Substitutes for demi johns?
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:41 pm
We only have six and little hope of finding any more here in France. I DO have lots of corks and airlocks though and have searched without success for something I could use as a substitute, unless I want to spend cash we don't have.
When I took some broken glass up to our bottle bank yesterday I discovered a pile of nasty looking flagons which obviously would not fit through the hole of the bottle bank. They were dirty green and were covered in mouldy wicker. Anyway I turfed my youngest out of her pushchair, piled her older brother up with four and put the rest in the pushchair for the walk home. Once the wicker was prised off and the bottles were scrubbed and cleaned inside with a handful of gravel I find I have fourteen large and four small elegant pale green bottles. They are very slim at the neck and broaden out at the base. They have the word Ayelense embossed around the neck.
I've discovered that a demijohn cork and airlock fits straight into the top of the bigger ones (they hold around 6 pints each). Is there any reason why I shouldn't just go ahead and use these for our winemaking? It would certainly broaden our scope for all the fruit I'm coming across at the moment. The small ones (about 3 pints) should make great bottles for the wine once it's ready, they take a normal sized cork.
When I took some broken glass up to our bottle bank yesterday I discovered a pile of nasty looking flagons which obviously would not fit through the hole of the bottle bank. They were dirty green and were covered in mouldy wicker. Anyway I turfed my youngest out of her pushchair, piled her older brother up with four and put the rest in the pushchair for the walk home. Once the wicker was prised off and the bottles were scrubbed and cleaned inside with a handful of gravel I find I have fourteen large and four small elegant pale green bottles. They are very slim at the neck and broaden out at the base. They have the word Ayelense embossed around the neck.
I've discovered that a demijohn cork and airlock fits straight into the top of the bigger ones (they hold around 6 pints each). Is there any reason why I shouldn't just go ahead and use these for our winemaking? It would certainly broaden our scope for all the fruit I'm coming across at the moment. The small ones (about 3 pints) should make great bottles for the wine once it's ready, they take a normal sized cork.
. They will be fine as long as you sterilize them and if making a red wine then they are perfect for racking as the green glass will stop it losing its colour.