Bottle Types And Storage

[Bergs_84]

I have been enjoying homebrew for a little over a year now. Content with the range of kits available I enjoy mixing and matching kits, hops and malts.
My mates drink Carlton and Vic Bitter stubbies, so glass bottle supply has never been an issue. I built a storage shelf in the garage to stack my batches.

But I do get frustrated moving single bottles, first inside to keep them warm for secondary fermentation, then outside for storage, then into the fridge ready for drinking.
I used to re-use the original cartons but they fall apart so quickly, there is only so much duct tape you can use.
A couple of things I'd like to know from other 'bottlers' are:

- What size bottles do you use? (330, 375, 700ml)
- How do you move your beers around? (singularly, milk crates, misfit boxes etc)

And, do you give your beers to mates as thanks or just to try?

I'm keen to hear your answers.

 

[azrebb]

I have heap of 330ml bottles, and then some other assorted bottles (345ml, 355ml, 375ml, 568ml and 750ml). They're all currently stored in milk crates (upside down to keep the dust out).

Most of the 330ml are the same shape so I store these together, with the odd shapes and sizes in other crates. It's not ideal as they don't stack together all that nicely.

With bottles holding beer, they also sit in crates until it's time to go in the fridge (followed shortly by a trip to my belly).

Pro-tip: If you go the milk crate option, try to go for the ones with smaller mesh on the bottom as the tops of the bottles can fall through the more open bottom ones if you store them upside down.

If I give my mate samples, I try to give them green bottles as I don't usually get them back.

 

[bowie in space]

I'm so sick of bottling and am in the process of moving to kegs. Waiting on tax return.

I use 330ml, 500ml, 568ml and 750ml crown seal glass bottles. I don't use twist tops. I bulk prime for glass bottles.

However, I have recently become a fan of the coopers PET bottles. They are lightweight and 750ml so you move fewer and it won't break your back. They are also easy to prime with sugar cubes (thanks to Bribie for getting me onto that). You can search the bulk priming and sugar cube methods on this forum.

I use temperature control for fermenting so when I bottle I put them back into the fridge for about a week so they can go through their conditioning phase at the same temperature that they fermented. I then move them to a cool dark storage area under the house until they're ready to drink. Then I top up my bar fridge upstairs when needed. It's a PITA.

When bottling I use a big heavy duty foam box like you see fruiterers cart their apples in and a heavy duty cardboard box to transport bottles. I move them in and out of the fermenting fridge this way too, so I'm not handling 30 bottles every time.

Hope this helps.

Like I said kegging is going to make life so much more enjoyable.

 

[dmerrick]

I've got some of the Coopers PET bottles as well, but I've been using 500mL Grolsh swing tops.

As for priming them, I use the CSR sugar sticks.

 

[sic_vl]

I mainly use 375ml stubbies and also 700ml long necks. I also have some 450 to 568ml bottles (Cider and Grosch bottles). I'd prefer to use only long necks, easier and quicker. I do have a couple of people keeping the bigger bottles for me and I do share my brew with them.

Im in a similar situation to you moving bottles around. I just deal with it. I put the stubbies back into boxes and tape them up. then my son usually moves them to the shed in the back of his trike with a trailer!!

 

[BobtheBrewer]

I have been enjoying homebrew for a little over a year now. Content with the range of kits available I enjoy mixing and matching kits, hops and malts.
My mates drink Carlton and Vic Bitter stubbies, so glass bottle supply has never been an issue. I built a storage shelf in the garage to stack my batches.

But I do get frustrated moving single bottles, first inside to keep them warm for secondary fermentation, then outside for storage, then into the fridge ready for drinking.
I used to re-use the original cartons but they fall apart so quickly, there is only so much duct tape you can use.
A couple of things I'd like to know from other 'bottlers' are:

- What size bottles do you use? (330, 375, 700ml)
- How do you move your beers around? (singularly, milk crates, misfit boxes etc)
I'm keen to hear your answers.

I once had 36 dozen tallies and then got the message and changed to kegs. I still have about 10 dozen, bottle 3 or 4 after filling the keg. I have always used plastic milk crates (which will hold 13 bottles) and plastic bread trays (24 bottles). The bread trays are fairly shallow and 24 bottles are fairly heavy so caution is required when filling/storing them.

Bob