I've read some discussions on other websites that though made of different material there is no significant difference in performance as a carboy between better bottles versus a 5 gallon plastic water cooler bottle. There must be a good reason for paying $30 plus shipping for an Better Bottle versus driving down to Lowes and picking up 5 gallons of spring water that you can use to brew in a Plastic bottle that looks just like a better bottle for less thatn $15 (about 1/2 that if you have an empty one to trade in). I am sure has the answers.
There are different grades of plastics. 1 and 2 are food grade but most water bottles are 7. Also, you can get BB predrilled, but if you can find a 1 or 2 grade bottle, then by all means have at it.
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It really comes down to oxygen permeability, but I don't think anyone has proven that the "water cooler" bottles fail to prevent oxygen from entering your beer in the time frame that it is fermenting.
That being said, the decision you have to make is whether or not it's worth it to shell out the extra $15 for the piece of mind that a better bottle offers?
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Originally Posted by ohiobrewtus
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+1 to the O2 permeability issue. PET is the only plastic I know of that provides a strong barrier against O2.
I use #7 water jugs to recycle my immersion chiller water; the plastic surface of the water jugs is "rougher" than the Better Bottles are. Better Bottles are very smooth, close to the smoothness of glass; this allows them to be cleaned and sanitized better than a water jug IMO.
FWIW, if you can get the new 3L bottles of poland spring, they are made of #1 / PET plastic. They would be a pain to clean as they are ribbde (for her pleasure?), but as a container that you sanitize once then throw away after fermentation I think they would work quite well.
At a grocery store the sell the 5 gal bottles with a handle on it for $8.99, but I'll have to inquire on what type of plastic grade it is, I was thinking of using one for the Apfelwine.
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Those are typically the cloudy white, rough/porous plastic (same stuff they make milk jugs out of). #1 is clear, hard and slick. It feels almost like glass ..
Better Bottle or plastic water cooler bottle?
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