Will the bottle found the attic poision me ???

[WaterWolf]

I recently took up a new hobby. No, it's not bottle collecting, it's wine making. I started making some blackberry wine in October and while I was looking around the house for something to ferment it in I found an old stoneware jar/bottle. It works fine but recently I've been told that the glaze on some old stoneware and ceramic containers contains lead which could leach out if you put an acidic substance in it (ie. wine). So I've been trying to figure out if my jar could be covered in such a glaze and if it could end up killing me ! I don't know the origon of this bottle, aparently my parents found it in the attic when they moved in.

I can't show you a photo at the moment as my camera is broken so I will have to describe it. The jar is a one gallon container shaped simply as a cylinder at the bottom and a cone above that with a large lip/spout at the top. The jar is about a foot tall. The bottom cylinder is a white / grey colour and the top is a yellow / brown colour. There's a rounded handle on the cone part of the bottle. Across the front of it is 'IREL' in big letters with each letter in an overlapping circle. The cone part is indented with a stamp that says 'Govancroft Pottery Glasgow' with the number 11 in between the words. There is also a larger number 1 stamped on the cone but I think this refers to its one gallon capacity.

I would very much like to know if my bottle is safe or whether I should throw out my wine ! Any advise would be gladly accepted.

 

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[downindixie]

I would not use an old bottle found,there is no telling what was put in it after its orginal use and yes you could be poisoned.The new wine bottles sold in stores that use corks is what I would use,besides look what fun you can have emptying the new ones.

Seriously the old bottles are dangerous to reuse.I have dug bottles for many years and you would be surprise at what was in some of the bottles I,ve dug.Even ones found in houses.To me its not worth the chance you would be taking!

 

[1320]

Lead is a very bad metal.

 

[gsmeiers]

Don't risk it!

I've seen very large pyrex class containers at rummage sales for $5 that would be great for making wine (or any other beverage.. )

Keep an eye out at rummage sales or estate sales.. Find something that is SEE THROUGH, and NON-PORRUS!

 

[SASQUASH]

Hay I would be glad to despose of the old one's for you ha ha