Glass Fermers or Better Bottle?

[hukdizzle]

I have been seeing alot of good things about the Better Bottle fermenters and was wondering what you seasoned guys think about them? I am about to upgrade and get a good kit with secondary fermentation that is expandable and was looking at the one for 109$ at the midwestsupply site. BTW this website is great.

Thanks,
Curt J

 

[98EXL]

I swing both ways....errr, that didn't come out right.

I have both, and like both, it's 6 is half of one dozen or the other

 

[JamesMoria23]

I used to use the Better Bottles but I had a hard time with them. When I had to move them, or place a wet towel around them, the plastic would bend and create a suction. The suction would suck the water out of my airlock.

 

[hukdizzle]

right on i guess each has it's +/-. I may try the better bottles and if i don't like em i'll get some glass carboys from my local. any others guys?

 

[krispy d]

I like the idea of the better bottle but they just are not practicle for me. I like to "push" my beer from the fermenter and need the rigidity of glass to maintain pressure.

 

[Beerthoven]

This is a common topic. See this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=26051

 

[Hopfan]

The BB question seems to come up a lot. Concerns about it sucking in airlock fluid can be alleviated by using the one-way airlock valves from BB. Once I remove the blowoff tube and install that valve, I feed the CO2 into the racking port on my secondary BB which also has a one way valve. That way, I have a full bottle of CO2 that I use to make an oxygenless transfer of my brew.

For cleaning, I usually just fillwith water, add oxyclean and let soak overnight and it's crystal clear in the AM. If you need to scrub, just throw a washcloth in there and shake it around.

I have both BB and glass and if I have a choice, I grab the BB.

 

[Orpheus]

I was all glass until I noticed one of my glass carboys with stress fractures in the neck. I ordered up some Better Bottles and I am completely sold on them.

They're even lighter than I imagined which makes them so much easier to clean, transport, etc.

I did notice some issues with the bung and airlock. I use StarSan which tends to be slippery, so it was difficult to push in the stopper. I quickly learned to make sure the BB is in its final resting place before putting on the airlock and filling it with liquid. Problems solved!

 

[McKBrew]

I just use vodka in my airlock, no big deal if a little bit ends up in the beer.

 

[hukdizzle]

sounds great guys, i'm going to get the better bottles and try them,

 

[Hopfan]

sounds great guys, i'm going to get the better bottles and try them,

If you can afford the extra $$, get the ported bottles with all the funky little attachments (racking adapter, the one way valve airlock thingy, the straight elbow {for letting CO2 or air back into the bottle when you rack through the adapter}, the stopper that most of the bits plugs into and a #10 stopper drilled for the large blowoff hose)

This stuff can cost as much as, if not more than, the bottles but you will be oh so happy with the ease that you can rack, from them. Get some tubing as well. The racking adapters won't accept the standard 3/8" tubing. You can use the 1/4" or use some larger tubing as an adapter to use the 3/8". The better bottle website explains it pretty well.

http://www.better-bottle.com

 

[bradsul]

A pros/cons page was put on the wiki since this question comes up so much.

 

[EdWort]

Better Bottles with Carboy Caps rock! :rockin:

They snap on no matter how slippery Starsan has made them.

I pick mine up with one hand on the neck and the other under the bottom and have no suckback issues, though it would not matter since I use vodka in my airlocks.

Another solution would be to use milk crates which would make moving them very easy with no bending of the plastic bottle.

 

[hukdizzle]

"Another solution would be to use milk crates which would make moving them very easy with no bending of the plastic bottle."

Really good idea, i'm def keeping that one in mind!

 

[SoCalBrewing]

I was working with my new better bottles today. I actually bought a couple of spare airlocks, and carboy caps just to have on hand. So I had a great idea. I just used a fully plugged cap while moving my BB around. Once it was in its final resting place, I took a sanitized cap with airlock in it, and swapped it.

Done Deal.

 

[Jekster]

I bought better bottles and am very pleased for three reasons.

1. It's fun to see what's going on inside (of course you get this with glass too)

2. I'm kinda a scrawny dude and they are lighter to lift.

3. I don't have to worry about dropping one and needing a lovely trip to the ER.

All in all I think you'll be happy with your choice man.

Cheers and good brewing!

 

[Yooper]

I use BBs and glass about equally- just because that's what I have. The BBs are lighter and safer! My friend broke a 6.5 gallon glass carboy and sliced her wrist pretty well. ER visit and stitches followed. You don't have that with a BB!

I bought the ported one with adapter but I wish I would have just bought the regular. The flow is too slow when I use that. The siphoning works better for me.

 

[jerly]

Do the better bottles all take the same size carboy caps?

 

[Yooper]

Yes. The orange one fits all sizes, I believe. It fits my 3 gallon and 5 gallon (I don't have a 6 gallon but think it's the same).

 

[starlifter737]

If you have a ported BB, how do you add/mix the priming sugar prior to bottling? Do you boil it, cool it off, pour it in and gently swirl till it is mixed?

I can't see spening the money on a ported bottle and then using a bucket with a spigot.

 

[Bobby_M]

I find that the carboy caps fit BBs a little looser than I'd like.

 

[raceskier]

737,

I do just that for priming. I also use a HEPA filter on the BB closure during bottling.

I tried the orange carboy caps and agree, the fit is not great. I bit the bullet and just bough a couple more of the BB closures.

 

[starlifter737]

Raceskier,

Is the flow rate good with a hepa in the air path?