Better bottle questions

[bluedragoon85]

Hi,

I'm set on buying a 6 gallon ported better bottle to use as a fermenter. However, my main concern is how easy is it to clean a better bottle with a Racking Adapter w/HighFlow Valve? Would you have to disassemble it each time you were going to clean your BB? or is it quite easy to keep it clean? I'd think it would be a PITA to have to disassemble it each time since the idea of installing it the first time seems like a hard task itself. However, I want to benefit from having the ported BB but I would like to be more informed before purchasing it. Another question, I read somewhere that you can use a carboy cap for the better bottle; is this true? If so, I would like to go with this option so I could alternate between a blow off and airlock.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I soak mine in PBW or OXY for a few hours or overnight, then drain it through the valve. Never any problems. The BB racking arm & valve rules.

 

[bluedragoon85]

I soak mine in PBW or OXY for a few hours or overnight, then drain it through the valve. Never any problems. The BB racking arm & valve rules.

Would home bleach work for this purpose as well?

 

[SuperiorBrew]

no bleach of more of a sanitizer, you need a cleaner and then you can do the same with your sanitizer.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Regular orange carboy caps (same type that fits 5 gallon glass carboys) work just fine with better bottles.

Get some oxyclean, it's incredibly handy.

I kegged my brown ale today, and after four weeks in primary, there was a NASTY, concrete-like krausen ring inside the better bottle. It's been sitting full of oxyclean for an hour, and is already spotless. Amazing stuff.

 

[postman]

no bleach of more of a sanitizer, you need a cleaner and then you can do the same with your sanitizer.

Just so I'm clear, oxy first as a cleaner, then household bleach afterwards? I'm asking b/c I just bought a 6gal Better Bottle and was curious as well. Of course I have one step Handy as well.

Other than this, what works best to clean and sanitize these bottles? Thanks

 

[SuperiorBrew]

For Sanitizers my first choice would be StarSan
#2 Iodophor
#3 Bleach

Once you go StarSan you never go back

 

[MikeInCtown]

Is starsan the same type thing as they call brewers best or straight A cleanser? (Cleaner and sanitizer)

If so that stuff is great and will clean up stuff fast. I had some beer sitting in the glass carboy for 3 months before bottling. Mixed a gallon of the stuff up with hot water, swished it around for a few minutes and everything came right out. Not even a smell left over.

 

[solidghost]

Is starsan the same type thing as they call brewers best or straight A cleanser? (Cleaner and sanitizer)

If so that stuff is great and will clean up stuff fast. I had some beer sitting in the glass carboy for 3 months before bottling. Mixed a gallon of the stuff up with hot water, swished it around for a few minutes and everything came right out. Not even a smell left over.

Probably very different. The Straight A cleanser needs to do a rinse while the starsan doesn't.

 

[Got Trub?]

Just to clarify: bleach can be a very effective cleanser if you let it sit overnight. PBW in hot water is faster for sure but I've had some stubborn grime that PBW couldn't get off that bleach removed overnight. I used bleach for almost 25+ years with good results. I've switched to Star San as it is hard to beat having a 5 gal container around for 6-8 weeks ready to go. Plus it FOAMS which means it has to be doing something!

GT

 

[cabletech43]

Don't believe that you can get away from disassembling and cleaning the racking arm/spigot assy without getting an infected beer, trust me I know,had a batch go south on me, and it was because of the spigot assy. bought into the hype of the running sanitizer through the spigot and paid for it. There is no way to safeguard against it unless you disassemble it and clean it.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

I agree. I would not consider soaking your BB with cleanser and sanitizer a safeguard from all the nooks and crannies in the spigot. We thought about going that route as well, however an auto-siphon hooked up to the racking cane works quite well. Bottling takes about 20 minutes going that route, and you know for sure that you have EVERYTHING sanitized and safe for bottling.

You have to make a decision: Do you want to bottle a little faster and risk contamination? I say no. You spent a few hours brewing that beer, a few weeks to a month in fermentation and aging, and you want to shave a few minutes in the bottling process? Doesn't seem worth it to me.

We have a plastic bottling bucket that came with our kit. We take the entire spigot assembly apart and clean and soak everything before bottling. Since we started going the auto-siphon racking cane route, we haven't used our bucket for anything but sanitizing equipment.

Good luck... Make the right decision.