PET Carboys

Anyone used PET carboys?

Thinking about buying a 5 gallon.

Are they as safe as glass? do they leech flavors?

Better Bottles. Everyone uses them.

They are infinitely safer than glass.

They work great.

I've got 2, 5 gallon ones. I stopped using them after my first time. A Pain in the buttowski if you ask me. When ever you pick them up, the plastic is pressured, hence, everything gets sucked in. Ironic you post this because I just pulled mine out of storage as I will have to use them for my secondary for a Helles I just brewed (my glass secondaries have a Flanders brown in them). I;ll palce them into Milk Crates to thrawd what I was talking about above. Also, the neck of these things has to be completely dry for them to accecpt an air lock. Another annoying factor. Safer, yes. Much safer then Glass. But, a pain in the ass to deal with. I have been fermenting in glass for going on 18 years, and with a little common sense, and (knocking on wood here), Ihave never had an issue with breakage. I keep all my glass carboys in Milk Crates.

I think it was Jamil who spoke with one of their reps in Australia and he had something like 18 sent to him. He has been using them for almost a year now and I have not heard of him having any issues. I have heard of TONS of people totally falling in love and having no problems.

I wouldn't do it just because I'm a sucker for glass and my LHBS doesn't carry them. Other than that I would be on board to use them if I could just get one without paying shipping.

MY LHBS sells a 5 gallon for 22.99

Thinking about picking one up soon to do 3.5 gallon batches in.

My only complaint about them is they're not big enough. But they're sooooooo easy to carry, even with wet hands. And I'm terrified of glass. Did you see the story in Zymurgy from a guy who had his hand almost completely severed due to a breaking carboy? Holy crap.

I have 5 of them (all 6-gallon bottles). They stay full.

I had 5 glass carboys. Broke one while full. Gave one away. Returned one to the store. The last 2 sit empty, perpetually.

Here's 2000 words:

RLinNH said:

I've got 2, 5 gallon ones. I stopped using them after my first time. A Pain in the buttowski if you ask me. When ever you pick them up, the plastic is pressured, hence, everything gets sucked in. Ironic you post this because I just pulled mine out of storage as I will have to use them for my secondary for a Helles I just brewed (my glass secondaries have a Flanders brown in them). I;ll palce them into Milk Crates to thrawd what I was talking about above. Also, the neck of these things has to be completely dry for them to accecpt an air lock. Another annoying factor. Safer, yes. Much safer then Glass. But, a pain in the ass to deal with. I have been fermenting in glass for going on 18 years, and with a little common sense, and (knocking on wood here), Ihave never had an issue with breakage. I keep all my glass carboys in Milk Crates.

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Been using the 5 & 6 gal for quite some time (they also sell a 3 gal). Have
had nothing but positive results/experiences with them. With respect to the suck back, I always have a universal bung & air lock in them when I move them around so perhaps this is why I have been able to completely avoid this. Never have had a problem with putting the bung/airlock in when the neck is wet. In fact I sanitize just prior to racking the cooled wort into them and consequently the neck is always wet.

I love glass - there is definitely the aesthetic factor that BB 's don't have. Never "worried" about breaking glass although I suppose it was in the back of my mind - worried about herniated discs from the roughly 60 lbs that I had to haul up and down the staircase.

However, every batch that I have fermented in the BB has turned out
fine/great. Never have used a brush on one and I have had some serious gunk on a regular basis (severe hop head). Oxy removes everything. The weight issue of hauling carboys up and down stairs is what forced me initially to BB's. A BB coupled with a Brew Hauler make it a snap.

They have some cons, but as long as you realize what they are, they work great. The biggest one is that they can scratch. Once that happens, you start risking infections. The only other real con is long term storage o2 permiability. Im talking years like if your doing a sour. For everyday ale/lager use, they dont seem to have much of an effect.

Overall I went the other route and sold my BB for another glass carboy. Never have to worry about the BB cons....though glass has the ultimate con...it can break and cause injury.

The only con is that you are paying too much for what they are, and that's why I like glass. At least a big glass bottles seems to be worth over $20. A big coke bottle for 22 dollars just seems ridiculous. That being said, if they were being sold for a more reasonable price (dunno, $10?) I'd buy a bunch of them.

yeah better bottles seem like a ripoff imo

I have a 6 gallon and like it's weigh, but it does give a little when you move it causing the trub to be stirred up. I saw a comment about putting it in a milk crate, cool idea.

Question, I use mine as a secondary (Have a 6.5 gallon bucket as primary, is this big enough to be a primary? Using the bucket works great, but I would love to see what is going on in the bucket.

I guess that you can scratch them since they are made of PET plastic but again I have never had to use a brush so this is not an issue.

It was my understanding that PET was not oxygen permeable.

I paid $20 for my 6 gal BB's. Not cheap per se but not that bad. The ported versions that they sell are a rip off as nice as they are.

