Better-Bottle: Done with glass carboys

Well I have a new better bottle, and I just racked into it. I've also discontinued use of my glass carboy, after only one use!

Yes folks, while cleaning the glass carboy, I slipped and slapped it sideways across the tub. Careful visual examination shows a crack in the side now, near the bottom. The carboy is no longer useful as a storage vessel.

I'll be ordering a second better bottle some day in the future. Not right now, I need to get some money and pay off my credit card, so I can pay rent this month. But in the future, I'll have a second one!

(actually, it might just be a surface crack... and actually maybe I can fuse it back together with a 2400 degree torch... and actually no that probably won't work)

I don't use glass anymore but stainless steel instead. You certainly got lucky your carboy didn't shatter on you.

Ya the glass carboys don't do so well when you forget they are behind your jeep and you accidently drive over them.

I started off with Better Bottles, and I don't think I'll ever use glass.

hey i smashed my glass carboy into a million pieces mid brew once and had to quickly convert my bottling bucket into a fermenter. I now use better bottle. There's just piece of mind knowing you can shake to crap out of them when sanitising and not fear dropping them.

After reading a few stories about dropped glass carboys, I bought a 6G better bottle for my first carboy and now have 3. No glass carboys for me either...

You guys make it sound like you are mad at glass LOL.

I like glass because it is SO easy to clean (just rinse) and will not scratch on the inside.

Plus it's a great workout carrying a full one into the basement.

My LHBS doesn't sell Better Bottles. The guy's reasoning is that they WILL eventually scratch regardless of how you take care of it.

If you're careful, there's no reason to fear glass at all.

Grinder12000 said:

You guys make it sound like you are mad at glass LOL.

I like glass because it is SO easy to clean (just rinse) and will not scratch on the inside.

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All it takes to clean a Better Bottle is an oxyclean soak overnight and a rinse afterward. There is no need to use anything mechanical to clean the inside. I use 5 and 6-gallon Better Bottles as well as smaller glass jugs and all clean them the same way - there is no difference.

You guys make it sound like you are mad at glass LOL.

I like glass because it is SO easy to clean (just rinse) and will not scratch on the inside.

Plus it's a great workout carrying a full one into the basement.

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I just prefer to keep my arteries intact and my blood on the inside of my body. There are some serious horror stories from broken carboys, including severed nerves. I do have a couple glass carboys that I use to secondary- but they make me nervous when I have to move them (even in milk crates).

I'll admit it, I am afraid of glass. I was going to use a glass carboy to ferment my wheat beer in, and filled it then pushed the stopper into the wort. Didn't have another same size stopper, so I had to pour the whole mix into a BB. Just the sound of glass that it makes contacting the ground gives me the willies.

Agreed. Between stepping on glass from and putting my hand through a window, I've learned fear. The sound of glass breaking makes my skin crawl. I have no trouble imagining what would happen if I should drop a glass carboy.

I would like to ferment in stainless, but there's nothing that will fit in my mini fridge. And better bottles just aren't big enough. I like the 6.5 gallon size and I don't think the 6 gallon would cut it for me.

I think that glass is a lot like a big 'ol Bull on the Ranch. You don't need to be afraid of it, and it's very useful, but you do need to give it the utmost respect, because it'll kill you if you're not careful.

Well said Kahuna. I dropped a carboy once several years ago. Even called the batch "Shatterd Glass Brown Ale". But I still only use glass. Show it respect, don't do anything stupid and you're good to go.

Mirage said:

My LHBS doesn't sell Better Bottles. The guy's reasoning is that they WILL eventually scratch regardless of how you take care of it.

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Well his reasoning is seriously flawed. How will it get scratched if you never put anything sharp or rough inside?!?

I would argue that they are MUCH easier to clean than glass, as they can be lifted, shaken, drained and otherwise manipulated with no worries about slipping or banging them into the sink or floor.

BlindLemonLars said:

Well his reasoning is seriously flawed. How will it get scratched if you never put anything sharp or rough inside?!?

I would argue that they are MUCH easier to clean than glass, as they can be lifted, shaken, drained and otherwise manipulated with no worries about slipping or banging them into the sink or floor.

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I guess it depends how big you are. I shake my glass carboys all the time. I don't worry about dropping them because honestly, a half full glass carboy isn't that heavy to me.

Damn. Do all glass carboy discussions need to go into the debate forum?

Mirage said:

My LHBS doesn't sell Better Bottles. The guy's reasoning is that they WILL eventually scratch regardless of how you take care of it.

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What's he care, he can just sell you another!

Who's your HBS, BTW? The guy who runs mine (Hennessy Homebrew Emporium) also has some shops out near Boston, and sells 99% glass. ONE TIME I saw a BB in the shop, and grabbed it (I think he was selling it at the same price as the carboys). Haven't had a chance to ask Roger if he's considered selling more of them.

I can fit one of those one handled cornies into my mini fridge, thought of using it as a fermenation chamber (getting a bigger chest freezer instead to ferment in). Now I plan on having a 15.5 gallon keg in the freezer (plus some carboys) on temp control and I'll just get a long hose and pump into the keg from the boil kettle (through the chiller).

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog_name=usplastic&category_name=7511&product_id=8415&variant_id=54036

Yea - I shake my glass all the time. You are right about the debate. I was just noticing the tone of the original post, it had an anti-glass sound and that is just ridiculous.

a half full glass carboy isn't that heavy to me

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Heck - I'm almost 60 and not heavy!!

