Aqua 2 Go 12l Bottles - Anyone Use Them?

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jimmysuperlative

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I've been doing a few mini beers of late ...stovetop 10L BIABs.

Anyway, at my local Officeworks I saw these "Aqua to Go" 12L bottles on sale. Linky !

I found some older posts about the "blue" water dispenser bottles being the wrong type of plastic, and even the clearer ones being oxygen permeable...

What I want to know is if anyone is using them, and if you do ...how do they perform? They just seem the perfect size! Here are the pics...


Red-Cap-Bottle_On-Base_RGB192.gif
 
Are you thinking of using one as a fermenter or to bottle it in?

If fermenter; why not use a 15L cube which comes with a tap?
If bottling; you will have to drink it all in one day else it will go flat.
 
I meant for fermenting in ...like a betterbottle/carboy only 1/3 the size. Just right for a 10L mini-brew.
 
I suppose it would work. Personally I find siphoning / racking with a cane a PITA and prefer taps, but cant it hurt to give it a go yourself and see.
 
As far as the taps go phoney, I would've agreed with you once but after a bad run with "off" flavours I tend to avoid them as possible sources of infection. :icon_vomit:

Intend to give it a go for myself, next mini will be in the aqua2go bottle ...may even use the water!
Still, if anyone has used them/is using them, I'd like to hear your thoughts ;)
 
how are you chilling?

if you are planing on no chilling in it as well it would melt.
try using a thin plastic water bottle and pouring hot water into it, it shrinks to half its size.
 
Alright! Finally something I can offer some insight on!

I used one of these Aqua2Go bottles for my first batch of beer. The first batch I made I used an Instructable that recommended I use one of them. Back then I didn't really have much of a clue about beer!

Anyway, here she is!

gm9I3.jpg



You can see that the airlock is not very secure. I got no bubbling from the airlock on my first fermentation, which as a newbie, scared the hell out of me! It was most likely due to a poor seal on the lid and the large head space. One thing I would say is try and find a bung to fit it. I just used the lid that came with it which doesn't screw on, but only fits on top like the lid on a biscuit tin. You can see that before my knowledge of grommets, I used duct tape to secure the airlock.

Anyway, although it was my first brew, I don't feel it tasted in any way plasticky. I can't comment about it melting as I brewed it on the stovetop and cooled it before I put it in the fermenter.

What's nice about using them (for the first time) is that you get free clean water to brew your beer with! :)

I had real issues siphoning the beer out since there was nothing to secure the siphon to at a given level, at least with my meagre equipment.

Now I've bought myself a big fermenter since cleaning the Aqua2Go bottle seemed like a bit of a nightmare. There are tonnes of little bumps and grooves at the bottom that would be a real nightmare to clean, so she went down the garbage chute!

Overall, I would say they are a good choice if you can get a proper airtight seal, and if you want to use them once for a special brew, or you have lots of time to clean the bottom out!

I got mine for $8 from Officeworks by the way :)

Hope this has helped in some way!
 
Due to the fact that the Fitzroy River is the arsehole of Queensland and Rocky is shoved fair up it...........ditch the bottle and use the water :icon_cheers:
 
how are you chilling?

if you are planing on no chilling in it as well it would melt.
try using a thin plastic water bottle and pouring hot water into it, it shrinks to half its size.

Only a 10L batch, so chilled quickly in an ice bath. I'm really only thinking about these for a primary fermentation.

Alright! Finally something I can offer some insight on!

I used one of these Aqua2Go bottles for my first batch of beer. The first batch I made I used an Instructable that recommended I use one of them. Back then I didn't really have much of a clue about beer!

Anyway, here she is!

You can see that the airlock is not very secure. I got no bubbling from the airlock on my first fermentation, which as a newbie, scared the hell out of me! It was most likely due to a poor seal on the lid and the large head space. One thing I would say is try and find a bung to fit it. I just used the lid that came with it which doesn't screw on, but only fits on top like the lid on a biscuit tin. You can see that before my knowledge of grommets, I used duct tape to secure the airlock.

Anyway, although it was my first brew, I don't feel it tasted in any way plasticky. I can't comment about it melting as I brewed it on the stovetop and cooled it before I put it in the fermenter.

What's nice about using them (for the first time) is that you get free clean water to brew your beer with! :)

I had real issues siphoning the beer out since there was nothing to secure the siphon to at a given level, at least with my meagre equipment.

Now I've bought myself a big fermenter since cleaning the Aqua2Go bottle seemed like a bit of a nightmare. There are tonnes of little bumps and grooves at the bottom that would be a real nightmare to clean, so she went down the garbage chute!

Overall, I would say they are a good choice if you can get a proper airtight seal, and if you want to use them once for a special brew, or you have lots of time to clean the bottom out!

I got mine for $8 from Officeworks by the way :)

Hope this has helped in some way!

Thanks for your post Econ. I'm glad your beer turned out okay. I didn't think about cleaning issues, there are some nooks and crannies but I reckon a warm water percarb soak will get it sorted. ;)

I'm well sorted for fermenters/cubes/carboys etc, but I'm just looking at these as a useful (relatively inexpensive) piece of kit to have on hand for small batches and starters. I see on the website they are BPA free(?) ...so that's a weight off??!! :ph34r:
 
Due to the fact that the Fitzroy River is the arsehole of Queensland and Rocky is shoved fair up it...........ditch the bottle and use the water :icon_cheers:

Pity the haters Rowy! Did you do some time in Beefvegas recently? You are correct about the local water ...apparently our regions mines support their local communities by flying in the workforce and using our waterways as sewers :icon_cheers:
 
Pity the haters Rowy! Did you do some time in Beefvegas recently? You are correct about the local water ...apparently our regions mines support their local communities by flying in the workforce and using our waterways as sewers :icon_cheers:

Lived there for a few years and been back a million times it seems :( Some great people but one ugly place. Also lived in a couple of CQ mining towns in the good old days before FIFO. There was good community spirit then that's all gone now I'm told. When the booms over all that will be left are big holes in the ground and expensive ghost towns. Add to that huge unemployment in the provincial cities close by. Hope you brew a couple of crackers for 2013 regardless of Rockvegas water. :icon_cheers:
 
Okay. So I did it. Fermented in an Aqua2Go bottle ...
153lhcy.jpg


This is a SMaSH Bo-pils/Cascade coming down off a fairly vigorous (warm ~ 24 - 26°) primary fermentation. All went as expected, bottle is just like a miniature carboy. The neck of the bottle is "standard" carboy size i.e. will take standard fittings etc. I didn't use the water as I had some pre-boiled Fitzroy River water which I supplemented with some 5.2.

ejvjtg.jpg


The plastic cleaned up easily enough with a percarbonate soak, and transfer was simple with a auto siphon. So, I reckon I'll use it again for small batches, but more likely for stepping up yeast starters.

Does this qualify for the ghetto thread?? :D
 
Finally got to taste this one! Everything seems normal ...only off flavours from the hot fruity ferment with Safale S04 ;)
Might pick up a few of these for splitting larger batches to pitch different strains for comparison.
 
Might give this a go for some of my Ciders and Meads that I don't brew in large quantities.

Cheers. Good find.
 
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