Am I crazy to use these bottles?

[Jersh]

I'm thinking about using these to bottle a batch of beer for a homebrew contest I'll be participating in later this summer.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23674&catid=805&clickid=searchresults

I contacted the company and they said that these are not marked as food-safe, however I do know that high density polyethelene is considered food safe. I know I'd be taking a risk using these so I'm going to keep searching for other sources, but if I can't find anything I might go with these.

This contest is being put on by a local distributor and we have to have a theme to our beer, and we're judged not only on the beer but also presentation, bottle/label originality, etc. We're going with a Harley / biker theme and the beer is going to be a big motor-oil thick whiskey barrel aged imperial stout, so I figure why not put it in a motor oil bottle? Carbonation will be quite low on this one so I don't think that should be a problem.

Any thoughts on this crazy idea of mine?

 

[Ravenshead]

I wouldn't have any problem using them for the purpose you have in mind. The food-safe rating is a more about surface smoothness and quality control than anything else. For a single-use short-duration application like this you should be fine. Just sanitize well.

I'm not sure if they'll hold much or any carbonation though.

 

[Jersh]

Cool, thanks for the heads up... I plan on soaking them in hot soapy water for a while after I receive them to hopefully remove any crud that may be there from manufacturing and then of course I'll hit them all with StarSan before I bottle...

Do you doubt that they'll hold carbonation due to the screw cap? I had trouble with my Tap-A-Draft bottles not holding carbonation and to fix it I cut small square pieces of Press-and-Seal to fit over the opening in the bottle and then screwed the lit on top of that, and that helped a ton, so perhaps I'll do that with these as well...

I wouldn't have any problem using them for the purpose you have in mind. The food-safe rating is a more about surface smoothness and quality control than anything else. For a single-use short-duration application like this you should be fine. Just sanitize well.

I'm not sure if they'll hold much or any carbonation though.

 

[theredbeard]

Cool idea I think. And it's not like it'll be in there forever.

 

[Revvy]

So there's no rules about the bottles all having to be plain and unmarked, like 99% of the contests, eh? Cool. Good idea. I would do an "engine oil stout" myself. Good black and thick.

 

[Jersh]

No, quite the opposite in fact... This is the main distributor for MillerCoors, Heineken, and Guinness and most of the people who work there are partial to these brands because this is where they make most of their money. However, they also distribute for Boston Beer and BB puts on this contest for the distributor. The idea is to get the employees more involved in the process of making and enjoying good beer instead of just selling swill. Last year there were about 30 different teams and they throw a big party where each team puts together a booth and pours their beers for everyone else to sample, and then everyone gets to vote on their favorite beer, booth, labels, costumes, etc. They give out cash prizes for the winners of the previously mentioned catogories that get voted on by the masses, however the 'grand prize' winner is determined by a few folks from BB (in years past Jim Koch has been a judge) and the team who made the grand prize winning beer gets a free trip to the GABF in Denver.

So there's no rules about the bottles all having to be plain and unmarked, like 99% of the contests, eh? Cool. Good idea. I would do an "engine oil stout" myself. Good black and thick.

 

[amandabab]

I'd use them for this purpose.

Test one as soon as you get them to see if the hold pressure, that way you have time if they don't (no surprises on bottling day). Worst case jam an o-ring under the cap.

 

[AndrewT]

You might want to consider the fact that these will balloon outward on the sides when under pressure. They will definitely hold the pressure. Had one I left on outside in the sun with a small amount of gas in it when working on a mower.

 

[Ramitt]

You may also want to test one to see if they give any off flavors.

 

[Revvy]

My biggest concern isn't the top of those, it's the seam/mold line down the side of the bottle. And the thickness of them. I've noticed oil bottles these days ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of rigidness, some of them seem downright paper thin. I'm concerned that they can indeed hold pressure without splitting.

I can't recall, are you bottle conditioning or force carbing in a keg then bottling?

If you're bottle carbing I suggest you get a couple first and do a test run to make sure. Even if you're kegging you might want to make sure and pressure test them.

 

[audger]

The food-safe rating is a more about surface smoothness and quality control than anything else.

not at all. a food rating on plastic is mainly there to certify that the plastic will not leech harmful chemicals into the food. it also ensures that recycled plastics that used to contain harmful chemcials arent reused to contain food and possibly pass those chemicals on.

it has nothing to do with the surface finish- the FDA isnt certifying the design of the product, only the materials of construction.


couple that with the fact that these are designed and rated for no more than zero psi of pressure, and i would not be using them for beer. sorry.

 

[Supurb]

That is hilarious. I like it !

 

[Ravenshead]

not at all. a food rating on plastic is mainly there to certify that the plastic will not leech harmful chemicals into the food. it also ensures that recycled plastics that used to contain harmful chemcials arent reused to contain food and possibly pass those chemicals on.

it has nothing to do with the surface finish- the FDA isnt certifying the design of the product, only the materials of construction.


couple that with the fact that these are designed and rated for no more than zero psi of pressure, and i would not be using them for beer. sorry.

Meh. HDPE is HDPE, food-grade and non-food-grade is the same chemically. The only difference is the food grade has to be smoother to protect against bacterial and other microbe build up as far as I can tell. The FDA stamp doesn't impress me much one way or the other.

I've been using non-food grade (#2) buckets for all kinds of brewing activities for multiple batches without issue. I haven't used them for fermenting (for obvious reasons) but I would consider using a brand new one in a pinch.

 

[Ravenshead]

My biggest concern isn't the top of those, it's the seam/mold line down the side of the bottle. And the thickness of them. I've noticed oil bottles these days ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of rigidness, some of them seem downright paper thin. I'm concerned that they can indeed hold pressure without splitting.

I can't recall, are you bottle conditioning or force carbing in a keg then bottling?

If you're bottle carbing I suggest you get a couple first and do a test run to make sure. Even if you're kegging you might want to make sure and pressure test them.

This and I'm not sure if the cap has a gasket-ish function to seal the top. All of the above are legitimate structural concerns. I'd definitely try a couple though, sounds like a kick ass container for my "Black 'Erl' Porter".

 

[zheol]

maybe try to find one short and fat and round then make your labels to look like an oil Filter same concept diffrent presitation