Better bottle fermenters

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

chopdog

Well-Known Member
Joined
29/7/09
Messages
344
Reaction score
11
Just wondering if anybody uses these. I was listening to a old episode of brew strong and jamil was saying he was trialing them for a year, would like to hear some feed back

http://www.better-bottle.com/
 
Honestly I'd just buy 25/30L HDPE water jerry cans from Bunnings/BCF/Masters or wherever instead and fit airlock into lids. Most come with taps or hole to put tap in so you dont have to siphon either. I imagine you'd be able to get 2 for the price of one BetterBottle easy. Just my tightarsed 2 cents worth lol
 
They look great but gee do they cost a lot! G&G will sell a 23L one with the required parts for nearly $100!
 
Edak said:
They look great but gee do they cost a lot! G&G will sell a 23L one with the required parts for nearly $100!
I can get Glass Carboys cheaper than that...
 
The internal tap hole is small. I've had it clog up once when racking.
I'm still trying to figure out how to attach a racking cane to the tap. I think you need a section of hose to fit over the tap, then put the racking cane to the hose.
I wouldn't recommend it. If you want something similar, get a glass carboy and a siphon.
 
They are on eBay for 20 bucks plus delivery. I want glass ones but thought they would be too expensive, and I also don't know where to buy them
 
chopdog said:
They are on eBay for 20 bucks plus delivery. I want glass ones but thought they would be too expensive, and I also don't know where to buy them
You mean the "not better bottle" better bottles... Sure they are $20 but they are not "better bottles". I don't really know which is better but I'd bet the "better bottles" accessories are not suitable for "non better bottles" better bottles.

Dr Seus is an amateur.

Does anyone brew with the eBay ones? From the description they are about the same, although the eBay ones are 19L so are not really suitable for a standard brew size, especially with no headspace.
 
I use a better bottle for bulk aging, since I don't have kegs. They are supposed to be less oxygen permeable than HDPE.

The vessel itself is great, but the accessories are way too expensive.

I would not want to mess around with a piece of glass that big, I've heard a few horror stories about carboys breaking in peoples hands.
 
I've got a couple of the 23L ones.

They are expensive, yes.

The positives: impermeability, smooth internal surface (which leaves no places for bacteria to hide, and helps with cleaning), being clear (which helps with checking for signs of fermentation or clarification) - basically, all of the benefits of using glass but without the fragility or potential danger.

The swiveling racking adapter makes draining above the trub level easy, and allows you to fully drain a batch without tilting the fermenter and stirring up sediment.

The negatives: doesn't come with built-in handles, slightly limiting capacity, expensive.

I switched over from standard HDPE fermenters because no matter how well I cleaned them or what I soaked them with they still had a funky smell.
 
If anyone asks you if you can put boiling wort in a better bottle. The answer is no.

Lesson learned!
 
Back
Top