Has anyone used "Better Bottles"?

http://www.better-bottle.com/

They are said to be made of a new kind of plastic that is non-porous.
Thanks in advance for any responses.

Gary

http://home.carolina.rr.com/winemaking/

Interesting.... I like the racking version with the valve on the bottom.

Being a newbie myself, I have a question regarding this. Is it a problem to
use plastic throughout the 'carboy' life of the wine? I know the ad
proclaims no carry over of flavors, no odor transfer and that it is a stable
material, but I'd love to know if this is really true before I decided to
purchase this.

I'm all about using easy stuff.

Thanks!

Tony

"Gary" > wrote in message
...
> Has anyone used "Better Bottles"?
>
> http://www.better-bottle.com/
>
> They are said to be made of a new kind of plastic that is non-porous.
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
>
> Gary
>
> http://home.carolina.rr.com/winemaking/


Gary,

I've recently (about 2 months ago) purchased a few of these carboys, and so
far I've very happy with their utility. I had 20 gallons of finished red
wine to transport from NJ to VA, and I felt uncomfortable with the idea of
making the trip with glass carboys belted into the rear seats of the car.
I've seen broken carboys...

So I bought 2 of the 6 gallon Better Bottles, one with the racking port and
one without, and brought my corker and a few cases of splits up with me as
well. The filled splits traveled in the trunk, and the Better Bottles were
belted into the rear seats, and there was no leakage at all through the
racking port.

I've since emptied the Better Bottles, and they show no staining, and no
clouding from rinsing with water and One Step (oxygen based cleanser).
There is some slight staining of the racking port components.

The single negative with these carboys would be their flexibility. I used a
carboy cap to seal them in transit, but if an airlock is attached great care
must be taken to avoid flexing the sides of the carboy, as this will cause
the contents to push up into the airlock, and perhaps to spurt out of the
airlock. The vendor sells an attachment they call a 'dry tap', claiming it
to be an airlock that requires no fluid, but I put that down as the darkest
voodoo and used a standard carboy cap (they also sell a single use carboy
cap, but the ones I own are reusable and airtight) to prevent this sort of
behavior.

The single greatest advantage of these carboys would be weight. The Better
Bottle is feather light by itself, as opposed to the weight of a glass
carboy. I can lift a filled 6 gallon Better Bottle carboy with greater ease
than lifting a filled glass 5 gallon carboy, and with no worries about
breakage.

Time will be the best judge, but I've already purchased 2 additional 5
gallon Better Bottle carboys sans racking port (the vendor is quite proud of
the racking port, the addition of a small hole nearly doubles the cost of
the Bottle...) and have them filled with aging mead. I expect they will age
just as a mead in a glass carboy would, given the gas impermeability of PET.
Or at least, I sincerely hope so!

--
Cheers,
Ken

I have considered these because of the weight. My back is not as strong as
it was 30 years ago. May get one to try. You commented on the flexibility
being a problem. Is this a problem when simply lifting an moving them?

