# Crown V Swing Top Bottles



## whatwhat (1/6/10)

All though i am sure i will start an age old battle here. I have just put on my second brew, a little creatures pale ale clone. I am looking for a little advise on what bottles to buy. I will need to purchase more than the plastic bottles i got with my starter pack to house the amber nectar. Is there any advantage when using either crown seal or swing top bottles? Im not ready to go to kegs just yet either, any thoughts?


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## Newbiebrewer (1/6/10)

swing top bottles? are you talking about the old cider bottles? If so I have heard good things( I can't get a hold of any myself). Crown seals are good but I have had trouble getting more bottles (the only company I know that still uses them are James squire). I would go with what you can get a hold of.


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## 4bc (1/6/10)

G'day whatwhat

I love my swing top Grolsch bottles. Seem to be a thicker glass which is helpful against the potential of bottle bombs. Having said that however beware of cheap shops swing top glass water bottles. They have very loose seals and your gas will escape and prevent carbonation. 

The seal should be very hard to "swing" back on when new!

I love the swing tops, as it halves the time to bottle because there is no capping required and the groslsch bottles are a larger capacity (450ml). There is even 1.5l bottles from time to time at the bottle shop.

If u can afford it, get yourself a carton of Grolsch and enjoy what's inside the bottle as well as the bottler itself later on for many years!


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## Newbiebrewer (1/6/10)

4bc said:


> G'day whatwhat
> 
> I love my swing top Grolsch bottles. Seem to be a thicker glass which is helpful against the potential of bottle bombs. Having said that however beware of cheap shops swing top glass water bottles. They have very loose seals and your gas will escape and prevent carbonation.
> 
> ...


I Know this is off topic but where do you buy Grolsch, from the bottle-o or elsewhere?


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## theredone (1/6/10)

Hughezy said:


> swing top bottles? are you talking about the old cider bottles? If so I have heard good things( I can't get a hold of any myself). Crown seals are good but I have had trouble getting more bottles (the only company I know that still uses them are James squire). I would go with what you can get a hold of.




aye?
there are still a number of companies using crown seals. crownies, little creatures, gage roads, coopers tallies, guiness, the list goes on, alot of premium beers still use them. i personally would love to get hold of some old grolsh bottles but they are costly when they do(rarely) pop up on ebay. there was also a thread a while back about buying new bottles that are crown seals. think u may have needed to buy likt 100 at a time or somthing though. cant find the old thread but i know its there somewhere


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## 4bc (1/6/10)

Hughezy said:


> I Know this is off topic but where do you buy Grolsch, from the bottle-o or elsewhere?


My local bottle shop has them. Not the cheapest beer around, but worth while!
I think Dan murphs has them as well.


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## Aaron86 (1/6/10)

Swing tops are fantastic bottles. Makes bottling a damn sight easier thats for sure. Also the glass is quite thick which is only a good thing. The bottles are a little pricey, but imo a worthwhile investment.

Having said that, I still dont mind capping. I have a bench capper so a few extra minutes of bottling time is no big deal.

Dont go past the amber PET bottles either. I think they are pretty handy to have. Just bought another box of 15 and from my next brew I will start doing 11L batches so I have more variety as opposed to dealing with 1 big batch at a time.

FYI: Im pretty sure it cost me around $32 for the 12x750mL swing tops from Ebay inc postage. Your lhb store should sell them for around the $29 mark.

:beer:


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## michael_aussie (1/6/10)

4bc said:


> G'day whatwhat
> 
> I love my swing top Grolsch bottles. Seem to be a thicker glass which is helpful against the potential of bottle bombs. Having said that however beware of cheap shops swing top glass water bottles. They have very loose seals and your gas will escape and prevent carbonation.
> 
> ...



I love my Grolsch swing tops bottles. 
I also tried some clear 1 litre swing tops, round and octagon, and found 1/2 exploded during secondary fermentation. 
I have never tried crown tops and don't intend to start.
I have 60 740ml PETs from the Coopers kits. They are good, but why so bloody expensive.
I also use empty soft drink bottles (600ml, 1.25l, 2l whatever I can get my hands on)- Less bottles to clean, and I haven't had any problems from them.


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## bconnery (1/6/10)

Dan Murphy's and/or First Choice often has a beer called Schlemmer? (Schwelmer?) Pils. Brown swing top bottles, relatively cheap and not a bad beer to boot. 
My dad likes it so I get the occasional carton of swingtops to stock up my supply. 

I don't bottle much but I love them as my testers to see how a beer is bottle conditioning when I do bottle a batch or just as an easy bottling method for the left overs from a batch. 

The best thing is that for a while it came in 345-375, something around that size, swingtops which were excellent for those early tasters when you know the beer probably isn't ready but you just can't wait...


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## jakub76 (1/6/10)

The only time I used Grolsch bottles they didn't carbonate, I haven't bothered trying them again. I figure the rubber would wear pretty quickly plus it's got to be a haven for infection no? I still use the very first hand capper I bought back in 1991, the wood's looking a little worse for wear now but, with the help of a hammer it still seals bottles fine. I'm waiting for it to crack before I can justify a bench capper. 
Almost all of the beer I buy comes in a crown sealed bottle. I just rinse really well as soon as I've emptied it into a glass and that's what I use to bottle my own beer into. 
There's close to a million different and exciting beers out there, I think that experiencing them is a big part of brewing - especially if you want to brew good beer and not just cheap beer.


