Has anybody ever used those Crystal Springs bottles as a secondary fermenter? They are 5 gallons and half the price of a Better Bottle. Is there a drilled stopper that would fit it? The built in handle would be nice and since I soak/clean with oxyclean it doesn't seem like the handle would pose a problem. Side note: Why is it not easier to upload an image into these posts? There should be a window that gets one into Windows Explorer where I can click "add" while looking at the images on my desktop.
i had a similar thought a few years ago but not sure why i did not follow through. i believe they are made of the same type of plastic as better bottles. i would say go for it, just maybe avoid the ones with handles.
The plastics used in a Better Bottle and a water jug, to my understanding, are not the same. The better bottles are all that they say, most importantly non-porous and preventing oxygen from entering the beer. The water jugs are a porous plastic, allowing for unwanted oxygen to enter into the vessel. It also may, although oxi-clean soaked, harbor bacteria in the surface. So I'd recommend the BB. Edit: upon minor research, it appears that the water jugs are made of a variety of plastics. If it's a #1, then it is PET ad the same as the BB. The homebrewtalk.com forums have tons of threads on this topic.
There are some that are the same as better bottles. I've got a buddy with a bunch of them, he got them from his water distributor. The have a handle on them...might be crystal spring? Anyway he uses them for bulk aging ciders, meads, etc. He's only used them a few times for beers and I can attest, no oxygen issues though he only kept the beers in them for a week or two.
FYI- It's not hollow, it is just a plastic handle that is not molded in. Though I'm not advocating using, just saying that it can be done.
At work we have Poland Spring bottles with an integrated plastic handle that is solid, not hollow, so it seems reasonably cleanable. There is a carboy cap that works with these, I believe they may even have a 2-way opening mechanism that allows for an airlock and for drawing samples if you need to do so. http://www.amazon.com/Learn-To-Brew-LLC-Carboy/dp/B000Q6AQKW
According to Better Bottle not all PET plastics are ‘equal’. You can read more here: http://www.better-bottle.com/faq.html and click on the BB vs. Plastic tab. Cheers!
Of course BB is going to say that. Might have to look into this though I usually just use a bucket and have several glass carboys. Cheers.
You can not load images to a thread. You have to link to an image already on the internet (i.e. facebook, imageshack, etc.)
I find you can copy'n paste images directly into a post if they're already published on the WWW. This copy'n paste pix came from tngolfer's link to Crystal Springs bottle.
ive been using two deer park water jugs for primary and secondary since i started brewing and never had a problem. I just started drinking an oatmeal stout I had in one for 3 months and it tastes delicious. no oxygen or other issues and ive had 10+ batches in them. I just looked at the number which is 7. Apparently this means "other" so i dunno what kind of plastic these are but they've been working great.
