Acid & PVC bin (vinegar making)

[ToulouseLePlot]

Chums,

I'm toying with the idea of increasing my cider-vinegar output, so many give-aways now the 10L glass jar is just not up to the job. I'm thinking of using a plastic fermenting bin, I don't really know if it's PVC or not, it's a modern, LHBS one. On the bottom it says "LAGAN" and "ergopak" and amusingly says patent pending (I guess there is more to this than meets the eye, but a patent on a bucket?..). Do you know if the acid concentration - about 6% sulphuric equivalent - would be beyond the tolerance of a plastic fermenter? I don't want to poison the folks who are creating this demand.

I'm toying with the idea of going for a submerged fermentation, using a fish-tank aerator, in the hope that this reduces processing time, but looks like I'll need some sort of condenser to stop the loss of liquid and alcohol... and is the foaming a problem that 200mm of headroom wouldn't resolve? Without apology I suppose I'm asking has anyone gone down this path before? Some hints would be appreciated if you have before I go and make a real smelly mess.

Your thoughts, as always, gratefully received.

[Cellar_Rat]

I do mine in plastic - just poured in and let it! It will be ok. I have 2mol sulpuric acid in a HDPE plastic bottle.

Never sure about using that fermenter again with wine after the event though?

[ToulouseLePlot]

Reading about submerged fermentation, worry that the air blown off will carry bacteria round the house. I agree that using the same bin for wine is a risk, I think that maybe too, I guess I'll stick to the slow process. Pity, blowing air through it cuts processing from 6 weeks to 36 hrs, though it creates other complexities. How long did yours take? Are you doing it in your wine/beer room or somewhere else?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Cellar_Rat]

I do mine completely away form the wine = other end of room - me PARANOID you bet.

The brewland starter is good.