I'm going to buy a couple of Better Bottles. I love clear fermentation vessles, but I just broke my first carboy the other day (no injuries, thank god!), so if I'm going to do it it will be Better Bottles.
My initial plan was a pair of 6-gallon bottles and carboy hoods. Simple, compatible with all my current equipment, and relatively cheap. However, in researching Better Bottles I feel that I need to investigate all the added perks that Better Bottles have to offer.
The top of the bottle has lots of options, but really they all start with the Ported Closure. This is an expensive option at around $25, but very flexible, allowing use of BB's spiffy Dry Trap airlock (another $16). Easy enough to turn into a blow-off by simply inserting a few feet of 1/2" ID tubing, and even has the potential to allow me to force beer out of the fermenter using CO2 (I have a well-setup CO2 system at my disposal).
There's also a closure that has threading for using hard plastic piping to make a rigid blow-off. Coolness factor is huger there (IMO) but I haven't found an online retailer with it yet.
Then of course there's the porting, spigot, and valve for the bottom. The ported bottle is a few more dollars, the "spigot" (Racking Adapter) is $28 and the Simple Valve is another $14, and this arrangement requires a $4 tool for installation.
Price per fermenter for "basic" setup: ~$32
Pricer per fermenter for "tricked out" setup: ~$120
So here's the ultimate question, are all the accesories to trick out a BB worth approximately $90? My gut instinct says no, but I would love to hear if anybody has any experience with going all out with a Better Bottle and what you think of it.
My initial plan was a pair of 6-gallon bottles and carboy hoods. Simple, compatible with all my current equipment, and relatively cheap. However, in researching Better Bottles I feel that I need to investigate all the added perks that Better Bottles have to offer.
The top of the bottle has lots of options, but really they all start with the Ported Closure. This is an expensive option at around $25, but very flexible, allowing use of BB's spiffy Dry Trap airlock (another $16). Easy enough to turn into a blow-off by simply inserting a few feet of 1/2" ID tubing, and even has the potential to allow me to force beer out of the fermenter using CO2 (I have a well-setup CO2 system at my disposal).
There's also a closure that has threading for using hard plastic piping to make a rigid blow-off. Coolness factor is huger there (IMO) but I haven't found an online retailer with it yet.
Then of course there's the porting, spigot, and valve for the bottom. The ported bottle is a few more dollars, the "spigot" (Racking Adapter) is $28 and the Simple Valve is another $14, and this arrangement requires a $4 tool for installation.
Price per fermenter for "basic" setup: ~$32
Pricer per fermenter for "tricked out" setup: ~$120
So here's the ultimate question, are all the accesories to trick out a BB worth approximately $90? My gut instinct says no, but I would love to hear if anybody has any experience with going all out with a Better Bottle and what you think of it.