Plastic bottles

[keith shotton]

Is it O.K. to use plastic bottles to store wine or cider. I'm collecting glass bottles at the moment, but we don't drink large amounts, so I'll either have to start drinking more !! hic !!! or could the answer be something like re using 2 or 4 litre plastic milk bottles ?

Thanks, K.

 

[MmmBeer]

The issues with using plastic bottles are that unless the plastic is brown or it is stored in the dark, UV light will get into the beer, causing it to spoil and that you should only use bottles that are designed to hold carbonated drinks, otherwise they could burst.

I recently decanted half a litre of sparkling water into a still water bottle for a day out, when I opened it after an hour or two, it went bang and the cap hit the ceiling. sparkling drinks bottles have grooves cut into the threads to relieve pressure gently.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I keep my wine in 5 litre water bottles (having used the water to make the wine) - it aids maturation.
There is an issue of oxygen leaching into the wine through the plastic, so I rack into glass demijohns after a few months.
The bumper harvest of blackberries last year meant that I didn't have enough demijohns so about 25 litres of blackberry wine stayed in plastic; the wine doesn't seem to have been affected.

 

[GerritT]

I bought a few dozens cheap still water and used that to brew the cider. Afterwards I sanitised them and stored the cider back in those bottles. Works like a charm and they're quite pressure resistant.
Using clear bottles for beer should not need to be a problem IF you store those bottles in closed boxes. Light (especially sunlight) is bad.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I used to use plastic sparkling water bottles to store my wine but having read chemicals can leach into the wine from bottles that are not designed to hold alcohol i decided to do a little research, many emails were sent to bottling companies and government departments but i couldnt get a definite answer either way so i moved to screw top glass bottles and these - https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...le-plastic-screw-caps-for-wine-bottles.56326/



.

 

[Quo]

I am using recycled wine bottles and thought about using larger plastic bottles, but if you don’t drink the whole lot, wouldn’t it spoil with the air or is there a way I don’t know about.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The more head space the more risk but if you are drinking it within days of opening I don't think it'll be a problem.