Big Mouth Bubbler Review

[berryman]

As I posted in a previous thread that I was going to try one, I have one of these now and will start a review on it. I just opened the box and here are my initial thoughts: It's lighter in weight then I expected, seems to be a lot lighter then my old 6.5 glass carboy. My scale says 11 lbs., it seems to be thinner glass then a regular carboy also. It is easy to pick up empty especially with the cap off because you can grab it with one hand though the big open mouth and with the other hand under the bottom. I think the screw on cap may be a problem, it was hard to unscrew brand new, time will tell how it comes off after 2 or 3 weeks of fermentation build-up. Over all I think it's a good idea, it will be easy to clean, I bought the harness for it also to maybe make it easier to put on the bench my self when full. Going to rinse it out and put some starsan in it tonight and plan on brewing tomorrow.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/big-mout ... entor.html
To Be Continued...............

[Inkleg]

Ooooohhhhhhh.....shiny, can't wait for the follow up.

[John Sand]

I like it! I haven't used carboys, but that would be the one.

[berryman]

With the big opening it sits good on end good to drain out the starsan.

The cover opening is aprox. 5 1/2" easy to pitch yeast, A LBK is 4" also easy but a regular carboy is only around 1 1/2". I like the harness, I hated to spend the extra money with the Big Mouth Bubbler already being pricey, But I'd also hate to drop it and the harness is great and makes it a lot easier to handle.

There are a couple things I don't know if I like yet.
To Be Continued.................

[berryman]

I transferred my liquid gold out of the big mouth bubbler and into a secondary today, and just as I thought, the cap was hard to unscrew, it's hard to hold the carboy while trying to un-screw the cap but I got it. The other problem I see is the hole in the cap is to small for a auto siphon to fit in so you have to take the cap off. I think a regular siphon might fit though, will try it. Otherwise I am overall happy with it, very nice to clean, I already have it ready to go for the next batch.

[yankfan9]

Awesome, just saw this thread. I had been hoping that someone would post a review on this thing, looks cool! Still on the fence on whether or not I should get one. Maybe my parents got me one for Christmas but I will wait till then to find out!

[wollffy]

Thanks for the review. I found these to be an easier clean than regular carboy. If I was to get one.

[Beerlabelman]

I got the 5 gallon from my kids for Christmas with the harness. The harness is a must. Makes it much easier to handle. I have a batch in there for 9 days now. I'll post back on how my cap performed. So far, I'm very pleased.

[Bluejaye]

So I've been thinking of picking one of these up. As ignorant as this sounds, when "they" say 5 gallons, is that it's full volume, or is it really 5.5 or 6 so that you can easily ferment 5 gallons of wort in it with plenty of head space for the krausen? Thanks.

[berryman]

Mine is the 6.5 gal. size that I use for 5 gal batches. The wort is about 4" below the cover, I can't answer on the 5 gal size.

[snooze_button]

I needed another fermenter so I bought one of these yesterday and loaded it up last night. I really like it so far. I usually brew 2-3 gallon batches, so I only got the 5 gallon size.

I had to have a clerk explain the shape of lid to me. It actually has a built-in airlock, which would let me fit this onto a shelf that's only slightly taller than the bottle. Cool feature. You can ignore it and use a conventional airlock and a #5.5 stopper instead (NB threw a stopper in); for now I'm still using an S-shaped airlock (I like to watch the bubbles) but of course that adds a good 6" to the height of the carboy.

I'm already using this as a half-full secondary fermenter but after this batch it'll become my primary, my 3-gallon glass carboy will be my secondary, and my poor old LBK may be relegated to the role of Bottling Bucket.

My favorite part? It's easy to take gravity readings without having to own a wine thief. Just unscrew the lid, dip in a sanitized ladle, and fill your hydrometer tube. I'd been messing with siphon tubes on my regular carboy, or skipping the gravity readings altogether. To me, this feature is even cooler than the ease of cleaning.

[snooze_button]

Bluejaye, you asked about the capacity. Before using it I filled it with water 0.5 gallon at a time and marked the side, but I stopped marking at 3.5 gallons -- sorry. It looks like 5 gallons would take this right up to the point at which the bottle starts narrowing, so there'd still be a little room above a 5-gallon batch but you'd run out of headspace in a hurry. If you do 5 gallon batches I'd recommend the 6.5 gallon Big Mouth, which is only about $6 more.

[berryman]

Good post SB, I really like mine the more I use it. It's all cleaned up right now and am going to brew up a Porter Monday and put in it.

[Bluejaye]

If you do 5 gallon batches I'd recommend the 6.5 gallon Big Mouth, which is only about $6 more.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to re-measure my dorm fridge, not sure the 6.5 gallon will fit, but this fermenter looks so good. Knowing that that lid acts as an airlock of sorts may be key, though, since I wouldn't have that extra couple inches to deal with.

[Inkleg]

since I wouldn't have that extra couple inches to deal with.

Yeah, I have the same problem OOPS, sorry wrong forum.