While glass carboys are beautiful and nice to work with they are very heavy and present a risk that the BB's don't and the BB's do everynbit as good of a job fermenting as glass. Montanaandy

BrewNinja1 said:

They have some cons, but as long as you realize what they are, they work great. The biggest one is that they can scratch. Once that happens, you start risking infections. The only other real con is long term storage o2 permiability. Im talking years like if your doing a sour. For everyday ale/lager use, they dont seem to have much of an effect.

Overall I went the other route and sold my BB for another glass carboy. Never have to worry about the BB cons....though glass has the ultimate con...it can break and cause injury.

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According to better bottle's website, the oxygen issue is really moot. Yes, their PET is more oxygen permeable than glass, but the amount of oxygen that seeps in, even over a period of years, is negligible. Supposedly, you get more oxygen into solution by taking a sample with a wine thief than letting it sit untouched for years.

Edit: to the OP, I use Better Bottles extensively, and i'll never go back to glass, if just for the weight issue (glass is frickin heavy!)

I broke a 6-gallon glass carboy and cut my foot. Since then I have only bought Better Bottles, and installed handles on my remaining glass carboys.

The disadvantages of the BB's versus glass are easily overcome. BB's are easy to clean. I use warm water and OxiClean, and they come clean readily without brushing. (You can't use hot water in a BB, and you shouldn't use a carboy brush, either, because that scratches them up.) When I am ready to ferment, I move the BB full of wort using a solid stopper to keep dirt out and wort in. I place the BB in the designated corner of my basement, then replace the solid stopper with a drilled one so I can set the airlock.

Others have mentioned they are lighter, safer, etc. +1 to all of that.

are normal Culligan water bottles made of PET? I would like to bulk-age some cider without taking up real estate in one of my glass carboys. Would a water bottle impart off-flavors after 6-12 months of cider fermenting/aging?

twd000 said:

are normal Culligan water bottles made of PET? I would like to bulk-age some cider without taking up real estate in one of my glass carboys. Would a water bottle impart off-flavors after 6-12 months of cider fermenting/aging?

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You can use the bottles if they are labeled #1 or #2. Most likely though your bottles are #7 and not safe to use.

I have a 5gal poland spring 'eco-bottle' water cooler jug that is #1 plastic, just fermented an IPA in it... only cost me $6 and it was full of spring water

I know what the BB website says, but the fact is that all information available on "special o2 reducing" PET shows that it is still considerable higher in o2 permiability than glass. If your long term aging a beer, I personally wouldnt use one. If its a couple months, then your not going to notice a difference. Do what feels good to you though!

BrewNinja1 said:

I know what the BB website says, but the fact is that all information available on "special o2 reducing" PET shows that it is still considerable higher in o2 permiability than glass. If your long term aging a beer, I personally wouldnt use one. If its a couple months, then your not going to notice a difference. Do what feels good to you though!

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How long is 'long term' to you?

How often do you make a beer that fits this 'long term' category where you 'might' be concerned about oxidation?

passedpawn said:

I have 5 of them (all 6-gallon bottles). They stay full.

I had 5 glass carboys. Broke one while full. Gave one away. Returned one to the store. The last 2 sit empty, perpetually.

Here's 2000 words:

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That is a pretty sight.

I'm fermenting a batch with my first BB. I doubt that I will go back to plastic buckets. I had no trouble getting the bung to stick, and I love being able to see the fermentation action. BB's are expensive, and the accessories are ridiculous. Just bought a second BB along with some PBW for soaking between batches.

I had some glass carboys during my first HB go-round in the mid 80s, and they scared the crap out of me. Besides, I ferment in my 3 foot high crawl space that has a cement floor. Don't want to drag glass carboys over that stuff.

I only use old 5 gallon water jugs, from water coolers. They work just fine. They are plastic. They might be oxygen permiable, I don't know what the issue there is. I only go about 1-1.5 months in the carboy so... If oxygen permiated beer is going to be my dying bed, tell me where to lay my head. (apologies to Townes)

I considered using the water cooler jugs but did not like the fact that they say something like "For water only" on them. Then, I went and looked at the resin identification codes and possible health concerns. Combining these two things, plus the fact that beer is a strange acidic liquid with lots of chemical reactions going on during fermentation, I decided against the water coolers. I'm sure the effects are minimal at best, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

The only time I use either of my two 5 gal. glass carboys now is when I have an extended secondary. For anything else, I use my two 5 gal. Better Bottles. Suck back is not an issue for me, because the only time I lift them full, they have a sanitized foil cap on the neck = suck back not an issue. When I set them up on the table where they are to stay, I then put in the sanitized stopper / airlock.

I am in a better situation than many, since I only have to lift any full carboy about 4 feet and carry it 3. I never have to carry a full carboy up or down stairs. For everything else, it's bucket time!