Better bottle/ oxy clean question

[bennie1986]

I decided to give a better bottle a try over my glass fermenters. I bought it new and was wondering if I should hit it with some oxy clean or can I just sanitize and go for it and if I should clean it what ratio of oxy to water should I use? Also, does anyone know if the wet Tshirt cooling method is more or less effective on better bottles?

 

[Rockn_M]

I would also clean after use. Fill with warm water and add a half scoop of oxyclean free and let it sit for a while. If you have dried gunk let it sit overnight.

 

[Newsman]

I would guess the wet tshirt "swamp cooler" method would work just as well on a better bottle, if not better, as the walls are thinner than glass, so the heat transfer would be faster, but that's just a guess.

 

[Jayhem]

I would just rinse it out, sanitize and use!

Oxyclean works well for a soak after fermentation in Better Bottles, I put in about 1/3 cup of oxyclean, add 1 quart of hot water, shake it well to disolve and then fill the fermenter to the top with water and let it soak for 48 hours or so, then just dump out 90% of the water to use to clean other stuff, push a small rag into the better bottle and shake the crap out of it till any remaining gunk is clean off by the rag. rinse and drip dry!

 

[JBOGAN]

IMO just a 10 to 15 minute soak in PBW or OXY should do the trick.When you clean it after fermentation rinse it out then throw about 1/2 gallon of water in with a rag and OXY or PBW then shake that thing like crazy.I can clean a botter bottle in less than 10 minutes without an overnight soak,plus I am kind of leer of letting Pbw sit in my BB overnight.

 

[bennie1986]

Thanks for the replies! Another question though, what do you do for a blow off tube? I used a 1 1/4" dia. tube for my glass carboys but that won't fit so should I just use a tube that fits the stopper or will that build to much pressure?

 

[kh54s10]

Northern Brewer sells a stopper and tube setup that fits perfectly in the Better Bottles. I have 3 or 4 of them.

 

[exhumedatbirth]

I use a three piece airlock, minus two pieces...just hook a hose over the main part...never had an issue

 

[Jayhem]

I like the carboy caps because they let you hook up a blow off and a thermowell or thermometer probe at the same time.

 

[Newsman]

For blowoff, I just use a drilled stopper that fits the better bottles and put a hose in the hole where the airlock goes.

 

[bennie1986]

For blowoff, I just use a drilled stopper that fits the better bottles and put a hose in the hole where the airlock goes.

what size hose? I have a 1/4 inch od hose on hand but im afraid it will not be enough, I get some serious blow off most of the time and I plan on my next brew to but up there a little bit.

 

[zeg]

IMO just a 10 to 15 minute soak in PBW or OXY should do the trick.When you clean it after fermentation rinse it out then throw about 1/2 gallon of water in with a rag and OXY or PBW then shake that thing like crazy.I can clean a botter bottle in less than 10 minutes without an overnight soak,plus I am kind of leer of letting Pbw sit in my BB overnight.

I hadn't heard of the rag+oxi thing until a few days ago. I tried it, and it did a great job removing a ring around the shoulder from a batch that had been all but abandoned in the closet since april or so. Sadly, the aging did not make this a good beer: it apparently had a wild yeast problem, because there's some unpleasant clove phenol.

Now, when I was rinsing the BB after the wash, some moisture condensed on the walls, and left very sharply defined criss-cross lines where the BB did not fog up. It was really apparent, to the point that I first thought it was actual cracks in the plastic. I believe the criss-crosses are from where the edges of the rag brushed against the wall, though I'm not certain. It was an ordinary terrycloth type rag, nothing especially gentle, but not abrasive by any means.

Have you seen anything like this? I'm a bit worried, especially because of the wild yeast issue. I'm concerned that it might indicate a film that was left behind where the rag did not rub as hard. I thought it might be mineral scale from the Oxiclean, but a Star-San rinse did not get rid of it. I'm not sure what the best next move is, but I really don't want any more of this clove BS.

 

[Newsman]

what size hose? I have a 1/4 inch od hose on hand but im afraid it will not be enough, I get some serious blow off most of the time and I plan on my next brew to but up there a little bit.

Standard beer (liquid) line is what I use.

 

[JBOGAN]

I hadn't heard of the rag+oxi thing until a few days ago. I tried it, and it did a great job removing a ring around the shoulder from a batch that had been all but abandoned in the closet since april or so. Sadly, the aging did not make this a good beer: it apparently had a wild yeast problem, because there's some unpleasant clove phenol.

Now, when I was rinsing the BB after the wash, some moisture condensed on the walls, and left very sharply defined criss-cross lines where the BB did not fog up. It was really apparent, to the point that I first thought it was actual cracks in the plastic. I believe the criss-crosses are from where the edges of the rag brushed against the wall, though I'm not certain. It was an ordinary terrycloth type rag, nothing especially gentle, but not abrasive by any means.

Have you seen anything like this? I'm a bit worried, especially because of the wild yeast issue. I'm concerned that it might indicate a film that was left behind where the rag did not rub as hard. I thought it might be mineral scale from the Oxiclean, but a Star-San rinse did not get rid of it. I'm not sure what the best next move is, but I really don't want any more of this clove BS.