Ray

"Oberon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gary" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Has anyone used "Better Bottles"?
> >
> > http://www.better-bottle.com/
> >
> > They are said to be made of a new kind of plastic that is non-porous.
> > Thanks in advance for any responses.
> >
> > Gary
> >
> > http://home.carolina.rr.com/winemaking/
>
>
> Gary,
>
> I've recently (about 2 months ago) purchased a few of these carboys, and
so
> far I've very happy with their utility. I had 20 gallons of finished red
> wine to transport from NJ to VA, and I felt uncomfortable with the idea of
> making the trip with glass carboys belted into the rear seats of the car.
> I've seen broken carboys...
>
> So I bought 2 of the 6 gallon Better Bottles, one with the racking port
and
> one without, and brought my corker and a few cases of splits up with me as
> well. The filled splits traveled in the trunk, and the Better Bottles
were
> belted into the rear seats, and there was no leakage at all through the
> racking port.
>
> I've since emptied the Better Bottles, and they show no staining, and no
> clouding from rinsing with water and One Step (oxygen based cleanser).
> There is some slight staining of the racking port components.
>
> The single negative with these carboys would be their flexibility. I used
a
> carboy cap to seal them in transit, but if an airlock is attached great
care
> must be taken to avoid flexing the sides of the carboy, as this will cause
> the contents to push up into the airlock, and perhaps to spurt out of the
> airlock. The vendor sells an attachment they call a 'dry tap', claiming
it
> to be an airlock that requires no fluid, but I put that down as the
darkest
> voodoo and used a standard carboy cap (they also sell a single use carboy
> cap, but the ones I own are reusable and airtight) to prevent this sort of
> behavior.
>
> The single greatest advantage of these carboys would be weight. The
Better
> Bottle is feather light by itself, as opposed to the weight of a glass
> carboy. I can lift a filled 6 gallon Better Bottle carboy with greater
ease
> than lifting a filled glass 5 gallon carboy, and with no worries about
> breakage.
>
> Time will be the best judge, but I've already purchased 2 additional 5
> gallon Better Bottle carboys sans racking port (the vendor is quite proud
of
> the racking port, the addition of a small hole nearly doubles the cost of
> the Bottle...) and have them filled with aging mead. I expect they will
age
> just as a mead in a glass carboy would, given the gas impermeability of
PET.
> Or at least, I sincerely hope so!
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Ken
>
>

Ken,

Thanks for the helpful input. I have purchased two of the Better Bottles
(both without racking ports) and am testing them to see the effect of
long-term (9-12 months) storage of wine. They particularly appeal to me
because of their extremely light weight compared to glass. Thankfully I've
been using glass for 15 years now with no breakages, but that day might come
unexpectedly. Aside from the breakage concern, I'm not as young as I used
to be, and want to make wine (Lord willing) to a ripe old age. So, that is
my primary motivation. They are definitely sensitive to external pressure,
so you have to be very careful when it has an airlock attached. I keep my
filled ones on a stand with wheels so moving the filled carboy around my
"winery" does not flex the plastic, and have a carboy handle attached as
well. I guess time will tell, but thus far the advantages outweigh the
disadvantages.

Gary


"Oberon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gary" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Has anyone used "Better Bottles"?
> >
> > http://www.better-bottle.com/
> >
> > They are said to be made of a new kind of plastic that is non-porous.
> > Thanks in advance for any responses.
> >
> > Gary
> >
> > http://home.carolina.rr.com/winemaking/
>
>
> Gary,
>
> I've recently (about 2 months ago) purchased a few of these carboys, and
so
> far I've very happy with their utility. I had 20 gallons of finished red
> wine to transport from NJ to VA, and I felt uncomfortable with the idea of
> making the trip with glass carboys belted into the rear seats of the car.
> I've seen broken carboys...
>
> So I bought 2 of the 6 gallon Better Bottles, one with the racking port
and
> one without, and brought my corker and a few cases of splits up with me as
> well. The filled splits traveled in the trunk, and the Better Bottles
were
> belted into the rear seats, and there was no leakage at all through the
> racking port.
>
> I've since emptied the Better Bottles, and they show no staining, and no
> clouding from rinsing with water and One Step (oxygen based cleanser).
> There is some slight staining of the racking port components.
>
> The single negative with these carboys would be their flexibility. I used
a
> carboy cap to seal them in transit, but if an airlock is attached great
care
> must be taken to avoid flexing the sides of the carboy, as this will cause
> the contents to push up into the airlock, and perhaps to spurt out of the
> airlock. The vendor sells an attachment they call a 'dry tap', claiming
it
> to be an airlock that requires no fluid, but I put that down as the
darkest
> voodoo and used a standard carboy cap (they also sell a single use carboy
> cap, but the ones I own are reusable and airtight) to prevent this sort of
> behavior.
>
> The single greatest advantage of these carboys would be weight. The
Better
> Bottle is feather light by itself, as opposed to the weight of a glass
> carboy. I can lift a filled 6 gallon Better Bottle carboy with greater
ease
> than lifting a filled glass 5 gallon carboy, and with no worries about
> breakage.
>
> Time will be the best judge, but I've already purchased 2 additional 5
> gallon Better Bottle carboys sans racking port (the vendor is quite proud
of
> the racking port, the addition of a small hole nearly doubles the cost of
> the Bottle...) and have them filled with aging mead. I expect they will
age
> just as a mead in a glass carboy would, given the gas impermeability of
PET.
> Or at least, I sincerely hope so!
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Ken
>
>