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## ekul (1/6/10)

When i was 15 i used to get bottles from the bundy ginger beer factory, they were crown sealed. 

Slightly OT, is there any benefit to crown seals over twist tops? I've brewed heaps in the past (never well though, got into it again after stumbling across this site) and i've never had dramas with twist tops. Crown seals 'feel' better (more sealed) when i'm capping but other than that i haven't really noticed a difference.


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## mxd (2/6/10)

If you keep our eyes on ebay you should be able to pickup grolsh bottles for around $1 each, as a big generalization the more in 1 pack there trying to sell the cheaper it is.

I use kegs for normal drinking, I use the swing tops for my party/going away type drinking, I use stubbies to give away, and I plan to use crown seal longies for comps. Generally I get a couple of stubbies out of every batch.


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## barneyb (2/6/10)

If you are planning to head to the bottlo to pick up a case of Grolsh be careful, they often sell both the stubbies and the swing tops. If you look on the side of the box if should have a picture of what bottles it has in them. Also remember they are green bottles so you want to keep them out of the light. 

I've always been meaning to grab some Grolsh but never been able to justify the price or having to drink a whole case of Grolsh. Yeech, not a fan.
Even then I reckon with my bench capper I can cap a bottle just as fast as I could put on a swing top. 



bconnery said:


> Dan Murphy's and/or First Choice often has a beer called Schlemmer? (Schwelmer?) Pils. Brown swing top bottles, relatively cheap and not a bad beer to boot.
> My dad likes it so I get the occasional carton of swingtops to stock up my supply.


Awesome to know, I think I'll be dropping by Dan's to check these out. 



ekul said:


> Slightly OT, is there any benefit to crown seals over twist tops? I've brewed heaps in the past (never well though, got into it again after stumbling across this site) and i've never had dramas with twist tops. Crown seals 'feel' better (more sealed) when i'm capping but other than that i haven't really noticed a difference.


In theory you may not get a good seal but personally I haven't had a problem either. For some reason I still avoid them if possible.


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## bconnery (2/6/10)

barneyb said:


> If you are planning to head to the bottlo to pick up a case of Grolsh be careful, they often sell both the stubbies and the swing tops. If you look on the side of the box if should have a picture of what bottles it has in them. Also remember they are green bottles so you want to keep them out of the light.
> 
> I've always been meaning to grab some Grolsh but never been able to justify the price or having to drink a whole case of Grolsh. Yeech, not a fan.
> Even then I reckon with my bench capper I can cap a bottle just as fast as I could put on a swing top.
> ...


Not certain whether it was Dan's or 1st Choice where Dad gets them so they may not be at Dan's...

I've used screwtops with no issues with my benchcapper but the process just doesn't feel as right as the crown seals. 

As said I bottle not that much these days so my screwtop use is almost non existent now.


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## Bribie G (2/6/10)

Coopers tallies are crown seal. Ist choice liquor usually have them at 3 for $15 which is far better value than VB etc as you are getting a drinkable 5.8% alcohol beer for your money, plus a mighty everlasting bottle. Another good source, if you are handy to a Dans, is the Euro 500 ml bottles from Poland, Russia etc. They are really tough bottles and again they are better value than domestic megaswill.


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## warra48 (2/6/10)

I love Coopers longnecks. By far the best longnecks around, and they have a roll top.
Grolsch, Schwelmer etc bottles are good. The Grolsch bottles are 470 mil these days. Any half decent HB shop should be able to sell you new seals if needed.
British ale bottles are also good. Thick glass, mostly brown, although there are some clear ones. They all have roll tops also.
And, as mentioned already, the 500 mil European bottles are good too, also all are roll tops. Some are better than others. I have some Schfferhofen bottles where some are quite thick and heavy, others are much lighter.


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## big78sam (2/6/10)

I just reuse screwtop bottles and lids. To resurrect an old post

"I have a supply of coopers bottles and screw top lids and all I do is screw the lids back on again each time. No bench capper is required. I lose maybe 1 bottle per 1000 to undercarbonation and have never had a bottle infection. If it looks like there's crap on the lid I just throw it out and I clean the lids and bottles with sodium percarbonate before bottling (which I thought until a couple of days ago was a sanitizer). It seems it's not actually a sanitizer from what I've read on here but the instructions on the back of the brewcraft satchets seemed to indicate that it was and led me up the garden path but that's another story and slightly OT.

I use a teatowel to screw them back on and you'll feel if the lid is slightly bent out of shape so ditch these. Tip the bottle upside down after sealing and you'll also see if it leaks pretty quickly. Obviously if you've used an opener to get the lids off you can't reuse with this method. I have a supply of about 250 bottles and caps that I keep reusing. I try to buy a new carton every 6 months or so to keep refreshing my supply.