Never have seen anything like that,I use ripped up t-shirt pieces.The only time i had film in BB was from brewing a saison but it washed away.I would not worry about smell in the BB as much as the left over residue but i guess you will never know until you brew another batch.My Better Bottles have taken a beating but no infections as of yet(knocks on wood).

 

[zeg]

Never have seen anything like that,I use ripped up t-shirt pieces.The only time i had film in BB was from brewing a saison but it washed away.I would not worry about smell in the BB as much as the left over residue but i guess you will never know until you brew another batch.My Better Bottles have taken a beating but no infections as of yet(knocks on wood).

Well, I gave it another thorough wash with Seventh Gen enzyme detergent (as recommended by BB themselves) on the theory that a different cleaning method might work differently with whatever is causing the streaks. It may have helped a little, certainly the streaks were less prominent, but that may just be a function of having been washed again. The detergent seems to work pretty well, though, and given that BB recommends it and it means not working with caustic chemicals, I'm thinking I may use that for a while.

It also looks like at least some of the streaking might just be lines where the last few drops of liquid happened to leave tracks, so maybe there was no issue to begin with.

In any case, I put another batch into the BB this weekend, so I guess we'll find out.

 

[heckels]

what size hose? I have a 1/4 inch od hose on hand but im afraid it will not be enough, I get some serious blow off most of the time and I plan on my next brew to but up there a little bit.

I use 1/2" hose for this application. Less chance of it clogging up.

 

[heckels]

IMO just a 10 to 15 minute soak in PBW or OXY should do the trick.When you clean it after fermentation rinse it out then throw about 1/2 gallon of water in with a rag and OXY or PBW then shake that thing like crazy.I can clean a botter bottle in less than 10 minutes without an overnight soak,plus I am kind of leer of letting Pbw sit in my BB overnight.

I was a casualty of letting PBW soak for an extended period of time. It eats through the BB and you'll end up with PBW solution all over.

 

[zeg]

By the way, the BB manufacturer has an extensive write-up regarding cleaning practices. Key recommendations:

• Do not use excessively hot water, 125°F is sufficient
• Strong caustics will damage PET, so if you are going to use them, minimize contact time
• Mixing PBW/OxiClean powder with water *in* the BB will expose the plastic to extremely high concentrations until the powder is dissolved. To avoid this, mix it up first (adding powder to water, not vice-versa) in a bucket and pour the dilute solution in
• Enzyme-based detergents do not risk damage to the BB even on very long contact, so are recommended

The damage that the caustic cleaners cause is cumulative, and is not always immediately visible, so even if "it works for me," you are probably shortening the life of your BB. Whether that's important is a matter of opinion. I'm going to switch from PBW/Oxi to the detergents simply because I would like to avoid working with the caustic cleaner. With kids and cats around, I don't like to risk that I get distracted by some emergency and someone starts fooling around with a gallon of caustic liquid.

Plus, I once got a whiff of OxiClean dust when I was not careful enough to pour very gently. Don't want to repeat that (in fact, I now wear gloves and goggles while working with it, and a facemask when working with the powder).

The BB folks also have a detailed study of cleaning with detergents.

 

[govner1]

By the way, the BB manufacturer has an extensive write-up regarding cleaning practices. Key recommendations:

• Do not use excessively hot water, 125°F is sufficient
  
• Strong caustics will damage PET, so if you are going to use them, minimize contact time
  
• Mixing PBW/OxiClean powder with water *in* the BB will expose the plastic to extremely high concentrations until the powder is dissolved. To avoid this, mix it up first (adding powder to water, not vice-versa) in a bucket and pour the dilute solution in
  
• Enzyme-based detergents do not risk damage to the BB even on very long contact, so are recommended
  

The damage that the caustic cleaners cause is cumulative, and is not always immediately visible, so even if "it works for me," you are probably shortening the life of your BB. Whether that's important is a matter of opinion. I'm going to switch from PBW/Oxi to the detergents simply because I would like to avoid working with the caustic cleaner. With kids and cats around, I don't like to risk that I get distracted by some emergency and someone starts fooling around with a gallon of caustic liquid.



Plus, I once got a whiff of OxiClean dust when I was not careful enough to pour very gently. Don't want to repeat that (in fact, I now wear gloves and goggles while working with it, and a facemask when working with the powder).



The BB folks also have a detailed study of cleaning with detergents.

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[govner1]

I use 1 Tbs of B-Brite per gallon in hot water. I do dissolve in about a gallon of hot water(120F) before filling my BB's. I usually leave about an hour & rarely need a brush.


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[dirkomatic]

I messed up a Better Bottle with a brush once, so I ended up building a cleaner with an aquarium pump, some PVC, and a bucket I had lying around. I put my carboy stand on it and it forces water up into the Better Bottle. There are several DIY threads on how to make one... Since then my BBs have been cleaned in about 15 minutes with PBW. Another couple of rinses and I let them drain.