6 Gallon Better Bottle

I've got two of the 6 gallon bottles. I've kicked them and dropped them, and they're doing fine.

I'm not a fan of the price for a piece of molded plastic, but it serves its purpose well and is, in my opinion, nearly essential in homebrewing. My first BB was a 3 gal and I just bought a 6 gal one. A good investment nonetheless.

i picked one up just to try it out. i liked it so much i decided to get another one!!! i also went ahead and picked up the dry air lock and the cap for each of them.

great product. my next purchase just might be 4 of the ones with the port in them. that sounds to great to me, so i got to try one of those next.

I bought one to see how it would work and well now I'm hooked and will be buying more there lighter than glass and seem to be easier to clean! I"m very happy with this purchase!

I have two of the 6 gallon ported better bottles and have had great luck with them for about 2 years. I was hooked. That was until my last three batches have developed infections. I have disassembled my valves, cleaned and sanitized to extremes (no scrubbing though!). Still getting the infection. I have worked through many of the possible variables and the most likely culprit is still the better bottles. I worry that, like plastic buckets, these can develop small abrasions that harbor some bacteria and are very difficult to sanitize once that happens.

Don't get me wrong, these are nice, light and 95% of the time will work. My caution is that they are plastic and can still suffer from some of the same micro-abrasion issues that plague plastic buckets. I might get some more of these, but they won't be ported and I will plan on replacing them after a few years of use.

I picked one of these up, as an alternative to glass, and noticed that there was a chemical odor to the inside of the bottle when I received it. I washed it out and sanitized it, and it seemed to go away, but that odor permeated a batch and gave it a poor taste/chemical odor. I am trying a second go at it, after cleaning, sanitizing and drying several times before racking. I will see if it still gives it a bad taste. If so, I will just stick with glass.

The bottle has a persistent chemical odor that is hard to get out.

I produced about 15 5-gallon batches so far without a single issue. The racking adapter is a big plus. I use a 6-gallon as a primary and a 5-gallon as my secondary. The only issue I've run into is making sure the airlock is empty when I pick it up. If it's not, it will suck sanitizer into the container. No bad smells ever noticed. Not in the container and not in the beer.

One thing i've noticed is that racking between 6gal glass and 6gal BB is that they aren't exactly the same size and I've had to top up as many as 2-3 bottles racking from BB to glass (glass somewhat bigger). Nevertheless, going from glass to the plastic is perfect if the lees are thick thus no topping up is needed.

Nevertheless, just keep in mind that the BB bottles and glass carboys are different sizes despite both being "6 gallon"

The main drawback to this product is shipping rates inflating the overall price to purchase. I won't take that into account in this review with regards to price and value however.
I use this in a tub/swampcooler and the bottle is very thin walled and "flexes" considerably when taking in/out of the tub. I also wish this was 6.5 gallons and not 6 flat. When placing 5.5 gallons in primary (to end with 5gal at bottling) it more or less requires the use of a blow off tube every time. I like that it is see-through, but prefer the more sturdy and easier to carry/move plain ole bucket/pale, which is about half the price to boot. If given the choice between a pale and a better bottle, I would still go for the better bottle...I like to see what's going on.
These are easy to clean and there are great videos on youtube showing tips and tricks. Don't waste your money on a brush or drill adapter which may scuff up your bottle. Simply add a quart (or less) of water/PBW and a small washcloth and swirl it around. Rinse, and give a quick spray with Star San and you're back in business from dirty to sanitized/sterilized in less than 5 minutes.