5 litre water bottle

[pepper442]

Just in case anyone's interested, our local Asda (Wigan) is selling the Aqua Water at 50p a 5 litre bottle.

I know some people use these bottles as demijohns.

[lockwood1956]

excellent, thanks for the heads up

regards
bob

[darrel]

Excellent thanks. Even though i prefer the look of the Glass D/J's on the worktop I do prefer the wider mouth on the plastic bottles. Also for some strange reason I always find that plastic bottles always finish fermenting a couple of days before the glass ones?????

[solly]

Thanks for the heads up m8............but does anyone know where to get the cap and gromet from (cap would be pre-drilled to take gromet) to make a fully working Plastic DemiJohn from the plastic water bottles sold at Asda and other stores?

[goldseal]

You need one of these, and a suitable drill bit to make the hole:

http://www.hobbywinesupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=142

I use a step-drill (a cone-shaped thingy) - I have half a dozen Tesco 5 litre water bottles which I use as fermenters.

[darrel]

I just bore a hole in the lid with a kitchen knife and wedge the bubbler in tightly. As yet after 10 batches its still working well and not letting any air through.
If you do this PLEASE be carefull. Im an expert at using kitchen knifes for completly unsuitable tasks (much to the annoyance of my wife )

[pepper442]

Hi, I bought something similar to this off ebay, if it helps.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/13mm-1-2-Rubber-Wiring-Grommets-Electrical-25-Qty_W0QQitemZ270397470358QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item3ef4f1f696&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Alison

[pepper442]

And then used the water bottle lids, and airlocks.

[rantan]

i just put the lid on, but don't turn it. pressure lifts the lid as and when needed. no need for complicated means of fitting air locks unless you like that sort of thing

[darrel]

i just put the lid on, but don't turn it. pressure lifts the lid as and when needed. no need for complicated means of fitting air locks unless you like that sort of thing

Im liking the sound of the simplicity of that. Is there not a risk of bacteria contamination though once fermenting has subsided?

[fatbloke]

it's either all that, or you can get one of those drill bits that is conical and then drill the lid to the size of the bottom of a standard size rubber bung.

You'd have to search but there was talk about that because some of us have got our hands on both 3 and 5 US gallon water cooler bottles (like the ones on the top of office water coolers). Which means that those bottles aren't perfect as they're made of poly carbonate and that can retains smell/colour stains, but as "some of us" can get them easily, it just means that we can make larger batches without the expense of 22.5/25 litre glass.

regards

jtfb

[billybuntus]

Hello,

the best method (without bodging with tape etc) is to buy the rubber grommets from ebay, the description on ebay says they require a 12.5mm drill bit to make the hole but a 12mm drill provides a much better fit.

The 12mm drill bit should be a Spur point bit (pointy bit in the middle to guide the hole) see here for image of the drill > http://www.diydata.com/tool/drillbits/drillbits.php

The best method is to place the water bottle screw like upside down on a flat surface (an old piece of wood, Not your kitchen bench!) set your drill to reverse and push down slightly whilst keeping tight hold of the lid. Once a round circle has been slightly cut return your drill to its normal drill mode and drill the remains of the plastic out.

Wash the rubber grommet and lid leave both wet for easy fitting of the grommet and off you go

(It sounds long winded but all is over in a few seconds )

[blackcurrant]

Apologies for resurrecting an ancient thread, but I didn't want to start a new one on a topic that may have been done to death.

I have two gallons of wine on the go, both similar to the newby recipe Wine number one. They're in 5-litre plastic mineral water bottles from Sainsburys with gromets & airlocks fitted in the drilled top. I bought these not because they're much cheaper than glass demijohns but because they're much easier to get hold of - I can't find demijohns anywhere in my part of London.

So my question is whether I can continue using the plastic DJs to mature wines for a few weeks or even months after I've racked them when they've finished. I've read that the type of plastic lets oxygen seep slowly inside, leading to spoilage (but isn't that what corks do too?). I suspect they'll be fine for a few weeks, but I'd like to have a go at a heavier red and want to know if one of these will do the job for a year.

[lockwood1956]

I am happy fermenting in plastic, but for ageing i either bottle it or transfer to glass

[goldseal]

Isn't it irritating when you spend ages typing a reply, then somehow lose it ?

Anyway ...

Your water bottles should be OK for a couple of months. I have kept wine in them for 3 or 4 months, but I couldn't tell you longer than that.

You may want to invest in some 5 litre Better Bottles. These are made of a special PET plastic, and you can use them in place of glass. I have kept wine in the bigger (23 litre) versions for over a year.

They are tough and light (and therefore straightforward to buy mail order). They use the same airlock grommets as you would use in a home-made fermenter.

If you buy one/some, make sure they are actually Better Bottles (trade name). If you see a '5 litre plastic fermenter' for sale, it will be VERY similar to a supermarket water bottle.

I would ferment in your water bottles, then age in the Better Bottles.