Better-Bottle vs. Glass

[jldc]

Some notes on carboys:

Better Bottles are a bear to clean. I know, you just fill them with oxyclean and everything comes off like magic, but maybe they forgot to include the magic in my box of oxyclean. I made a sponge on a metal arm to get the krausen ring off and that works OK, but it's still not as easy as a regular glass fermentor/brush.

Rinse and shake with warm (not hot) water. At this point the only problem is dried krausen in the top/neck. Put about 1/4 cup of PBW (better than oxyclean IMO) in about a gallon of warm water. Invert the BB in a bowl of water in the sink. Wait an hour. Rinse. You now have a clean BB. No brush or sponge needed.

Better Bottles will suck water in back through the airlock if you pick them up when they are full. The bottle flexes, the volume changes, and blurp.

Pick up with one hand on the bottom and one on the neck. It won't suck any airlock fluid that way. You have to be careful when you pick up a full BB or when you pick up a full glass carboy. It's just the consequences of messing this up that differ.

Better Bottles have issues with hot wort. Not a big deal for me when I do all grain (since it's down around 70F by the time I dump it in the fermentor) but I always worry when I pour somewhat-hot extract wort into cold water in the Better Bottles. No problems yet tho.

Why would you put 140+ degree wort in a carboy? You might put hot water in to clean it, but you just need to stick to warm, but not hot, water.

 

[powerslave73]

Once again I like them both, A BB for fast fermenting brews and glass carboy for slow longer lagers. They both have there place.

 

[Burgs]

I love Better Bottles- they are just like glass carboys but lighter and unbreakable! I wouldn't spend the extra money on the spigots (I've had trouble with mine- VERY slow transfers) but I would recommend buying them instead of glass if you're concerned about weight and breakage. A full 6 gallon carboy is heavy. A full glass carboy is even heavier! I had a friend slice her wrist by dropping a 6.5 gallon carboy on her sink, and she needed many stitches to stop the bleeding.

Glass is nice- it lasts forever if you don't break it. But for safety, I like the Better Bottles.

Good to know about the slow transfers with the spigot/valve thing. I went ahead and sprung for one of the dri-tap airlocks on my BB, but haven't gone the ported BB route. I don't think I will now!

 

[JayInJersey]

From my view: There are two major drawbacks to each of them

BB: It's clear and it is only 6 gallons
Glass: It's clear and it can kill you if it breaks


I went from 3 Glass bottles to 3 Better Bottles to using 4 8 Gallon Vittles Vaults (US Plastics have them).

8 Gallon airtight HDPE #2 plastic that is certified FDA safe (granted government certification means alot less to me these days...but I'm trying to avoid politic talk...)


I find them quite easy to lift, can be easily stacked when not in use...and are making my plans of a Ferm Cabinet easier since they are more "normal" shaped. I just drilled out a hole in the top for a grommet and an airlock and they were brew ready.


Oh and did I mention they AREN'T clear?

 

[funkapottomous]

Being a new brewer, I've been persuaded to ditch the 6.5 gallon glass carboy that came with my K6 kit, and move to better bottles. I just ordered four 6 gallon better bottles from Midwest supplies. Add 4 rubber stoppers and 4 airlocks and shipping and I'm getting all of this for under $120.00. Not a bad deal. Thanks for all of the insight.

wanna ship that glass carboy over to Texas?


I love glass carboys, old glass bottles, old 1/2 gallon and Gallon Glass jugs. SWMBO and I are always looking through the antique shops here in Huntsville and I'm always loooking for new stuff. Whether it's a crock wine bottle, or an old glass carboy, or even an old Crock Whiskey jug (which they wanted like $100 for! ridiculous! but this bad boy was easily five gallons), I'm all about the old school hancrafteds and glass. (although I do have two plastic water bottles from wal-mart that I am using to ferment some mead right now. as soon as I rack it, it's going to glass though.)

 

[Beavdowg]

Someone stated that if you lift the Better Bottle by the bottom and the neck you can avoid the gurgle, airlock sucking thing. I 100% disagree with this. I bought a 6 gal BB after I broke my only glass carboy (no injuries) because I was intrigued by it's benefits. The only complaint I have is that no matter how you lift up the bottle, you could hold it in 4 places, you'll get a gurgle through the airlock. I've tried many different ways and they all cause the gurgle. I finally just resorted to shoving a solid stopper in the top when I move it. Really, I try not to move it as much as I can because I don't want to have to sanitize a stopper everytime I'm going to move it. The hot water thing is a concern but I used Oxyclean to clean mine and it cleaned up just fine (granted it was only used as a secondary fermenter).

I'm still on the fence about the Better Bottles. If they didn't burb I think they'd be a no-brainer. I want to get another fermenter but can't get past the burping problem but I don't want to sever my arms either. Maybe the answer is to always use the carboy straps or milk cartons (I never used those).

My $.02

 

[ChiN8]

From my view: There are two major drawbacks to each of them

BB: It's clear and it is only 6 gallons
Glass: It's clear and it can kill you if it breaks


I went from 3 Glass bottles to 3 Better Bottles to using 4 8 Gallon Vittles Vaults (US Plastics have them).

8 Gallon airtight HDPE #2 plastic that is certified FDA safe (granted government certification means alot less to me these days...but I'm trying to avoid politic talk...)


