day about a distillery in America. It was a huge custom built thing and everything was perfect! The output was a piece of 25mm pvc tube? There's also pleanty of videos on YouTube about gin distillerys that buy in their neutral alcohol in IBC containers!

Admin edit: 8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process. HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)

i don't think we can make this any more clear

Admin edit: 8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process. HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)