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

I've heard people voice the same complaint about better bottles but that hasn't been my experience. I use them almost exclusively and my oldest ones are four years old or so and are still perfectly intact.

I bought 7 of them and about 6-7 months later, I burned them. The only advantage over glass is the reduced fragileness. I had one start leaking after setting it in a fridge.

I'm in the market for some new frermenters and was looking at the better bottles, but have heard the same concerns. Then I noticed that PET plastic carboys showed up in the MoreBeer store. Anybody have any experience with the plastic carboys? They seem thicker and have a more traditional 'carboy' shape.

I have not had a problem with reusing polycarbonate or plastic. I’ve brewed in both vessels as well as glass. All beers have tasted fine and have done reasonably well in the Florida Circuit…. this being my first season as a comp brewer, so take this with a grain of salt.

My belief is that the choice of fermenter is not as "big a deal" as the fundamental brewing practices: chemicals used appropriately, healthy yeast is pitched, adequate aeration, temperature controlled, etc.

Just my opinion.

Brew Strong

I like everything about better bottles except for the fact that when you pick them up with an airlock in it either sucks sanitizer in or almost pushes it all out...my solution has been to put sanitized foil over the top when moving it around...otherwise I love them...very easy to clean, no scrubbing involved...some hot pbw and your done the next day

I've had mine for about a year, and haven't seen any issues like that, but I don't think mine's ever been outside. I generally fill it in my kitchen, then move it to my fridge for fermenting, so it's never had an uneven surface beneath it. Definitely something I'll have to be mindful of in the future.

The one thing I found with the scratches is its difficult to see on what serface they are. I know I scratched the bottom of one of my better bottles (looks like I took sand paper to it) when I was cleaning it on a concrete floor, but it's on the outside so no real concern.

I also have one of the vintage shop pet carboys and to me the better bottle is much better structurally. The pet carboys dent if you touch the side like soda bottles but does return to its original shape. If you think better bottles will drain an airlock into them the pet carboys will do that and alot more.