Some brands work better than others. Coopers, boags, bitburger and the cheap aldi brand lager work well. I find some of the megaswill bottles, VB etc don't work, but who'd buy them anyway... Try to use the same brand bottle with the same brand lid but I've even used coopers bottles with boags lids sometimes with success. When I'm trying a new brand I test a couple of bottles at the end of a batch done with bottles I know work so that way I'm not risking a whole batch.

I find this much easier than a capper, the only equipment required is a tea towel."


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## Jeff Margrie (2/6/10)

whatwhat said:


> Is there any advantage when using either crown seal or swing top bottles? Im not ready to go to kegs just yet either, any thoughts?



For me the only advantage is my swing top's are 450ml and thats a good size for SWIMBO for when I put ginger beer & cidars in them as if she doesn't drink it all in one go, she can recap and finish later. Carbonation is usually still ok. :icon_cheers: 

I have approx 470 Grolsch 450ml Swing bottles and have had no problems with infection or the rubbers wearing out. I find they are very tight to swing the lever as compaired to others. Grolsch also have 473ml bottles, but mine are all 450ml.

As for crown seal bottles I have approx 140 Coppers 750ml bottles. These are excellent when it comes to crown seal bottles. They even bounce when dropped on the concrete floor as oposed to vb twist top 750ml just smash.

But the best of all is kegging. All brewers love kegging. I haven't heared a bad word when it comes to just cleaning 1 big bottle, the keg. I have 17 kegs on the go and they are so easy to use. 
:beer: 
Anyway, at the end of the day just get your beer into something that works, and keep making great beer.

Cheers,

WoolBrew.


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## Rod (2/6/10)

I have about 600 grolsh bottles , use only these

the rubbers need replacing ever so often , get them from your HBS

some are better than others 

there were some " resin " type that where the best , but cannot get them now

be careful some HBS make them themselves and they can be a bit thick and difficult to close

I sanitize using PSR and soak the bottles in batches of 8 , soak , rinse , put on rack , put another 8 in the solution , bottle , then around again , why 8 , the size of my square tub

I rinse using cold tap water ( the same that goes into the fermenter so has the same risk ) using one of those duuvers that screws onto the laundry tap and squirts water into the bottle , 3 rinses


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## shazzam (2/6/10)

Hi, 

Glass Long Necks or Tallies - I would probably use crown seals if you can because they are "usually" thicker, and only take one press with a bench capper, while some twist tops will take 2 -3 goes to be confident. I prefer the coopers type because they are going to last, but mine also share some space with old XXXX long necks with the XXXX guy on them as they are the same height (important when capping)and are about the same quality. Old CUB bottles are also good. If you buy some of the 700mls from your local HBS becareful of some of the cheap imports now appearing as they are thinner and not as well made. Try and buy bottles that are all the same height - I had different height bottles, which I grouped into batches and tried to keep together.

Grolsch bottles / Schwelmer Pils Bottles - Great Bottles, just keep the seals replaced and clean. I have 2 1.5 litre Grolsch bottles - they are good but are hard to clean with a bottle brush.

You can always put an ad in your local shopping centre, on gumtree, on AHB or look on eBay - even garage sales & the trading post. 

Happy Brewing


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## bow_staff_skills (2/6/10)

have you guys seen these?
https://secure.datumconnect.com/afawcs01338...uctdetails.html


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## boobiedazzler (2/6/10)

They look identical the schwelmer bottles mentioned earlier, which you can pick up for around $55 for a carton of 12, full of beer. So $27 for 12 x empties it a bit pricey IMO.


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## whatwhat (2/6/10)

Wow thanks for the advise people, some really good info, Think i will be on the hunt for some swing top bottles. G


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## Salt (21/6/11)

I have about 60 Swing top 750ml bottles that I got from my LHBS, about $2 per bottle and easily available here in NZ.

Makes for an easy bottling day, with no capping needed...however I am a bit disappointed as I have had a number of bottles not seal completely and be flat - CO2 escaped.. : (
A real bugger especially as I have started extract brewing and adding lots of hops, which all costs and then to find the bottle is flat (often drank anyway).

Does anyone else have this issue? How can I fix it? Can you tighten them some how?

I am tempted to go back to my LHBS and get a refund for the ones that dont seal, however dont want to wait to find more that dont seal after time. 

Should I go back to Crownies? Swing Tops look so much better, especially when serving to mates!

Cheers
Salt!


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## MHB (21/6/11)

The company formally known as Brewcraft (now imake) have both 500 and 750 mL amber swing top bottles, they come with a silicone rubber seal that should last much longer than the old natural rubber seals on many commercial bottles.
New seals should be available from the shops that stock the bottles, although better the new seals wont last forever and its a good idea to have some spares.
A couple of the 750 mL bottles are handy to have around, fill from the tap like a mini growler, somewhere to put a couple of bottles of overs if you are kegging a batch...
MHB


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## XavierZ (21/6/11)

As someone previously mentioned, if you buy a case:

Figtree Cellars (Local Liquor)
47 Princess Hwy, Figtree NSW
Fully Imported, 
$33.99 (normally $49.99)
Expires 30th June 2011

I don't know if they are the swing-tops, but could be worth checking out anyway.


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