I’m new to the forum and to brewing. I’m hoping to buy the basic starter kit in the next few weeks and had some questions on bottles. Until then, I’ve just been doing a lot of reading and researching.
I see some kits offer plastic bottles with twist on caps (similar to Cokes and other soda brands). While I’m set on the NB starter kit, I was wanting to know if the Snapple glass bottles would fair as a good substitute. I know they might not compare to a pry top bottle, but they do seem to have a good seal, so it had me wondering if they would be good enough for the basic starter kit. I already have a few bottles saved, so thought I would ask since they are on hand.
I would not use the snapple bottles. Use beer bottles. +1 on buying non-twist off bottles, drinking the beer, and using the bottles. Another great way to get bottles is if you have a favorite bar you frequent - ask if you can give the bartender $2 a case for empties of bottles that are not twist off. More than what it is worth to them, super cheap for you - that is what I did when I started. Eventually worked out even better when the bartender asked me - “Can you do anything with old soda kegs? I have a half dozen of them laying around that no one ever picked up.”
Tell your friends to start drinking 22 oz. bottled beer and saving the bottles. The 12 oz. do fine but you’re in much better shape when using larger bottles and there’s not 15 gagillion bottles laying around your place this way. It takes about 29 22 ouncers per 5 gallons. Your friends won’t say no to drinking more high quality beer, trust me.
A couple months before I brewed my first batch, I started saving all of my bottles and asking my craft beer drinking friends and co-workers to save their bottles. I’ve been able to amass quite a stockpile basically for free this way. A few tips I’ve learned along the way:
A. When asking for donations, give very clear instructions for properly rinsing bottles immediately after use. I’ve had to clean some very nasty moldy bottles. Mold can be very stubborn.
B. If you want to remove the labels, a brief soak in Oxy Clean or PBW is the easiest way to do this, while also cleaning the bottles. After 30-60 minutes, the labels will peel right off if they haven’t already separated.
C. Avoid Anchor bottles. They break easily when capping. I’ve had good luck with every type of standard (e.g., Sam Adams) and shortie (e.g., Sierra Nevada) bottle.
I have used anchor bottles with the red baron without much problem. The taper of the bottle does hang up the capper when releasing it. No breaks though.
i use the grolsch bottles. Have your local bottle recycler set them aside for you and pay a nominal fee for their services. They hold 16 ounces and are easily resealable.
put an ad in the paper…recently my wife put an ad to give away bottles and we had several takers, but if she had seen an ad from someone wanting bottles earlier, she would have spotted it and asked me.
I have used anchor bottles with the red baron without much problem. The taper of the bottle does hang up the capper when releasing it. No breaks though.[/quote]
Red Baron. I broke 6 bottles last winter while bottling a batch of oatmeal stout.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I’ll pass on the Snapple bottle then. I have thought about the Grolsch bottles too and may still do that.
Seems the basic kits brew 2 cases of beer, so I was hoping to avoid doing a lot of bottling by going with bigger bottles. My local store sells Grolsch, so I might start drinking it for a while to build up a collection.
[quote=“kcbeersnob”]A couple months before I brewed my first batch, I started saving all of my bottles and asking my craft beer drinking friends and co-workers to save their bottles. I’ve been able to amass quite a stockpile basically for free this way. A few tips I’ve learned along the way:
A. When asking for donations, give very clear instructions for properly rinsing bottles immediately after use. I’ve had to clean some very nasty moldy bottles. Mold can be very stubborn.
B. If you want to remove the labels, a brief soak in Oxy Clean or PBW is the easiest way to do this, while also cleaning the bottles. After 30-60 minutes, the labels will peel right off if they haven’t already separated.
C. Avoid Anchor bottles. They break easily when capping. I’ve had good luck with every type of standard (e.g., Sam Adams) and shortie (e.g., Sierra Nevada) bottle.[/quote]
Good advice, thanks!
What about the Redhook bottles? anyone use them? Kinda been on a Redhook kick, so thought I would ask (I love their ESB).
I’ve always paid more attention to how thick the bottle seems and the shape of the lip where the cap will clamp. Sam Adams seem to be the smoothest capping bottles, so I reference all bottles off that. aside from the random thin walled or thin lipped bottles, I’ve never had an issue.
I use Sam Adams bottles,Magic Hat or Long Trail bottles since I am in the Northeast. Magic Hat and Long Trail are easy to delabel but the Sam Adams have a bit more glue. I use one tablespoon PBW and hot water and let soak for 20-30 mins. Label peels right off then just use a scotch sponge to remove the glue. I found the Sam Adams caps the best and seem the strongest.
As far as bottle designs go, I like Deschutes and New Belgium. They cap just fine. I also really like Green Flash and Boulevard’s 12 oz. Smokestacks, although I haven’t tried capping them yet.
