I picked up some bewdy flagons off gumtree in Perth.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belmont/ ... 1088646278These are not mine nor do I know the gentleman outside this ad. Just thought you guys and gals might need some cheap bottles.
The bottles used to be used by his deceased father to collect port from the swan valley.
They need a clean and have some etching on the inside. I tried weak (glacial acetic) and strong (96% sulphuric) acids, sodium hydroxide, PPW (threw that in as an afterthought) and even concentrated aqueous ammonia (obviously not all at the same time) to remove it from the 4 worst bottles and it didn't shift it at all. I have to assume its not a salt or at least not one I've ever heard of that could exist in wine flagons. Just a leftover bit of character from 30 years of sitting under the house in a small home built wine cellar. Small oak barrel (100 liters?) under there too. Didn't ask about it as I thought 30 years may be a bit long for a barrel to sit with just dregs in it.
If anyone wants some cheap glass storage for their low wines or even aging on oak there was about 70 flagons left after I picked up 25. The guys mum passed and he's selling the house and reluctant to just throw them away. If I wasn't short of space I'd have got 50 of them.
Will need new caps as the plastic ones on them are falling apart.