We picked up a ported Better Bottle and are giving it a test run this week. If we are happy with it, we plan to replace all our glass carboys with them.The fact that they are much lighter and ported are big pluses, but the primary reason for the change is this collection of horror stories about serious injuries resulting from exploding carboys. The chance of something like this happening may be remote, but if there is a safer alternative that works, we're going to go with it.
They are about the same cost as glass, but the ported version ends up much more expensive as the valve is quite pricey. Overall the cost for these things is a bit ridiculous, but with no competition they only have to compete with the price of glass carboys (which all come from either Mexico or Italy.)
If your thinking about buying carboys, I would definitely consider getting a un-ported BB instead. Just the weight difference is worth it. They don't quite have the romance of the glass, but being lacerated to the bone isn't very romantic either.
Imagine doing this with a glass carboy...
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3 comments:
The only real problem i can see with the better botle is that much like the plastic buckets used commonly to ferment here in ireland, they can scratch on the inside which leaves you with the possibility of having an infected brew, this would mean replacing these about once every two years, as you have mentioned they are a little bit expensive for this.
a cheaper option might be to use old water cooler dispensers with a rubber bung fitted, these are easily available usually for little or no cost, Also they are food grade and so are completely safe for fermentation. i've heard of others using this method and am considering it myself.
Be careful. In the U.S. those water bottles are made from a plastic that is suspected to leech chemicals in to non-neutral solutions. This makes them "OK" for water, but not for anything else.
Look on the bottom of the bottle for the recycle symbol. If it has a #1 or a #2 in it you're good, but if not (ours are usually #7) I would avoid them like... well... cancer.
Here is a link with some good information (second post): http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/
culligan-water-bottle-57828/
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