plumber
Well-Known Member
Is there any difference between a Better Bottle and a plastic water cooler bottle? They are both supposed to be food grade, anyone know if a water cooler bottle can be used?
Better Bottle vs. water cooler bottle
- Thread starter plumber
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
SavageSteve
Well-Known Member
The Better Bottle has negligable oxygen permeability, while the water bottle does not. At least, that's what the BB web site says.
Dunno. Better Bottle $26. Throwing out a batch of beer? Priceless.
I'd rather not find out.
I'd rather not find out.
Not to mention that water bottles are only 5 gallons and there wouldn't be enough head space to be used as a primary. The 6 gallon Better Bottles are just barely big enough for some brews. I'm sure that some will say it's perfectly alright and that they have done it before without any problems. Someone has probably fermented a batch in an old boot that they found on the side of the road, but I wouldn't recommend it, LOL!
Drunkensatyr
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2007
- Messages
- 1,996
- Reaction score
- 22
The only way to tell is to look at the recycle number on the bottom. #1 is PET (exact same as a BB) # 2 is HDPE (still brew friendly for up to a few months) anything larger than that is worthless.
MX1
Texas Ale Works
Ans so the great debate begins again.
Search this out, there are 1000's of post on the subject.
Tim
Search this out, there are 1000's of post on the subject.
Tim
I have three plastic water bottles that I have brewed over 200 gallons of beer in with no problems at all. They are all #1 Pete. The hole in the top of the cap is 5/8" so I just slip in a piece of 5/8" OD nylon tubing and put the other end in a bucket of water for a blowoff tube. Couldn't be easier. The only downside is that they are 5 gals. and not 6. Just adjust your recipe.
It's very hard to find #1 water bottles though. I deliver to grocery stores and there's only one store that I go to that has #1 bottles. I got them for free. All the rest are #7 bottles which are typical. I do have one #7 bottle that I've used as a primary but only because the others were busy at the time.
Don't let people tell you it can't be done. Try it yourself and if you're happy with the results, well then that's all that matters.
I've not tried a rubber boot yet, but if it was #1 Pete and clean, why not?
It's very hard to find #1 water bottles though. I deliver to grocery stores and there's only one store that I go to that has #1 bottles. I got them for free. All the rest are #7 bottles which are typical. I do have one #7 bottle that I've used as a primary but only because the others were busy at the time.
Don't let people tell you it can't be done. Try it yourself and if you're happy with the results, well then that's all that matters.
I've not tried a rubber boot yet, but if it was #1 Pete and clean, why not?
MX1
Texas Ale Works
If the truth be told, I am about to secodary my Belgium Holiday brew in a <gasp on> #7 <gasp off> water bottle. IT will be in there for 2-4 weeks the into the bottles. It really cant be any worse then letting it sit in a primary ale pail for a month that is not air tight.
can it?
Tim
can it?
Tim
The reason that everyone uses BB instead of those water cooler bottles is because the water cooler bottles leach chemicals into any liquid that is in it (including the water...). The chemical has only recently been linked to cancer and developmental disabilities in rats. It is the same chemical in plastic baby bottles.
Look up Bisphenol A and you will get a slue of research on google.
Look up Bisphenol A and you will get a slue of research on google.
You should be tarred, feathered, and forced to drink room temp budweiser....
Seriously though...for my small batch AG experiments, I have 3- 3 gallon water bottles of various <#'s> that I use to no ill effect on the beers, as opposed to my "regular beers" that I leave on primary for a month, these I move to bottles or secondaries only a couple days after fermentation is complete, so I'm not too concerned about the supposed "risks."
(There are a few "big name" members of this forum, who at one time or another have admitted that they own/use one or 2 of them in their breweries as well for stuff.)
If you look at any of the 100,000 threads that I linked in the earlier post, you'll see that that has been discussed up the wazoo as well.....Including the discussion that since BPA bottles are being banned/phased out more and more water bottle manufacturers are using the bottle's made by better bottle (and other similiar manufacturers) as their container of choice, that means rather than finding evil <#7's> (The one's linked to BPA) you are finding more and more <1's> & <2's> including the house water bottles at places like Walmart & Home depot....Most of those threads turn into a <1> & <2> sighting threads, because in some areas the big box stores have already made the switch.....
There's also a couple spring/filter water manufacturers that are already showing the better bottle logo on their marketing material.... On one of those threads I had posted a couple of urls to spring water manufacturers that were proudly showing the betterbottle logo and explaining how it was better than the old bottles and that's why they were switching.