"Ray" > wrote in message
...
> I have considered these because of the weight. My back is not as strong
as
> it was 30 years ago. May get one to try. You commented on the
flexibility
> being a problem. Is this a problem when simply lifting an moving them?
>
> Ray


Ray,

[thread snipped]

Great care must be used when lifting and moving the PET carboys, if a
standard airlock is attached and if headspace is as minimal as is typical
for bulk aging. The volume of flex is greater than the volume of ullage,
and the wine can push into (or straight through) the airlock simply from the
flexing caused by the pressure of grasping the sides of the Better Bottle.
If lifted from the neck and supported from the bottom, they can be moved
without too much flexing, but this isn't always possible for me since I bulk
age in a shelf unit two carboys deep.

As a counterpoint, this flexibility also gives me the confidence to age
finished wine or mead in a tightly capped Better Bottle, as the flex caused
by barometric pressure can not shatter these as may happen with a glass
carboy.

I should caution that these are pretty embrionic observations, as I've owned
my Better Bottles for only a short period of time. I'm testing them for
suitability as bulk storage containers, but I won't know for certain for
over a year, and possibly longer. One thing I feel they are very well
suited for, and which was my driving motivation in purchasing them, is safe
transportation by automobile. Shatterproof PET in my backseat gave me no
worries while driving.


--
Cheers,
Ken

Thanks for the excellent observations. I had not thought of the benefit of
the flex with pressure changes. That is a plus!

But you negate the benefit I was interested in them for. That is their
light weight so they could be moved easily. If they can not be moved easily
because they flex then that advantage is lost or at least diminished.

Ray

"Oberon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ray" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I have considered these because of the weight. My back is not as strong
> as
> > it was 30 years ago. May get one to try. You commented on the
> flexibility
> > being a problem. Is this a problem when simply lifting an moving them?
> >
> > Ray
>
>
> Ray,
>
> [thread snipped]
>
> Great care must be used when lifting and moving the PET carboys, if a
> standard airlock is attached and if headspace is as minimal as is typical
> for bulk aging. The volume of flex is greater than the volume of ullage,
> and the wine can push into (or straight through) the airlock simply from
the
> flexing caused by the pressure of grasping the sides of the Better Bottle.
> If lifted from the neck and supported from the bottom, they can be moved
> without too much flexing, but this isn't always possible for me since I
bulk
> age in a shelf unit two carboys deep.
>
> As a counterpoint, this flexibility also gives me the confidence to age
> finished wine or mead in a tightly capped Better Bottle, as the flex
caused
> by barometric pressure can not shatter these as may happen with a glass
> carboy.
>
> I should caution that these are pretty embrionic observations, as I've
owned
> my Better Bottles for only a short period of time. I'm testing them for
> suitability as bulk storage containers, but I won't know for certain for
> over a year, and possibly longer. One thing I feel they are very well
> suited for, and which was my driving motivation in purchasing them, is
safe
> transportation by automobile. Shatterproof PET in my backseat gave me no
> worries while driving.
>
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Ken
>
>

Ray > wrote:
: Thanks for the excellent observations. I had not thought of the benefit of
: the flex with pressure changes. That is a plus!

: But you negate the benefit I was interested in them for. That is their
: light weight so they could be moved easily. If they can not be moved easily
: because they flex then that advantage is lost or at least diminished.

: Ray

All my carboys (glass only) are in large plastic milk crates, mostly to
ease handling, but for safety as well. I'd think you'd have less flexing
if you used crates rather than a carboy handle in any case.


--
Kirk