Plastic bottle vs demijohns

[Kybren]

Im going to make some elderberry wine at the weekend but was considering about using a 5litre water bottle with a spare airlock on it instead of a demijohn.
Iv seen them for sale like this for £6ish but I've seen just the bottles with water for about a £1 has anyone tried one of these? Im not sure if itll seal enough, as I don't want to spend the money on demijohns if im not going to pursue this after this brew.
Thanks

 

[cushyno]

Having used glass demijohns, plastic 5l vessel from homebrew shop and the supermarket water bottles, they all act equally well for fermenting wine. At times I have used a square of plastic bag held on with elastic band instead of an airlock and couldn't tell the difference.

The advantage of glass demijohns is they are easier to clean and sediment falls to the bottom. Plastic bottles are lighter but susceptible to little scratches or dents over time that become harder to clean and sterilise. Ridges in plastic bottles also collect sediment so can be harder to clean.

I would recommend using plastic containers from supermarket at first and practice the rest of your winemaking skills. Upgrade to glass later if you feel the need or just buy replacement plastic bottles after a few brews. Glass is obviously more eco-friendly.

 

[cushyno]

Elderberry can take an age to mature. Make sure you exclude as much greenery from the stalks as possible. Using a fork to strip berries from the stalks works well.

If you don't wish to wait as long for the wine to mature you could try mostly blackberries with a lower amount of elderberry, or do elderberry and sultana/raisin.

 

[Kybren]

Thanks, I plan on probably only using plastic the once see how I find it and go for demijohns after but the amount of elderberrys about I thought it was rude not to try some.
Thanks for the advice, hopefully all goes well this weekend

 

[ScottE75]

If you want to be really fancy you could buy some grommets https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Red-Gr...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649, then make holes the right size to fit the top of your plastic bottle, but a balloon with a pin hole does just as well but turn it inside out because of the talc.
I'll be using the 5ltr water bottles from Iceland for £1 each. I have 5 demijohns and 2 x 5 ltr buckets, but sometime it's just not enough

 

[Dutto]

.... a balloon with a pin hole does just as well but turn it inside out because of the talc.
........

An alternative is to use a Durex. It avoids the problem with the talc ...

... but you MUST remember that it has a hole in the end before you use it for its proper purpose!

 

[GerritT]

Maybe you could get hold of a few of these: https://groceries.asda.com/product/bottled-cider/westons-scrumpy-cloudy-cider/42909

A bit small, but it's glass. And plastic always loses from glass.

 

[Kybren]

I have seen that cider before and been tempted for the bottle,
Getting mpre tempted to spend the money on some actual demijohns

 

[Covrich]

I have used a 5l PET demijon for fermenting ciders and starters

They do the job but are a bit more of a pain and I find they get bits and scratches on them.. all being equal I would certainly use a glass one.

 

[MmmBeer]

I have glass and plastic demijohns and have used the two interchangeably. The glass ones are heavier when full, but the plastic ones are flimsy and can be more fiddly to move and as others have said, more difficult to clean and sanitise. Personally I wouldn't buy any more plastic ones.

I foraged some elderberries this afternoon, although after stripping them, there is only about two thirds of what I need for a gallon. I've frozen them for now, I'll have another wander, tomorrow to see if I can find some more, otherwise I like the idea of mixing with blackberries, or some of the frozen loganberries from the garden.

 

[Kybren]

I think ill only use them once or twice, just the fact that homebrew plastic ones mention they are pet but the water ones from supermarket I was worried if they were a course thread on the lid they wouldnt be to airtight, but I guess it would be hard for much to get in still

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Getting mpre tempted to spend the money on some actual demijohns

Check out your local charity shops and take a picture of a Demijohn on your phone as a lot of the sales staff assume they are for putting plants in, also sites like Facebook "Seek and Sell" in your area or freecycle etc.

 

[Aqualung]

Do what ScottE75 said and buy some grommets. I have 4 x 5lt water bottles that I drilled the lids and grommetised them. After fermentation has finished I put the wine into glass demijohn to mature before bottling. I put some petroleum jelly on the grommet and thread to help seal them.

 

[Kybren]

Thanks, I got some plastic ones for now and will put some grommets in, just started the wine yesterday, I was surprised how much it foamed up when stirring it this morning (mainly as I only do beer and would leave it at this point) im guessing this is why you have to degas wine?

 

[ChrisRedWills]

same as aqualung I only use the plastic 5litre for the first four days then rack into glass I use rubber bungs with the holes in they come in different sizes I only use the plastic once then discard

 

[Nicks90]

As others have said, keep searching classifieds and Facebook market etc for glass DJs
I picked up 16 recently from a bloke clearing his dad's she'd out....£30 delivered

So if you (or anyone else) is in the Dewsbury/Wakefield area and wants a few, you can have some - as I can't used that many!!!

 

[cushyno]

I got lucky a few years back. Went to the local refuse site to drop off some junk. On the way out I spotted 8 demijohns left for glass recycling. So I rehomed them ;-)

 

[GerritT]

£7 for a brand-new glass gallon demi-john here. £24 for a new PET 6-gallon with tap. I stopped looking for recycles.

 

[crowcrow]

I used the plastic 5 litre water bottles for brewing at all stages - even stuck an ipa in one and conditioned it in then and served it with my handpull pump - worked well for all... But a pain to clean and don't 'look' great.

Good for trying stuff out though as a first investment. Esp while you keep an eye out for free or cheap 2nd hand demijohns