Better Bottle problem

[EZFrag]

Hey, i just ruined a Better Bottle. After putting my wort in my better bottle, I would then attempt to airate it. I would do this by rolling the bottle on the bottom edge, making a whirlpool effect inside the bottle. I would do this for 5 to 10 minutes. After my last brew, I had a ring inside the bottle. I filled the bottle up and put Oxyclean in it. I then did what i do to airate, trying to get the bottle clean. Then I let it sit for 24 hours. When i came back the next day, the bottle was empty and the ground around the bottle was wet. There are some cracks in the bottom of the bottle.

So, how do you guys airate your wort without breaking your bottles?

 

[squirrelly]

I never introduce outside air into my fermenter once I have runoff my wort for fear of contamination from wild yeast.

Just before knockout I dump the star-San out of the fermenter, purge for about 2 minutes with C02, and then runoff the wort after it's gone through the chiller. I then hookup the can of O2 to the sterilized infusion stone and run it through a hepafilter. Depending on the style and the yeast I'm using will dictate how much O2:volume of wort gets infused into the beer. If I want a dryer higher attenuating yeast I hit it for about 30-45 seconds. If I want the years to drop out at around 1.014 then I only infuse O2 for about 15-25 seconds. There should be a happy medium there, for you dont ever want to over oxygenate your wort.

On tap: B-1 Bomber IPA, CA Steam, Belgian Wit, Blonde Ale, American Stout, German Heffewitzen, Irish Red Ale. In primary: British Pub Ale

 

[DeafSmith]

Hey, i just ruined a Better Bottle. After putting my wort in my better bottle, I would then attempt to airate it. I would do this by rolling the bottle on the bottom edge, making a whirlpool effect inside the bottle. I would do this for 5 to 10 minutes. After my last brew, I had a ring inside the bottle. I filled the bottle up and put Oxyclean in it. I then did what i do to airate, trying to get the bottle clean. Then I let it sit for 24 hours. When i came back the next day, the bottle was empty and the ground around the bottle was wet. There are some cracks in the bottom of the bottle.

So, how do you guys airate your wort without breaking your bottles?

If you look on the Better Bottle web site, they specifically caution against rocking the BB on the bottom edge because it will cause cracks.

http://www.better-bottle.com/products_master.html
Look under How-To Tips

They also caution against using too strong caustic cleaning solutions.

http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html
Look under Wash/Sanitize

I use an aeration stone and small oxygen cylinder (from Lowe's or Home Depot) to aerate.

 

[DeNomad]

I use a wine whip with great success in better bottles. Get the metal one with the plastic blades that fold out and pull the blades up to the wort surface. When you do that you'll froth up your wort nicely.

@squirrelly - Lots of people aerate wort. So far as I know it's fine before fermentation takes place and the wort is cool.

 

[kable]

Somewhere I found the idea of rocking the better-bottle back and forth on top of a tennis ball.

Sent from my Android, please excuse my grammar.

 

[squirrelly]

I agree aerating wort is crucial, but I never advise introducing outside air into the wort. We are surrounded by wild yeasts which are airborne, and can be responsible for even the slightest off flavor in the finished beer. Plus, by shaking your fermenter or "frothing up your wort" how many volumes of O2:wort are you actually infusing? There is no way to really determine this if you practice this method.

As is the case when carbonating a beer, each beer style and yeast profile has a specific volume of O2 which needs to be introduced to the wort to ensure the yeast can attenuate down to the proper brix for a finishing gravity. Just as you would never carbonate an English pub ale with 5 units of C02, you would not over or under oxygenate the same beer in order to nail the style exactly, and therefore have that beer score in the 40s for competition.

With all that being said, I think I'd look pretty silly rolling a stainless conical fermenter around the clean room.

On tap: B-1 Bomber IPA, CA Steam, Belgian Wit, Blonde Ale, American Stout, German Heffewitzen, Irish Red Ale. In primary: British Pub Ale

 

[Revvy]

If you decide to manually "shake" a better bottle, it is recommended by the manufacturers that you use a tennis ball on the bottom of it. This helps prevent cracking of it due to flexing of the liquid in the bottle.

From the website;

Important Note: Never rock or swirl Better-Bottle carboys without using a tennis ball. Doing so will cause the edges of the bottom of the carboy to flex under great stress repeatedly and eventually cause cracks, like bending a paper clip back and forth.

There's been a few threads about it. They are a great product, but if they get oscillating there can be problems.

 

[Revvy]

I just use this with everything.

 

[stevo155]

I put mine on my foot to keep it of the floor or ground. I also have an aeration kit from Northern Brewer ( aquarium pump, filter, stone ).

 

[LandoLincoln]

I'm a big believer in shaking the wort and forgoing the air stones and oxygen after seeing this writeup:

http://hw.libsyn.com/p/6/8/b/68bd31b8e7d7cb4a/AerationMethods.pdf?sid=b44236a5fbe17d33fc3fc4268becbafc&l_sid=18257&l_eid=&l_mid=1511451

"In conclusion, the homebrewer has at least a couple of inexpensive means of aerating wort that minimizes microbial contamination and that can dissolve substantial amounts of oxygen in the wort. Rocking/shaking a plastic bucket fermentor is very effective and requires the minimum amount of time. Pumping filtered air with an aeration stone at relatively high flow rates is equally effective and requires relatively little time, especially if an aeration stone is used. Pumping air at low flow rates will ultimately dissolve the same amount of oxygen in the wort but will require a significantly longer time."

 

[rhamilton]

I use a solid stopper, pick the whole thing up like a man and shake it like a newborn.

Hasn't failed me yet

 

[squirrelly]

As I've stared many times before I don't know many people, myself included, who have entered this hobby to save time and money. If that was the case I'd run down to the supermarket and grab a Brew Free Or Die IPA from 21A and forget about the whole brewing process. My wife and I brew beer to make better beer than what is typically available commercially, brew what we like, and most importantly to enter AHA and NHA sanctioned competitions. We brew because becoming as consistent as possible with each batch and hitting a style exact each time is very important. Throughout each step in our process we perform the same actions (so long as they have proven to work) in order to make the same beer that tastes the exact same every time we brew it.

With that being said, this includes aeration of wort. If I shake my fermenter to allow O2 in each time I brew, how do I know I've dissolved the exact same amount each time? How do I know my neighbor who might be mowing his lawn on my brew day isn't kicking up dust and dirt which contains microbes that were not present the previous time I brewed?

For us it does not matter what the cost or time constraints are so long as award winning beer is the final outcome.

On tap: B-1 Bomber IPA, CA Steam, Belgian Wit, Blonde Ale, American Stout, German Heffewitzen, Irish Red Ale. In primary: British Pub Ale

 

[BeerChef17]

Somewhere I found the idea of rocking the better-bottle back and forth on top of a tennis ball.

Sent from my Android, please excuse my grammar.

+1 ive seen this in a number of youtube videos. the divet at the bottom holds a tennis ball perfectly

 

[HomebrewMTB]

I only have a 3 gal BB for 1/2 batches so not that hard to pick up and shake. This is good to know though. Sorry you had to figure it out the hard way.

 

[pietaster]

i also put in a solid stopper, sit on a chair, lay it side wise on my lap and rock it back and forth like ... oh.. let's just say i rock it real hard.