[chezteth]

Hi All.  I am considering purchasing a couple of better bottles.  I really like the idea of them being light weight and unbreakable.  Plus they are actually cheaper than glass carboys now.   I have heard that you have to replace them every couple of years as they get "worn out".  For those of you out there that use better bottles would you say this is true?  How long can they be used for?  Any advice?  Thanks in advance.

Brandon

[scottyb]

3+ years on mine and still good

[theDarkSide]

I've got 2 years on my 6 gallon BB and still good ( well as good as I brew that is ).

A tip for you...get yourself a couple milk crates to put them in so when you pick them up, they won't flex and suck stuff back in through the airlock. 

I wish they would make a 6.5 gallon version though.  I just did a 1.098 beer and came up short on volume ( 4.5 gallon ).  Good thing I did because it went nuts, even with the blowoff  tube.  Can't image what my basement would have looked like if I had the actual 5 - 5.5 I was shooting for.

[ndcube]

I've got almost two years on mine.  Considering getting more.  They're easier / safer to place in a chest freezer.

[matt]

I've got 2 years on my 6 gallon BB and still good ( well as good as I brew that is ).

A tip for you...get yourself a couple milk crates to put them in so when you pick them up, they won't flex and suck stuff back in through the airlock. 

I wish they would make a 6.5 gallon version though.  I just did a 1.098 beer and came up short on volume ( 4.5 gallon ).  Good thing I did because it went nuts, even with the blowoff  tube.  Can't image what my basement would have looked like if I had the actual 5 - 5.5 I was shooting for.

+1 on the milk crate. They are amazingly flexible. Especially when filled...

[deepsouth]

too bad the milk crates you can buy suck compared to the ones we used to steal in college. 

[The Professor]

...I wish they would make a 6.5 gallon version though.  I just did a 1.098 beer and came up short on volume ( 4.5 gallon ).  Good thing I did because it went nuts, even with the blowoff  tube.  Can't image what my basement would have looked like if I had the actual 5 - 5.5 I was shooting for.

Actually, I wish they'd come up with a 7 gallon one. 
I'd be all over that and would probably get a few of them.  Right now my main primary is a 7 gal acid carboy and it's perfect...never had a blowout issue (I don't  even bother with a blowoff tube...it isn't even necessary with the 7 gal bottle.)  But is sure would be nice to have a lighter weight BetterBottle with that volume...

[k4df4l]

I have a couple years on mine (2 each of the 5 & 6 gal) and they show no signs of wearing out anytime soon.

The milk crate to tote them when full is definitely the way to go.  If you lift them with out one, I like to use one hand on the bottom edge and one on the neck which seems to minimize any flexing.

[blatz]

just an fyi - the hard plastic bottom can crack - so they are not entirely indestructible.  a friend dropped one while he was swirling sanitizer in it and when I used the fermenter for that batch, I found some escaped wort pooled underneath the carboy when I went to rack from it.

I still use them when not using my conical, so no worries - just giving you a heads up not to let your friends drop them!

[Podo]

+1 on the bottom cracking.  I've had two crack, probably because I was too rough.  Much better than glass though.

[Brew.Drink.Repeat.]

I've got 2 years on my 6 gallon BB and still good ( well as good as I brew that is ).

A tip for you...get yourself a couple milk crates to put them in so when you pick them up, they won't flex and suck stuff back in through the airlock. 

Another option is to grab the cap from a bottle of water (if you have a water service at your work, for example) -- the caps will fit the Better Bottle perfectly, and prevent any suckback or oxygen ingress when you move it. Some of the water bottle caps have a removable center part; if you leave it in that creates a solid seal, but if you remove it you can insert a small blowoff tube:



Some Better Bottle tips I posted on the Northern Brewer forum a while back:
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?p=332738#p332738

[redbeerman]

Been using them for lagers the last couple of years with no problems so far (I like to see what's going on with the yeast ).  Still use buckets for ales.

[bigfatjoey]

2 years.  Mine are starting to get beat up a little, but I transport mine more often than most. 

I would have defiantly broke a glass carboy by now.