# Coopers Pet Bottles



## MattW (21/12/06)

Hi All,

My first post. Is it common practice to reuse the seals on the PET bottles from Coopers? How do these bottles perform as compared to normal glass? I had a couple with manufacturing defects and Coopers replaced them immediately.

Matt


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## petesbrew (21/12/06)

MattW said:


> Hi All,
> 
> My first post. Is it common practice to reuse the seals on the PET bottles from Coopers? How do these bottles perform as compared to normal glass? I had a couple with manufacturing defects and Coopers replaced them immediately.
> 
> Matt



I've been using mine for 2 years now, reusing the caps and all, and I haven't had a problem yet.
It's quick and easy compared to the capping process.
Still, it's always nicer having it out of glass, isn't it?


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## RussTaylor (21/12/06)

Yep, I reuse mine. I've reused them in about 3 or 4 batches so far - not sure how to tell if/when the lids are worn out though...


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## stoutdrinker (21/12/06)

I've reused mine 4-5 times without any problems.

Just rinse the bottles out asap & store ready for next time. I like the pet bottles because you can tell when they have carbed up nicely by giving them a squeeze.

A word of warning though they arent immune to becoming bottle bombs, though the couple i had problems with split more than exploded.

Cheers.


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## Adamt (21/12/06)

Welcome to the forums.

If you don't already, make sure you pull out the rubber seal thing out of the cap and sanitise that and the whole cap before using.


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## Steve (21/12/06)

They're great. I always use 3 or 4 per batch. They're good for testing when they are carbed up as they go rock hard and they are handy for taking to a BBQ or the likes. Ive re-used mine hundreds of times without any dramas. Rinse bottle and caps in hot water and off you go. Never had a problem.
Cheers
Steve


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## petesbrew (21/12/06)

Adamt said:


> Welcome to the forums.
> 
> If you don't already, make sure you pull out the rubber seal thing out of the cap and sanitise that and the whole cap before using.



I just throw my caps complete into the sanitising solution along with the bottles. 
Haven't had a problem yet, but you can never be too careful.


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## jupiter (21/12/06)

i try and only use PET bottles. i have mostly the 750ml coopers bottles but use the 1.25l coke bottles more and more (1 coke bottle = 1 jug). i only use the caps 3-4 brews then replace them on the advice of my local HBS (the caps are cheap anyways) even though i've never had a problem with old ones.

the tip i have with there use, is when new chop the tamper proof seal bit off the cap before use. much easier chopping it off a new cap than off a used bottle.


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## Finite (21/12/06)

The caps are cheap as chips, I just buy a few packets every now and then and open a new one into a small bucket of iodophor solution when its time to bottle. pull one out, shake and then cap...... easy

any remainding i keep in a zip lock bag


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## Drulupis (21/12/06)

I still use the pet bottles that came with my Coopers Home Brew kit a year ago. They've been through 11 batches now, no problems. Like many of you, I rinse the bottles out after use then store them up for sanitising day. 

I rack to a secondary fermenter. After cleaning out my primary, I fill it with iodophor solution to sanitise. I steep my bottles and caps in the solution, ready for bottling the nectar in the secondary. 

Most nights I will enjoy a glass of homebrew, but found that the 750ml PET bottles are too much. As I don't always drink the same style beer sequentially, I find that the remaining beer loses its carbonation in the fridge over the period of a day or two. My solution: Cascade or Bundaberg Ginger Beer bottles.

The PET caps fit the Ginger Beer bottles perfectly, affording me the best of all worlds: the ease of screw caps, the benefit of glass bottles, and the smaller size of 375ml per beer.

I've been doing this for about 11 months now, and I've never had any problems with carbonation using recycled ginger beer bottles. They're easy to source too, I collect them from my work colleagues. In exchange, they get a few samples of each of my brews.

Happy Brewing


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## The King of Spain (21/12/06)

> If you don't already, make sure you pull out the rubber seal thing out of the cap and sanitise that and the whole cap before using


.

Adam thats pretty fiddly. I didn't even know they came out. I've no problems yet but interested to hear how many of you do that.


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## Simon W (21/12/06)

I used these bottles for the first time recently(Xmas Case), and never pulled the seal out of the caps.
I noticed that the area between the seal and cap filled up when the caps were soaked in the sanitiser, then came out with a few quick flicks.

Edit: ahhh, the sanitiser came out that is, not the seal 
Also, the back of the seal doesn't really need to be sanitised, only the front as thats the only part that can come in contact with the beer.


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## hooky (21/12/06)

Drulupis, that's a fantastic idea. I love bundeberg ginger beer and screw top glass bottles are great! i'll start my collection over christmas.


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## Finite (21/12/06)

Not a bad idea at all. Do they seal ok though? Had any leaks or low carb brews?

