Secondary in plastic 'carboy'?

[jgreenhaw]

Howdy all,

I have found a ready supply of the 5 gallon plastic carboys used by bottled water companies to dispense water from standalone water coolers. These things are cheap, and look just like the glass carboy I would normally use. Has anyone ever tried to use one for an approx. 10 day secondary? Are these things highly permeable? At $4.00 a pop, I could have several going at once.

I appreciate any info,

Thanks,

-Josh

[chris1kanobi]

Plastic has many creases and crevaces for bacteria to hide. I wouldn't trust it, but many brewers use plastic buckets (no seams) with good results. A glass carboy can be had for $15-20 with very little risk.:D

[danno]

from a cost perspective, you'll also need to add in the price of modifying the mouth so an airlock would fit. I'm with chris, if you're not going with glass, might as well stay with a bucket, they're much easier to clean than the ribbed walls of a water jug...

[YamahaXS]

also, plastic allows Oxygen to permeate. you will risk getting an oxidized beer if you leave the beer in secondary too long.

[Tweek]

the plastic containers used by water companies are not suitable for beer because they are too thin/pourous and too much oxygen can get through. If you must go with plastic you will need to find some that is a bit thicker.

[Moondoggy]

I called my local water bottle company one day and asked if they had glass carboys.

They did and I can get them for $10.00 bucks a piece.

Try calling your local water place and ask.

[jgreenhaw]

Thanks for the input. I figured it was too good to be true.

What intrigued me was the nature of these bottles. There was a trademark of "unglass" and a pat. pending claim. I thought they may be similar to the "better bottle", although much cheaper. I also thought it would be easy to install a spigot. In fact, my source for these is the local bottled water company, where I get my glass carboys for $12.00. (The local bottled water co. is a great resource for cheap glassware).

I don't think I will take the risk to save a couple bucks.

Thanks again,

-Josh.