I find them quite easy to lift, can be easily stacked when not in use...and are making my plans of a Ferm Cabinet easier since they are more "normal" shaped. I just drilled out a hole in the top for a grommet and an airlock and they were brew ready.


Oh and did I mention they AREN'T clear?

These bottles,
Are you/Did you encounter any problems as many of the BB users are with the air being sucked through the stopper when lifted due to the stretching effect?

 

[passedpawn]

These bottles,
Are you/Did you encounter any problems as many of the BB users are with the air being sucked through the stopper when lifted due to the stretching effect?

This problem is so easily avoided that I don't even consider it a problem. Just pull the airlock when you move it. You really shouldn't have to move a carboy except when you put it in a fermentation chamber, and when you remove it to bottle. Both times it isn't a big deal to pull the airlock.

 

[billvon]

Put about 1/4 cup of PBW (better than oxyclean IMO) in about a gallon of warm water. Invert the BB in a bowl of water in the sink. Wait an hour. Rinse. You now have a clean BB. No brush or sponge needed.

I've tried that with Oxyclean (the invert the bottle thing) but I'll give it a shot with PBW - thanks for the tip.

Pick up with one hand on the bottom and one on the neck. It won't suck any airlock fluid that way.

When I pick it up by the neck it sucks air (often airlock water as well) in. When I pick it up like a glass carboy (hugging it) it blows air out, then sucks it back in when I set it down again. When I put my hand under it as I lift it sorta does both. I haven't tried that carboy-carrier-strap thing yet; I may try that next to see what that does.

I think the flexibility of the plastic will always allow some volume change, especially when handling it when full. But I also don't think it's a big deal since a little air (or even sanitizer) in the beer isn't the end of the world. I do make sure I use iodophor + water in the Better Bottle airlocks though.

Why would you put 140+ degree wort in a carboy? You might put hot water in to clean it, but you just need to stick to warm, but not hot, water.

For me, because 2gal of 140F wort plus 3gal of cold water will give me about 75F, which seems to work well for a pitching temp when making extract beers. It's not a big deal to cool it longer to get the temp down, it's just something I have to watch for with plastic fermentors. The last extract batch I did with a BB I cooled down to 100F first (gave me about a 68deg final temp.)

 

[SumnerH]

This problem is so easily avoided that I don't even consider it a problem. Just pull the airlock when you move it. You really shouldn't have to move a carboy except when you put it in a fermentation chamber, and when you remove it to bottle. Both times it isn't a big deal to pull the airlock.

Yeah. After I fill it, I put the sanitized stopper in, move it into the basement, and put in the sanitized airlock. When it's done and ready to be emptied, I pull the airlock, move it to where I'm going to siphon from, and siphon. I've never seen a need to move it around in the interim--if I did need to, I'd pull the airlock, move it, give the airlock a quick spraydown with the Starsan bottle, and put it back in.

 

[JayInJersey]

These bottles,
Are you/Did you encounter any problems as many of the BB users are with the air being sucked through the stopper when lifted due to the stretching effect?

Nope. No problem at all. They are way to rigid (and not clear [I must have mentioned that somewhere along the lines]) and you could stack them on top of each other...full, if the airlock sticking out of the top wasn't in the way.

It reminds me of a big lego block come to think of it.

Also with the Vittles Vaults (opaque too) you could get your whole had in them to wipe them out to clean them...even though you don't need to as I just soak them in Oxy for a week or two while I rotate in one of my other ones (I have 4 and rarely have more than 2 filled at a time)


If there is a stubborn mess or I need them faster I just use my old Carboy Wand I got from somewhere. It's basically an attachment for my hose that makes the end jet out in several directions and can knock loose just about anything there.

 

[SoonerDoc]

These threads are like arguing about dogs vs cats. (Cats being similar to BB and far inferior overall. )

 

[passedpawn]

These threads are like arguing about dogs vs cats. (Cats being similar to BB and far inferior overall. )

OMG. Right on the cats, wrong on the BB. 50% get's you an F.

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

Buckets!

I too am completely torn between BB's and glass. I currently use bottling buckets because i love the spigot. My occasional need for a secondary takes me into this BB vs Glass arena.

I think i will use both.

Does anyone know if long term use of alcahol in the BetterBottles will break down the particulate matter? Seems like it surely would no matter how highly graded the plastic is.

 

[Pappers_]

So, the other day, I dropped my BB, it bounced back up and nearly knocked me out cold. I'm only using glass from now on!

 

[NelsonNelson]

From my view: There are two major drawbacks to each of them

BB: It's clear and it is only 6 gallons
Glass: It's clear and it can kill you if it breaks.....

An inverted paper grocery bag with the right sized hole can take care of any opacity issues with having a BB or Glass Carboy.

 

[passedpawn]

So, the other day, I dropped my BB, it bounced back up and nearly knocked me out cold. I'm only using glass from now on!

bwaaah !

 

[BenS]

My plastic brew bucket makes off flavors IMO. I shattered a glass carboy all over my feet once. And I cracked the bottom of my last BB. I need a steel drum to brew in that makes no odors and is to big to try to move......

 

[cmharris]

If you dumped some sand and shook it around to gouge the surface then maybe yes. Otherwise proper sanitation will render this a moot point too.

I like my better bottle because I don't have to be gentle with it. I can bang it down on the counter or bump into things and not have to worry.

I've done some research on the BB. Considering upgrading to them. From what I've read they are designed not to soak up odors or flavors. Many people are saying they are easy to clean/sanitize