Easy Wide Mouth Bubbler Modification

[J2W2]

This looks like a great idea! The timing is perfect too as I just bought a BMB. I'm going to use my old kegerator to cold crash, now that I have a keezer, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to transfer to the keg since I can't use my auto syphon while it's in the kegerator.
What ID tubing size do you need to connect to the valve?

 

[okbecker]

@J2W2 - sorry, do not recall the tubing size and away from home so cant help you out there. Mine is set up so that the tubing actually fits up/inside the spigot (vs around it), and hooks up to a liquid disconnect. It is the smaller diameter tubing; common keg tubing (I want to say 3/16"). No leaks, works fine.

 

[wsmith1625]

I use the siphonless fermenting bucket from Williams Brewing. Works great.
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/SIPHONLESS-FERMENTOR-P143.aspx

 

[fimpster]

It looks like NB also had this idea...
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/fermenting-equipment/siphonless-big-mouth-bubbler-ported-5-gallon

 

[Firewalker11]

@Hello - Yes, they can be cleaned, run your favorite sanitizer through the valve when the bottle is empty and use a cap plug on the end to seal it when once its clean. Forethought is needed.

 

[psymonkey]

Man, I am so bummed out right now and this article could not have come at a better time. I have three 6 gallon Better Bottles that are ported w/ racking adapters. I too love them. I just kegged three beers, cleaned and santizied the BBs and (queue the what did you think was going to happen responses), laid them on their sides to dry on my deck. 15 minutes later I go out to get them, and they are absolutely ruined. Warped to hell, imploded on themselves. Thank you SO much for this writeup, I'm going to pick up three six gallon big mouth bubblers and add do exaactly what you've done here.

 

[MT2sum]

I had problems with my big mouth bubbler the first time I used it. I called up NB and they send me out a new-style lid for free. (Universal Lid - shown on p.17 in Midwest Supplies Catalog, Late Winter 2017). I've never had a problem since! The old style was screw-on, the new style has 3 seals around the edge and just pushes right into the bubbler, but has a wide lip to prevent it from going in too far. That worked swo well, I talked the guy from Midwest into sending me the same style of lid for my little big-mouth bubblers. No further problems with the 1.75 gallon "Little Big Mouth Bubbler" after that! It took some argument, because he said they had never had any leakage complaints for the small ones, but I did, so he replaced all three for me!
On another note, When I was much younger, I worked in a glass shop and used diamond drills to drill holes in glass - aquariums, mirrors, etc., but the difference here is that plate glass has a different makeup than bottle glass, especially if the bottle glass is meant for hand-blowing. I was thinking of maybe using one of my glass LBMB 1.75 gal and experiment at drilling a hole in it for one of these racking adapters. It would be a pretty costly experiment for me if I failed because they don't list them for sale anymore in the Midwest or the Northern Brewer catalogs that I can see, and they work just great for split batches/experimenting with different ingredients or yeasts; but if it works, it would sure be handy! I believe, at the time, they were only 12 or 13 bucks each, so I bought 3 of them. Maybe ABInbev decided they were not enough of a money-maker, shame, I was planning on getting a couple more!
Bill, Thanks for this article!