4L Glass Demijohn (Mandfles) - Small-Batch Fermentation Bottle for Mead, Cider & Wine
The 4-litre glass demijohn is the small-batch brewer's favourite vessel — known to Dutch brewers as the mandfles or gistfles, the classic fermentation bottle that has carried homemade wine, cider and mead through kitchens for generations, and that modern brewers have rediscovered as the perfect experimentation format. Four litres is exactly the size where fermentation becomes playful: small enough that a failed experiment costs almost nothing, big enough that a success fills a shelf of bottles.
That experimentation angle is where a demijohn earns its shelf. Split a single 20-litre brew across several demijohns and ferment each on a different yeast — the same wort on a kveik, an abbey strain and a clean ale yeast, side by side, is the fastest brewing education money can buy. The same goes for dry-hop trials, fruit additions and oak experiments: one base beer, five variables, five demijohns of answers. Beyond beer, this is the natural home of the small-batch mead, the autumn cider pressing, country wines and kombucha — and an ideal secondary vessel for clearing or ageing a small batch under airlock. Glass is the material brewers trust for long ferments: flavour-neutral, effectively oxygen-tight, easy to sanitise completely, and unlike plastic it doesn’t scratch easily into places where bacteria can hide.
Choose your style: the classic dame-jeanne with its smooth cork-finish neck — available bottle-only or ferment-ready with drilled silicone bung and airlock included — or the screw-neck jug, the straight-sided workhorse with a threaded mouth. Practical notes from the small-batch trenches: keep clear glass out of direct light — ferment somewhere dark or drape a towel over it to protect hops and wine from light damage. The carry lug at the neck is for an empty bottle only; a full demijohn gets carried with two hands under the base, always. Fill to the shoulder for ferments with a krausen, leaving headspace for the show.
Key features
- Classic 4-litre clear glass demijohn — the small-batch standard
- Two styles: traditional dame-jeanne (cork neck) or straight screw-neck jug
- Ferment-ready option: dame-jeanne with drilled bung and airlock included
- Perfect split-batch experiment vessel: one brew day, multiple yeast or hop trials
- Flavour-neutral glass that’s easy to clean and sanitise
- A finished batch fills roughly a dozen 33cl bottles — minus the yeast’s share
Usage
Ferments: mead, cider, country wine, kombucha, small-batch beer, split-batch experiments, fruit and oak trials
Secondary: clearing, ageing and bulk-conditioning small batches under airlock
Notes: the dame-jeanne takes a standard drilled bung and airlock (included in the kit variant). Keep out of direct light. Carry lug is for an empty bottle only. Sanitise like any fermenter before use.
Quick facts
- Brand: CraftBrew
- Type: glass demijohn / fermentation bottle
- Capacity: 4 litres
- Also known as: mandfles, gistfles, gistingsfles, dame-jeanne
- Material: clear glass
- Styles: dame-jeanne (cork neck) or screw-neck jug
- Kit option: dame-jeanne with drilled silicone bung & airlock
- Use: small-batch fermentation, split-batch experiments, mead, cider, wine, kombucha, secondary
Related products
- Airlock — S Shape — the demijohn’s standard companion; fit it through a drilled bung and fermentation is sealed
- Silicone Bung 26/32 mm with 9 mm Hole — drilled for an airlock stem; check it against your bottle’s neck diameter
- Auto-Siphon Mini + 1.5m Tubing — the small-batch racking kit: transfers your finished small batch off the sediment
- Kveik Yeastery K.1 Voss Organic 7g — the split-batch experiment strain: fast, hot and forgiving in small trials
- Vinoferm Glucose 1kg — chaptalise a thin cider or prime the finished batch for bottling