Better Bottle in Europe

[Vels]

Hi

Anybody know if it is possible to get "Better Bottles" or similar here in Europe ?

Cheers
Jakob

 

[padair]

You can get them in the UK, though with the shipping it'd probably be as cheap to order them from the USA

 

[durak]

Office spring water dispensers use 5 gallon plastic bottles. Eden springs etc. Have been meaning to contact them myself and ask if they could be purchased.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Office spring water dispensers use 5 gallon plastic bottles. Eden springs etc. Have been meaning to contact them myself and ask if they could be purchased.

You'll need to make sure that they are made out of the same material as Better Bottles. Most water bottles in the US are made out of a type of plastic that is not suitable as a fermentation vessel.

 

[durak]

How so? They hold the water for extended periods of time, why wouldn' they hold fermenting beer?

 

[slnies]

Different type of plastic.

 

[KiltLifter]

Look on the bottom of the bottle you are considering. The Better Bottles are PET. Water bottles from one company around here are PET and that's what I use. I looked at one (with a molded in handle) at Home Depot and it was NOT PET, so be sure to look.

PET IS oxygen permeable, but the Better Bottle and other PET water bottles are thick enough that the permeation is negligible for the amount of time the beer is in it.

For a mead or barley wine that is in the carboy for months, I use glass, just in case.

 

[Revvy]

Look on the bottom of the bottle you are considering. The Better Bottles are PET. Water bottles from one company around here are PET and that's what I use. I looked at one (with a molded in handle) at Home Depot and it was NOT PET, so be sure to look.

PET IS oxygen permeable, but the Better Bottle and other PET water bottles are thick enough that the permeation is negligible for the amount of time the beer is in it.

For a mead or barley wine that is in the carboy for months, I use glass, just in case.

+1 on this info...Look on the bottom.

If it has a <7> that is polycarbonate NOT PET or PETE.

Besides what kiltlifter said, Polycarbonate uses BPA (bisphenol-A) in it's production. BPA may mimic the natural female sex hormone estradiol. In animal research it has been linked to female reproductive disorders, breast and prostate cancer, and attention and developmental problems.

Basically polycarbonate bottles have the potentiality to leach stuff into your water or beer...

I just found a home water purification company online that switched to shipping better bottles with their filter systems, because of the difficulty of finding ones that weren't polycarbonate.

I'm betting in the near future more and more water distributors will be going the same route because of all the press about estradiol in water bottles, and we'll be able to find more and more Pet water jugs at the big box stores then there are now...

And since it looks like the Better Bottle people are one of the few producers of the product, more companies will be jumping online to fill the need. Which of course means the prices will go down.

 

[flowerysong]

How so? They hold the water for extended periods of time, why wouldn' they hold fermenting beer?

Oxidation risk. The PET that Better Bottles are made out of has negligible gas permeability, so they're a suitable alternative to glass for medium- to long-term aging. Since water storage and dispensing doesn't have to worry about gas permeability the containers used are often made of a more permeable plastic, making them unsuitable for anything other than short-term storage of liquids where oxidation is an issue.

It's debatable whether the typical aging time involved in brewing beer is long enough for the more permeable containers to pose a significant oxidation risk, and in the past various people have indicated that they didn't find it to be a problem.

Personally, I prefer to use something that I know won't ruin my batch rather than saving a few currency units and taking on the additional risk.

 

[padair]

Back on topic - I just checked and Beertech have the 23 litre Better Bottle in stock, though they're £11.99 - shipping will depend on how many you order, but it's £9.00 to ship one and £36 to ship 2
They only have 2 in stock so if you are thinking of buying them, place 2 seperate orders.

According to xe.com £1.00 = 9.85DKK = US$1.94

 

[Homercidal]

I foudn out that the cooler jugs we use for water here at work is made from PETE, the same stuff as Better Bottles. So, I'm grabbing a few for the deposit cost ($4 each). A couple of other brewers here at work are also starting to use them.

I'd check with a larger office building or place of business, and ask where they get their water from. Perhaps the business or water distributor will sell you some empties for the price of deposit?

 

[Vels]

Back on topic - I just checked and Beertech have the 23 litre Better Bottle in stock, though they're £11.99 - shipping will depend on how many you order, but it's £9.00 to ship one and £36 to ship 2
They only have 2 in stock so if you are thinking of buying them, place 2 seperate orders.

According to xe.com £1.00 = 9.85DKK = US$1.94

I have been emailing with Beertech.

£12 for the bottle and £30 to ship 2 to Denmark = £27/$52 each. He can only ship two at a time due to volume. I have not asaked for shipping quote for 1, but i am sure ot does not compenaste for volume.

I think i will have a look at the water bottle alternative - thx for pointing me in that direction.

Cheers
Jakob