Glass Carboys vs Better Bottles?

I'm pretty new here, but I've been lurking for a while, and this question has been bugging me. I'm looking at buying some equipment in the near future, and so I'll need to get an answer on this soon. And yes, I did try the search function , but it actually didn't return anything for "better bottle" in quotes, and when searched without the quotes it didn't leave me much, either.

So, considering that Better Bottles are more durable than glass, and I will be needing to move them around, I've been leaning in that direction. But I didn't want to go ahead and invest cash into them without knowing if they had the community's Seal of Approval. I figure that when I start, I want to start right, and invest in equipment that I'll be able to use for years to come.

Also, will those Carboy Caps fit onto them? I've got a grudge against stoppers from a chemistry class oh-so-many years ago...

Thanks in advance!

Better Bottles are generally considered to be fine. Nobody has any real serious complaints against them. Glass bottles are fine too, nobody has any real serious complaints about them either.

Now, with that said, any intelligent brewer will tell you that one of those choices is clearly superior to the other. The problem is that if you get 2 intelligent brewers together, they won't agree on which one that is. So search the forum for the full debate if you want to know it...

The wiki has an article for this exact subject. It is a pros/cons list compiled from the various threads with this question. I think it can safely be considered the combined wisdom of the forum on this topic. It will give you all info you need to decide for yourself.

Lol, thanks a bunch. I didn't think to check the wiki (it knows all!); I'll keep that in mind. Well, it seems to me that Better Bottles may be better suited to me, as I will need to move them around in a few months, and I do not relish the idea of trucking around large glass containers. Also, as long as you take decent care not to nick up the Better Bottles, they should be fine to brew beers for a reasonably long period of time; the article said "ultra-long" concerns there, and I don't plan to start any Hobgoblin for a while!

the wiki page is good & pretty much sums up the pros & cons. check it out.

For my needs, the Better Bottle is far superior. I move full carboys from the kitchen (brewing) to basement (fermenting) and the added few pounds of glass is a pain. The airlock will suck-back when moving a better bottle, so I just cap it when I move, then put an air lock in after moving.

The real advantage of better bottles IMO is cleaning. A glass bottle that size is a real pain, but the BB is so easy. Also, take into account that if you have exclusively better bottles, you won't need a carboy brush or a carboy drainer. Cleaning is easy w/ a damp rag and draining can be done w/ just a cup.

Just remember not to use a carboy brush on a better bottle and you shouldn't have any problems with scratching on the inside.

Edit: jelsas beat me to it

Oh, I read that article!

Question: how do you get any built-up gunk on the inside of the BB without a brush? Water jet, or maybe the Oxy-clean I've heard about?

stick a wet rag down into the bottle with a couple cups of water and shake it around...

RadicalEd said:

Oh, I read that article!

Question: how do you get any built-up gunk on the inside of the BB without a brush? Water jet, or maybe the Oxy-clean I've heard about?

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I just stuff a rag inside mine and with swriling it around it cleans up pretty easy.

Wow, I didn't think that that would clean everything up. I stand corrected! If that's all it's gonna take to clean up, I'm pretty much sold.

Thanks again!

for those of us that are lazier than the rest, just soak your BB with cleaning solution (I love TSP), overnight, then do it again if need be. I have a carboy brush, but I never use it anymore. There's nothing that lack of hard work and the right detergent won't clean.

I cleaned up a really nasty Better Bottle (Imperial Stout, four days of blow off) by first soaking it in one gallon of warm water with a scoop of OxyClean, and the bottle inverted.

The next day I emptied that, added two cups of water and an old rag. I swished and swirled and it cleaned up really well. Then I rinsed a couple of times, added StarSan and let is soak to get out any odors.

Worked like a charm.

The advantage I've found with Better Bottles is that I can vent the primary into the secondary, and put the air lock on the secondary. When I'm ready to rack to the secondary, I can change the hose configuration and do an airless transfer by feeding CO2 into the primary while feeding the beer into the secondary.

Tony

Just today, I faced this decision after many weeks of consideration. I needed to step it up and get a secondary. After consulting the Wiki and various threads and sources it was a wash, no clear winner.

It came down to these two things:

1: I work in the plastics industry and I deal with PC and PVC 20L bottles frequently. For me, when I see one, it's another day on the job.

2: (The clincher) A bigass glass bottle is friggin cool!!

arturo7 said:

...(The clincher) A bigass glass bottle is friggin cool!!

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It is until that bigass glass bottle comes crashing down and severs your femoral artery, as happened to a good friend of mine! After a med-flight and surgery to save his leg, and months of rehab, he bought Better-Bottles when he finally returned to brewing.

I love my BB. Glass is just a PITA IMO. Also soaking it in oxy clean over night cleans it up like new.

Thanks guys, I'm glad to hear that you haven't had any problems with the BB's.

Better Bottles Rock. Easier to clean, carry, and they don't break. I sold ALL my glass carboys and moved to Better Bottles.

Great to hear, EdWort! (BTW, we share the first name, I do believe! Ed's of the world unite!) I'm especially ordering a carboy for your apfelwine. Sounds easy as pie and probably tastes as good too; if the master's fermenting in these then I've got no worries.

Gotta love Better Bottles! :rockin: