Better bottles...simply better!

So I recently acquired two 6 gal BB's with racking outlets and finally got to use them. I can't believe how great the valves work. It left only about a cup of beer in the primary, and I completely skipped out on all the trub. It is about as fast as a siphon but without the aggravation of holding it and tilting at the same time. I imagine it's better for dryhopping as well. I plan on adding two more 5 gal with racking outlets soon. It's just soo much easier!


Dan

Amen brother! Once you get the two 5 gallon BB's you will be able to set up for oxygen free transfers. Connected properly, the CO2 from the primary fermentation is used to purge the air from the secondary. A quick change of the tubing and you are transferring without any exposure to oxygen. You will need the ported closures, dry tap airlocks and 90˚ barb fittings made by Better-Bottle to do this. The water bags are just so I can see the bubble rate.

Yea...not to mention they weigh less than glass don't break if you go from hot to cold too fast, can be drained into a plastic cup instead of buying a carboy drainer, won't cut your arm in half if they break while carrying them, and can cure ED in most men. But hey, go glass if you want.........I'll stick to better bottles.

Their fittings are pricey..but it makes the process so much easier...it's more than worth it!


Dan

They're nice unless you scratch the inside. Don't clean your better bottles with a carboy brush.

Catfish said:

They're nice unless you scratch the inside. Don't clean your better bottles with a carboy brush.

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What do you clean them with then?

Hot water and oxyclean, shake shake shake, dump.

My first one's on the way. According to UPS, it's "Out for delivery."

Bobby_M said:

Hot water and oxyclean, shake shake shake, dump.

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Nah. I've had plenty of stuff that would just never come clean that way.

Push a dish rag into the carboy, let it soak in the sanitizer for awhile, then dump out 99.9% of the water and shake the carboy with the rag inside. Sort of "aim" the rag as you shake to hit the trouble spots. Then, once it's visually clean, pull the rag out and resanitize.

All I've ever and to do to clean the BBs is fill with water/oxyclean and SOAK for 40 minutes to an hour, then shake, dump, and rinse.

JnJ said:

All I've ever and to do to clean the BBs is fill with water/oxyclean and SOAK for 40 minutes to an hour, then shake, dump, and rinse.

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I'd like to know more details about your procedure because I have bottles that've soaked in oxyclean for over a week and I still have yeast deposits on the bottom.

Jet bottle & carboy washer works like a charm to blast off any deposits on the bottom:
http://www.antonco.com/jetcarboy/

johnsma22 : That oxygen-free transfer is very cool -- I've never seen it before. What do you do about blow-offs? Do you just connect the two bottles together after the fermentation has settled down a little? I'm guessing it would work just as well with carboy caps instead of the ported stoppers.

EDIT: deleted -- oops, I hit "post" twice

Toot said:

I'd like to know more details about your procedure because I have bottles that've soaked in oxyclean for over a week and I still have yeast deposits on the bottom.

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Better Bottles or carboys, though?

BBs are light enough where you can shake them VERY aggressively with a couple gallons of water in there. I can't imagine not being able to shake/slosh loose any sediment. Carboys, on the other hand, you can't shake as aggressively because of the weight and the danger. When I've cleaned my BB, I haven't even needed to do much of a soak to get the gunk out.

I mean with better bottles..

I have only done about 3 batches with my better bottle primary & about 7 batches with my secondary and I have yet to need anything more than a soak with hot water and cleanser than a shake to get all the debris/gook/trub/ect out.

My BB cleans super easy, I've never had a problem at all. I just blast my jet carboy washer into it, and it's clean as a whistle. I don't use it for primary, though, just for secondary and for wine. I've never used anything on it except water and sanitizer.

Toot,
I have no idea why it works for me and not for you. I usually clean them directly after racking out of them, maybe you wait a bit and it dries too much? I first fill with about a half gallon of hot water, shake then dump and repeat that until the loose stuff is washed away. Then I mix a gallon of hot water and oxyclean, shake shake shake aggressively. If there is still some krausen ring gunk at the top (which I find is the only stubborn part), I lay the BB on its side, rotating a bit every 10 mins or so until it's all clean. Then I shake once more and dump. I've never had to use a brush or other scrubbing technique. I can imagine throwing in a handful of 2-row or rice to act as a mild abbrasive as you shake if necessary. Moral of the story, there's no reason to mix up 5 gallons of oxyclean solution when a gallon will do.

I will probably pick up a carboy jet or a higher pressure hose nozzle and start the process with that and see if I get better results...

Using a soft cloth, as Toot detailed, is a procedure recommended by the BB manufacturer. It's quicker than soaking. Why change?

jelsas said:

johnsma22 : That oxygen-free transfer is very cool -- I've never seen it before. What do you do about blow-offs? Do you just connect the two bottles together after the fermentation has settled down a little? I'm guessing it would work just as well with carboy caps instead of the ported stoppers.

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I connect them together initially, then watch closely to see if I'm going to get a blow off. If not, I leave them connected. If a blow off is imminent, I disconnect them, place the tip of the tubing in some sanitizer and install a blow off tube into the primary. Once the blow off settles down, I reconnect them.

As far as stuck on crud is concerned, I've never had any crud that could stand up to a shake with hot PBW solution and a wash cloth inserted into the BB. I put about a gallon of hot PBW solution in, insert a wash cloth and shake. The rubbing action of the wash cloth sloshing around has proven sufficient to remove even the most stubborn crud. After the shake I fill them to the top with more hot PBW solution and let them soak for a day. In most cases the wash cloth is not necessary, just a 24 hour soak in PBW.

Even this mess didn't last after a 30 second shake with PBW and a wash cloth!

Toot said:

I'd like to know more details about your procedure because I have bottles that've soaked in oxyclean for over a week and I still have yeast deposits on the bottom.

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5 gal Better Bottle - 2 scoops oxyclean, enough hot water to bring foam to top of opening (usually foams over for a while), wait 40 or so minutes, start draining through racking adaptor (so it gets clean too), with about 1 gallon left, pickup, place palm over opening and shake well. Drain remaining water/oxyclean, and rinse well.
You do have to fill it immediately after removing the beer. It may be tougher to do if you allow the crud to dry in the BB.
Like I said, I have done this with ever batch I have made.

Well, all my crud dries in the better bottle. I get a ring of hops debris that indicates where high krausen once was. Two weeks later or whenever I get around to it, I rack off to secondary.