Who's your HBS, BTW? The guy who runs mine (Hennessy Homebrew Emporium) also has some shops out near Boston, and sells 99% glass. ONE TIME I saw a BB in the shop, and grabbed it (I think he was selling it at the same price as the carboys). Haven't had a chance to ask Roger if he's considered selling more of them.

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My LHBS in Boston is Modern Homebrew Emporium. That place is fantastic. My LHBS in CT (I am in school in Boston but go home sometimes) is Zok's out of Willimantic. I had heard good things so wanted to pick up my BB there, but after a call I didn't go. It seemed to me that if you were careful, the inside wouldn't get scratched, but I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Geeze horror stories about exploding glass shrapnel killing people? I cracked mine, what are you guys doing that you're losing limbs here?

carnevoodoo said:

I guess it depends how big you are. I shake my glass carboys all the time. I don't worry about dropping them because honestly, a half full glass carboy isn't that heavy to me.

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It's not about weight...a full better bottle weighs almost much as a full carboy. It's about shaking and hanging onto a big, ultra-slippery container of liquid...if you drop one it can kill you, the other one...not so much! I'm no small-fry, but my size doesn't help much when trying to hang onto a star-san soaked carboy that is slippery as a watermelon seed!

The BB is much easier to grip, the textured ribs and concave divot in the bottom give you a good handhold, even when wet. I love that I can drop them in the sink and bang them around indiscriminately while I rinse them. Most of my near disasters involve me losing my grip and dropping a carboy onto the sink or tile counter.

The racking adapter is wonderful as well, although obscenely overpriced. Try THAT with a glass carboy.

Mirage said:

My LHBS doesn't sell Better Bottles. The guy's reasoning is that they WILL eventually scratch regardless of how you take care of it.

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There are 2 homebrew shops close to me. I went to one of them and the guy gave me the same excuse for not carrying them. He said he didn't want to screw over his customer by making it easier to contaminate a batch.
I have never been back to that one since, the other LHBS has earned about $1500 in my business in the last couple of months.


I don't need an LHBS to make decisions for me, I need them to carry everything they can and let me make my own.

I started with glass carboys and will NEVER buy another glass bottle again.
Better bottles OWN!!! Just make sure you soak them to clean them instead of using a brush.

I have used a brush in a better bottle a couple times. I didn't want to, but didn't get the oxyclean in soon enough. I did put a thick sock over the bristles and tie wrap it on. Not saying it was a good idea, but it seemed to work.

I have my first batch in BB right now. I have 3 carboys but probably wont buy and more. BBs are alot cheaper than carboys right now so its an obvious choice.
That being said glass carboys are not going to spontaneously explode. If your careful and take proper precautions your no more in danger of getting glass in your skin then when changing a light bulb.
I dont know how you crack a carboy on its first use. Obviously be being an idiot and hitting it up against the tub or something. So better bottles are the way to go if your not going to be at all careful.

BlindLemonLars said:

The racking adapter is wonderful as well, although obscenely overpriced. Try THAT with a glass carboy.

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It's a FITD sale easy. The racking adapter for the port is like $45; it's under $30 for the adapter and almost just $15 for the valve. Plus for just $25 more, you can get the specialized lid to hold the $15 airlock.

Mind you the bottle itself is only $30, much cheaper than a carboy. That's a good FITD start. The parts for it come cheap enough individually too.

Of course, if you're putting everything together to price the whole system, it's $115. This gives a good DITF angle: the whole system is expensive, but a simple unported better bottle is just $30 and you can get a rubber stopper for it and use normal airlocks, cheaper than a carboy.

It's a shame Better Bottle didn't opt for a DITF to FITD contingency. The ported bottles should have come with a solid stopper (for free, or $5, or whatever) to seal the port. That way you could just buy a ported container and upgrade later. This would further increase their sales on those that got DITF'd.

It's interesting to see how marketing plays persuasion games. Personally I took the FITD route, looked at the bottles because they were cheap, and wound up with the full system.

glass acolyte here.

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

I dont know how you crack a carboy on its first use. Obviously be being an idiot and hitting it up against the tub or something. So better bottles are the way to go if your not going to be at all careful.

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I lost my balance and almost dropped it, and collapsed to catch it, but this lead me right into the side of the tub. :|

when i dropped mine i was just been plain stupid and careless, i was holding it by the neck which was wet from rinsing and it slipped right outa my hand. i now have both glass(with a handle, lesson learned) and BB. i find glass useful if i think i might need to use a blowoff tube or for lagering.

I am never shaking a wet carboy either. Common sense tells me to dry the outside first.

bluefoxicy said:

It's a FITD sale easy.

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Ok... I happen to be relaxing and having a homebrew or 3, and I can't seem to rap my brain around your acronyms. Can you translate for me please. :cross:

Mirage said:

My LHBS in Boston is Modern Homebrew Emporium. That place is fantastic. My LHBS in CT (I am in school in Boston but go home sometimes) is Zok's out of Willimantic. I had heard good things so wanted to pick up my BB there, but after a call I didn't go. It seemed to me that if you were careful, the inside wouldn't get scratched, but I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

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Yup, same owner (Roger). Seems like a good guy, but I'm going to disagree with him on this particular issue.