So as my first brew was fermenting I started collecting beer bottles from friends. It didn’t take long before I had more than enough to bottle my 5 gallons. About 12 of them were twist off bottles and I didn’t think too much of it till i started capping and noticed that a they were a bit harder to crimp the cap on. That was when I realized thought…hmm I wonder if this is a good idea. I was already committed so I finished bottling with what I had.
Do I need to worry about these sealing properly? I shook them up and turned them upside down and they didn’t appear to spill any liquid out. Obviously I’ll find out soon enough but just wondered if anyone had any issues with twist off. I’ve since collected more bottles to replace the twistoffs so I may just toss them after I drink the beer in them.
I would definitely toss them after you drink them. I’d also drink those before the others if you have them separated I think they might oxidize and go stale faster also I’d be concerned them them losing carbonation over time
You also have to worry about them breaking when capping, and exploding from the carbonation since they are made with thinner glass than the re-usable ones. At least thats what I’ve heard, it’ll probably be OK for you though.
I’ve had the occasional twist off sneak into my supply. I think once I noticed the beer was a little flat and stale tasting. A few others were fine. I wouldn’t sweat it too much… maybe try to drink those first, and yes, ditch the twist offs after you drink those twelve.
Just be sure to drink the twist offs first since they’ll lose pressure quicker.
My area doesn’t offer curbside recycling for glass any more. I generally don’t buy twist off beer bottles unless it’s a beer I absolutely need to have.
My first batch ever brewed, in 1984, was a very old kit fermented in a plastic bag in a trash can, and bottled in twist-off Coke bottles. Each part of this was a bad idea, but I was about 16 years old, so you work with what you have. As I remember, it was bad beer, but managed to carbonate in the twist offs.
I have used twist-offs with mixed results. It is harder to get them to seal because the lip of the bottle is so thin, I make really sure that the cap is seated on the bottle when I put the crimper on it. I’ve also cracked a few when crimping the cap on, again because the neck is so thin. That is maybe 5-10% of the bottles, the rest of them seem to work OK.
I typically give out a lot of my beer, and not many of the bottles make it back, so I’m starting to give out the twist-offs, and won’t be sad if I don’t get them back.