The Bundaburg diet ginger beer comes in a more craftbrew friendly shape, the standard one looks like a VB stubbie. 

Heres the Diet with the standard below....dont know how the diet tastes though but I dont mind ginger beer, might start a little collection.

http://www.bundaberg-brew.com.au/local/dietgingerbeer.html

Of course it is 3 times more expensive to buy it just for the bottles than PET but I do sometimes not want to have to drink the whole bottle or just give someone 1 beer who isnt sure of the style etc...

Coopers PET - 0.001544 cents a ml
Bundaburg Ginger Beer (including product) - 0.003073 cents a ml

But if you like it then your getting the product too. Might start getting on ginger beer.



> If you don't already, make sure you pull out the rubber seal thing out of the cap and sanitise that and the whole cap before using



Really why bother, the caps are about $2.50 for 30 at BigW, just another thing to clean and another chance of infection. Although if i made ALOT of batches like 1 a weekend I might consider it however I would think a soak in bleach with the bottles would be sufficient.


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## Drulupis (21/12/06)

Hi guys

Finite, I've never had a low carb beer using capped GBeer bottles. The mouth size of the bottle matches that of the pet bottles. The caps fit perfectly...just gotta make sure you put them on tight enough.

I hand tighten the cap after bottling, then use one of those kitchen rubber grip-helpers to give it an extra tighten.

The bottles do cost a little more than PET bottles but I like the fact that they're glass and 375ml. 

Another plus that one of my friends mentioned today is that he prefers glass over plastic PET as the beer tends to disturb less when transporting it in glass. Because they're so much lighter, even when picking a PET out of the fridge you have to be careful not to disturb the sediment.

I'm also lucky in that I work in a fairly isolated area as far as shops/cafe's go. There's only one cafe in our complex and they sell Cascade Apple Cider and Cascade Ginger Beer. Come summer time there's a few colleagues that indulge in these, so I have an additional supply of bottles. 

For a few months there I was picking up a 4 pack of Ginger Beer with the groceries each week. It's surprising how quickly the stocks increase.

Of course, the down side is that I have to bottle twice as many beers. I console myself with the reminder that I can listen to twice as many brew podcasts in the process ;-)

Merry Xmas to all


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## Finite (21/12/06)

BTW woolies sell these in 10 packs for $10.45


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## Brewtus (21/12/06)

I am a PET user too. I do bottle a few stubbies but mostly coopers PET. I have about 6 x 15 boxes to cycle through but really need about 10 boxes. I will clean my garage first though and wait til cooler weather. 

I'm with the 'bowl of iso' team for the caps but rinse the bottles after use, then on B day, rinse them in a weak brewers detergent mix and spray them inside with iso mix. Never had an infection. 

Squeeze test is great and if you over carbonate it is easy to degas them. Open the cap slowly until they hiss and then shut them before the froth gets out. No tedious recapping.


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## downundah (2/1/07)

Bundaberg Ginger beer bottles - what an awesome idea!
They make Bundaberg GB in a larger bottle too (700 - 750ml).
I'm fairly new to brewing, but was a big fan of the PET screw top idea rather than capping.
This seems like a good way to get the best of both worlds...


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## turto77 (12/3/07)

MattW said:


> Hi All,
> 
> My first post. Is it common practice to reuse the seals on the PET bottles from Coopers? How do these bottles perform as compared to normal glass? I had a couple with manufacturing defects and Coopers replaced them immediately.
> 
> Matt




Hi Matt,
I have been using the PET bottles for the past 12 months and am more than happy with the result. 

:beer: 

Turto


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## SpillsMostOfIt (12/3/07)

I bottle into Coopers PET, cast-off 1.25L PET bottles and a mixture of 330/340ml glass - all with PET screwtops, along with a small fleet of Grolsch bottles. I do not use Crown seals.

I find the Coopers caps to be the shortest-lived. After a few re-uses, I can strip the thread off the cap - and I am no Mr Universe. That's okay, because I have several households collecting for me and you can buy new caps for not much cash.

There's not much to dislike about PET.


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## shawnheiderich (15/3/07)

I started with the Coopers PET bottles in the kit but since then I have been buying Saxby ginger beer 750mils they are great. $1.85 per bottle I have four or five a week (diet of course) and now have about 60 extra bottles. more bottles = more beer. I use a mixture of Coopers, Ginger Beer and Little Creatures 330mil. I love their beers, their bright ale is the bomb. I need to find a recipe.


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## craig maher (15/3/07)

shawn_H said:


> Little Creatures 330mil. I love their beers, their bright ale is the bomb. I need to find a recipe.



Hi Shawn - have a look in the recipe section.
Tony has a great recipe for the LCBA :beer: 

Cheers,

Craig


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