Bought my first BB today; airlock question

Ok so I transferred my razzberry wheat into my new Better Bottle this evening, placed the airlock and #10 stopper in and the frickin' thing refused to stay in, it kept popping out of place! I took a paper towel and dried the sucker off and placed it back in, and it was still looser than I'd like. So I took a carboy cap, trimmed a bit off of the short valve and stuck my airlock into it and put it all back on the BB. Does anyone else do this? Is there an easier/better solution, because I don't care for the stoppers.


Thanks

Dan

I use a carboy cap on all 3 of my BB's. I have had problems with stoppers as well and are way to easy for my son to pull them out. I have never trimmed my cap's though. I always managed to force my airlock through the hole.

AleHole said:

I use a carboy cap on all 3 of my BB's. I have had problems with stoppers as well and are way to easy for my son to pull them out. I have never trimmed my cap's though. I always managed to force my airlock through the hole.

Click to expand...

yeah I probably could have but I cut about 1/8" off and it went in fairly easy. Once it stretched out it went in perfect. I guess it's time for me to buy some more carboy caps! Love the BB though..it's nice to be able to toss it around and clean it easily. And it was actually cheaper than my glass carboys...I'm not sure why I didn't just get BB's from the start



Dan

Dude! I should be getting my first BB in the mail today. I'm pumped. Finally get to watch some fermentation action.

Be prepared to grab some popcorn and enjoy the show! I love watching the action..it's very interesting. Congrats!



Dan

I use a carboy cap. I bought a stopper, I think a #10, that fits, but it doesn't seem quite as secure as the carboy cap. I don't think I get quite as good a seal with the carboy cap as I do using the universal stoppers on my glass carboys, but for primary fermenation, I'm not going to worry too much.

I'll have to check and see what size stopper I use, but I don't have this problem. I jam the stopper in pretty tight, tight enough that I have to wiggle it to get it out, but no chance that it'll fall through the neck opening.

If the stopper is wet, it will slip and won't give a good seal. If it is dry, well then it's probably not sanitized anymore.

The trick that my LHBS guy gave me for using stoppers in growlers (for starters) is to swab the stopper and the inside of the neck of the bottle with alcohol (everclear or vodka). Alcohol evaporates very quickly and within a couple of seconds you are left with a clean and dry and sanitized surface.

Toot said:

If the stopper is wet, it will slip and won't give a good seal. If it is dry, well then it's probably not sanitized anymore.

The trick that my LHBS guy gave me for using stoppers in growlers (for starters) is to swap the stopper and the inside of the neck of the bottle with alcohol (everclear or vodka). Alcohol evaporates very quickly and within a couple of seconds you are left with a clean and dry and sanitized surface.

Click to expand...

Cool idea. Thanks Toot.

After switching to Star San I found out that the stopper wouldn't sit inside our BB very well. I think we'll try the alcohol trick

I have some Iodophor sitting around, wonder ig that would do the trick? Although the carboy cab is on there pretty snug, I"m not going to worry too much about it.



Dan

Maybe I'm out in left field on this, but why not use the ported closure that Better-Bottle makes? I use them on all of my BB's and they couldn't be easier to clean, sanitize and install. No chance that it will pop out or slip in too deep. The opening will accommodate one of Better-Bottle's Dry Trap Air Locks or a standard three piece air lock. The closure also comes with a plug that will allow you to seal up the bottle tight so that you can shake the cleaning solution inside to easily clean off the stuck on crud.

johnsma22 said:

Maybe I'm out in left field on this, but why not use the ported closure that Better-Bottle makes? I use them on all of my BB's and they couldn't be easier to clean, sanitize and install. No chance that it will pop out or slip in too deep. The opening will accommodate one of Better-Bottle's Dry Trap Air Locks or a standard three piece air lock. The closure also comes with a plug that will allow you to seal up the bottle tight so that you can shake the cleaning solution inside to easily clean off the stuck on crud.

Click to expand...

25+ bucks is why. That is a huge ripoff.

Dude said:

25+ bucks is why. That is a huge ripoff.

Click to expand...

I don't just look at price when I purchase something, I look at the value added. I'm also not a cheap prick! I've not paid more than $12 for any of the 6 ported closures that I have. So if you are paying $25 for them, I agree, you are getting ripped off.

they didn't have those at the hardware store where I bought it and I needed a quick fix. But the carboy cap seems to work fine. As far as cleaning I just use oxiclean and let it sit overnight. No need to shake or scrub anything.


Dan

How much Oxiclean do you guys use for a 6 gallon bottle?

I use 1/2 a scoop per gallon.

I use PBW, but for the sake of comparison, I use one tablespoon per gallon.

Carboy caps rock on Better bottles.



Save your #10 stopper for sloshing sanitizer around the inside of the bottle. Just put your thumb over the hole.

Oh and oxiclean and glass don't play well together...that sh^t gets slippery as all hell! Yet another reason for BB's IMO. I loved cleaning it, it was so easy...and I'm not worried it's going to break and spill beer everywhere which is nice!

Hey Ed, I'm about 2 weeks in on your Apfelwein..can't wait to bottle this stuff and the wife is really looking forward to it as well!


Dan