I am trying to find the best source of beer bottles. I always reuse my bottles, but buying bottles online are quite expensive to ship. I reuse my Sierra Nevada brown 12oz short neck bottles, but I want a good source for new bottles. Does anybody have any ideas?
Thank you!!
No reason to buy new.
Any friends that drink craft beer?
Bar/pub you frequent? A tip to your favorite waitress/waiter/bartender to save some. Especially swing tops.
Do you live in an State with bottle deposits? Stop at the recycle shop and “salvage” some bottles.
With the cost being so low on these options, if they don’t come clean after a soak in oxyclean just toss them back to the recyclers.
Otherwise, if you don’t have a local homebrew store, shipping them in is the only option.
I saw an add in Craigs list the other day for someone asking if anyone had beer bottles they wanted to part with…not a bad idea…you could try it in your area…
:cheers:
Local liquor stores that offer free tastings are a good place to look as well.
If you are in the Philly area I have 3 extra cases of Belgian bottles that are cleaned and ready to go. I need to make some space in my garage.
Yes, if you had a location set in your profile there may be brewers near you that have extras.
Back when I used to bottle, accumulating bottles was half the fun. I would scavenge from friends, bars, random recycling bins etc. Getting enough bombers was the tough part. A lot of my bottles are Sam Adams. Good beer, often on sale, and the labels come off real easy. You can buy bottles from our host for about $0.50 a bottle (plus shipping), or you can buy full bottles for $1.25, give or take, and enjoy the beer.
Yep - recruit your beer drinking friends to save bottles - pay em back with some full ones.
Also, bars, restaurants and redemption centers - offer to give them 10 cents a bottle and a few brews if they will save you the 22 ouncers.
In particular, go after the 22 ounce bottles - bottling is twice as easy when you have half as many to fill.
And, even ask if they have any old kegs laying around. I was getting bottles from our local BMC bar in town. Got along well with the bartender/owner. Saw he had a bunch of old dirty soda kegs laying in the basement when we were getting bottles - asked about them. Told me they had been laying there since he started running the place (years) and I could have em if I wanted them - scored 8 5 gallon kegs. You just never know.
Thank you for the leads guys! I really appreciate it. I will update my profile, but I’m in the Sacramento, CA area.
I get mine from a local bar. They are going to throw them away anyway, just ask them to keep the craft bottles (no twist off). When I ask, I typically have a beer or two. Doesn’t hurt.
Sacramento is a few miles from Philly. Probably not worth the drive. 
Get 2 cases worth of beers you like. Drink them. Profit!
I took a few rubbermaid containers to a the local pubs in my area that had a good selection of craft ales in bottles and asked if they could save the pry-off bottles for me. After a couple weeks I had plenty. Give them a good soak in PBW and StarSan …good to go
I called a local micro-brewery and he has 12 cases (12 in each case) of the 22oz flip-top beer bottles for .50 each. I’m going to pick them up today! Hopefully I can make a new knowledgable friend in the proceess!
:cheers:
I got 24, 16oz flip tops and 12, 12oz flip tops from a LHBS one time for nothing. Just happened to call at the right time. Someone dropped them off. They had been sitting in a yard for years. Scrubbed, cleaned, new gaskets and they were all good. There were all different types. All older, not the newer EZ Caps. Most with ceramic tops.
Always keep your radar on for bottles, you never know what will pop up!
There’s curb side recycling in my city. Every thursday I make sure and take my backpack on my morning walk. Some weeks I get skunked, some weeks I get one or two, some weeks I get several, some weeks there’s more than I can carry.
[quote=“Aflowers54”]I called a local micro-brewery and he has 12 cases (12 in each case) of the 22oz flip-top beer bottles for .50 each. I’m going to pick them up today! Hopefully I can make a new knowledgable friend in the proceess!
:cheers: [/quote]
Wow - nice work! That is a great find and will make your bottling experience a lot better. Most people are “anti -bottle.” But, I have brewed for 15 years and have a dozen kegs - but I still bottle too. I like having bottled beer on hand for some varieties. The KEY is to use 22 ounce bottles and always rinse/clean your bottles right away after drinking them. If you keep them basically clean, bottling really isn’t that bad. Congrats on your find.