We've also talked about on those threads how some of those things we used to worry about, oxygen permeability and leaching may no longer be valid because of more and more water distrubutors going to BB and other companies seeing the "green" being made becasue of the BPA scare, and are beginning to manufacture bottles of the same type as our firends the BB people...so it is getting more and more to be a matter of searching around. and personal prefrence than a "BB -vs- Water bottle" issue these days as more and more water bottles are becomming better bottles....So it is becomming more of a non-issue....
and a matter of preference.
(besides all this, has anyone besides me ever wondered as to whether the oxygen permeability idea wasn't perpetuated by the glass carboy manufacturers, so that rather than running out and buying a 5 dollar water jug, people would only buy more expensive glass carboys??? Big business wouldn't lie would it?)
MX1
Texas Ale Works
I have looked at many of the sites. Depending on who is "spinning" the site depends on how fast it will kill you. I can believe that there is a health risk, but then again, we are making beer (cirrhosis).
It is hard to believe that if leeching was such an issue, water Co. would still be able to sell it in #7 to the masses. I know some have changed over, hell, I hope they all do, (free BB) but those that have switched have do so from choice and public opinion, not becausr they really think they are killing people IMHO.
I really think the main home brewing issue is O2, and I addressed that in post #9
just my $.02
Tim
Revvy - you posted while I was typing, and I really agree with most all that you have stated. As far as being tarred an featherd, if it were anyother month than AUG, I would have a 6.g gal wide mouth glass carboy purchased. But, I have 4 kids, 2 + SWMBO birthdays in AUG, and school starts up so cloths and supplies....ahhh the joys of parenthood. I am really gonna try to get the BB set-up Like This One.
It is hard to believe that if leeching was such an issue, water Co. would still be able to sell it in #7 to the masses. I know some have changed over, hell, I hope they all do, (free BB) but those that have switched have do so from choice and public opinion, not becausr they really think they are killing people IMHO.
I really think the main home brewing issue is O2, and I addressed that in post #9
just my $.02
Tim
Revvy - you posted while I was typing, and I really agree with most all that you have stated. As far as being tarred an featherd, if it were anyother month than AUG, I would have a 6.g gal wide mouth glass carboy purchased. But, I have 4 kids, 2 + SWMBO birthdays in AUG, and school starts up so cloths and supplies....ahhh the joys of parenthood. I am really gonna try to get the BB set-up Like This One.
You know I was only kidding about the tar and feathering, I hope.
I don't like glass carboys for other reasons than just their price (I like my blood to stay inside my body.)
Actually I have seen beer/wine/meads and ciders on websites made in all matter of plastic containers including jerrycans, and big blue drums....so I really doubt a lot of what I hear about only using certain things....including the oxygen permeability issue....because if CO2 is being produced in the beer and the barrier is permeable to O2, then wouldn't you think that the co2 would be keeping the O2 from getting in as it was pushing to get out?
As well as some of the stuff that has said that it takes a hellova lot more o2 than we believe to actually oxydize beer anyway....So like I said above it really is a matter of choice.
camiller
Well-Known Member
You know I was only kidding about the tar and feathering, I hope.
I was hoping you were kidding about the warm Budweiser
MX1
Texas Ale Works
I knew you were kidding!
No worries, I really do want that BB set up. I even think I could build a shelf that would let me keep the BB in place after I have started fermenting. Now if only I could use google sketch-up.
Tim
No worries, I really do want that BB set up. I even think I could build a shelf that would let me keep the BB in place after I have started fermenting. Now if only I could use google sketch-up.
Tim
ttokar
Member
The 4 gallon water jugs from Sam's Club are PET (recycle #1). While they're small, I just split a 5.5 gallon batch between two of them. It's actually kind of fun because I can use a different yeast strain in each and compare results.
Got 9 fermenters only 1 glass for mead. Never had any trouble #1pet everyone. I don't let them sit long have to keep pipeline going. Water bottles = Free $ for grains and hops....my .02
camiller
Well-Known Member
You know the comment you replied to was 3 years old? As the industry is shifting to #1 from #7 their common everywhere now while three years ago not so much. Three years ago I checked Sam's Lowes, Hobe Sepot, etc and they were all #7. Three years ago the company that delivers water cooler bottles to the company where I work had all #7. They started replacing their inventory I'm guessing about 20% a year because now about 60% of the bottles are #1.
Southernmost11
Active Member
Glass is still my favorite.
ttokar
Member
Yes, I saw the date. I've only recently started using plastic bottles for brewing, so I didn't know how common #1's were these days. Just trying to share a little info...
