Blue 5 Gallon Jugs

[Bucket Head]

That slight, new plastic smell is what you want to smell. The guy's are right- the syrup won't take that on. I've got some jugs that I've used for years and they still have that "plasticky" smell to them. That's the sign, or smell, of a properly washed out container. Just be sure you rinse/flush your jugs out a few times with only hot water every time you empty them. If you don't rinse well, they will have a fermentation smell to them in short order, which never goes away. They are junk at that point.

Steve

[tgormley358]

Thanks for the reassurances about the plastic odor. I rinsed mine wel before first use.

Tom

[tgormley358]

First time using the 5-gal jugs this year. I have 3, one for each Golden Del, Amber rich, Dark robust. Once I open a jug to make a few bottles, I assume I then need to keep it refrigerated from then on to avoid contamination? Hadn’t thought of this. How do you all keep it cold? Buy a new fridge?

[SeanD]

First time using the 5-gal jugs this year. I have 3, one for each Golden Del, Amber rich, Dark robust. Once I open a jug to make a few bottles, I assume I then need to keep it refrigerated from then on to avoid contamination? Hadn’t thought of this. How do you all keep it cold? Buy a new fridge?

Chest freezer and plan ahead. Before I hot packed I relied on the chest freezer for all my bulk storage. With combinations of 4 and 5-gallon buckets I could fit 35-40 gallons in there. That said, bottling 5 gallons at once goes very quickly. I'm assuming you have a big enough bottler if you hot packed the blue jugs. It's only 20 quarts or some combination of quarts, pints, etc. You are better off bottling the whole container at once.

[tgormley358]

Chest freezer and plan ahead. Before I hot packed I relied on the chest freezer for all my bulk storage. With combinations of 4 and 5-gallon buckets I could fit 35-40 gallons in there. That said, bottling 5 gallons at once goes very quickly. I'm assuming you have a big enough bottler if you hot packed the blue jugs. It's only 20 quarts or some combination of quarts, pints, etc. You are better off bottling the whole container at once.

Thanks Woodvill