OK, so I have owned a better bottle for a little over a year. I think it is fair to say that initially, I was quite impressed with the "no-touch" cleaning, the additional safety and less weight. However, after a year, I am thinking that these things might be fragile in their own way....
I packaged up two of my carboys, with the intention of selling them off - but now I am seriously having second thoughts. Two factors have always bothered me a little - 1) the 6 gallon size, vs. 6.5 gallon carboy, and 2) I am forced to use a drilled stopper - as neither of the carboy caps fit properly. Oh well... minor annoyances that I have managed to live with.
Recently, however, I noticed while cleaning after the last batch that the bottom of my BB has developed a few cracks. One is a "spider" crack that looks like I might have set it down, while full, on a small pebble or something. The other is a 8" or so hairline crack on the bottom that runs around the raised center section. Neither of these are leaking (yet). I thought I was pretty careful with this one, but apparently not careful enough.
Can anybody else corroborate the seemingly short(er) lifecycle than glass?
Mylo