Propane Burner or Ported Better Bottle - Please Weigh In

[postman]

Greetings,

I'm just looking for a little help on making my next purchase. The goal here is to make the best beer. To help me get there, I'm either going to buy a propane burner (already have a 10 gal pot....garage sale $5) or a ported better bottle. I can't presently afford both.

• The burner would allow me full volume boils and the ability to go all grain on a full volume scale. My current brew pot is 4 gallons, allowing 3 gallon boils.

• The ported better bottle would reduce oxidation of the beer, allowing me to bottle directly from the primary into bottles with carb tabs.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks a ton.

 

[RayInUT]

Get the burner. You can do already bottle directly from the bucket to bottles. What would you be accomplishing with the BB that you aren't or can't already do?

 

[aekdbbop]

I hate my ported better bottle.. more hassle than it is worth..

stick with a normal BB and use a autosiphon..

get the turkey fryer.

 

[McKBrew]

Get the burner.

 

[postman]

I've always bottled using a bottling bucket, which exposes the beer to oxygen. I also brew and bottle solo, and I have not had success bottling directly from the primary, the racking cane always moves on me. Having a ported better bottle would let me reduce the exposure to oxygen by skipping the bottling bucket, bottling directly from the primary if I went with carb tabs.

I recall listening to Basic Brewing Radio, where a guest made a comment about being at a beer competition, where the winning brewers' claimed their success was due to minimal handling of the beer. That's where I'm going with the idea of a ported better bottle. I also know full volume boils produce better beer as well. Hope that clarifies it. Once again, the goal here is the best beer possible.

 

[HomebrewJeff]

Exposing beer to oxygen for a few minutes and violently splashing beer around are two different things. You will be a fine with bottling from a bucket. As a way to test... keep track of the first bottle, 20th bottle and last one. After carbonated, see if you can taste a difference. Theoretically the first beer bottled will have least amount of time exposed to air, and the last bottle the most. You won't notice a difference.

If you still aren't convinced, get a lid for your bottling bucket, and ferment in that. (Assuming it has a spigot). Another option is to flush the bottling bucket with CO2, if you don't have a CO2 bottle, you could always run a hose from your primary to your bottling bucket. Cover the bucket as much as you can, and the co2 produced during fermentation should fill the bucket with co2.

Anyways, get the burner.

 

[AnOldUR]

. . . I have not had success bottling directly from the primary, the racking cane always moves on me.

Racking Cane Holder for $1.99 . . . (if your primary is a bucket?)

Get the burner!!!

 

[postman]

Yeah, I'll get the burner. In retrospect, there is no comparison. Thanks for the feedback as well. I tried the racking cane adapter, but the racking cane & hose had pulled the clip off the bucket.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

I know you already decided, but the burner is absolutely the way to go...

 

[AnOldUR]

I tried the racking cane adapter, but the racking cane & hose had pulled the clip off the bucket.

I use a big rubber band to hold the siphon hose tight to the side of my carboy so that the hose and cane don't move while racking. Should work with a bucket too.