Grolsch Vs Screw-top?

[Mattorade]

Hi guys, a friend of mine reckons Grolsch bottles are the best to use for brewing.

I'm wondering what's cheaper. I mean wouldn't you have to buy new caps for your new batches?

Also, what are everyone's thoughts on which is easier? The grolsch bottles have the metal bits that put the lid back on with ease. For the screw-tops you have to use a tool to put it back on.

I'm wondering if I should start drinking Grolsch so I can use the bottles...

 

[Tyred]

What sort of screw tops are you referring to ? Plastic caps or metal tops ? Plastic caps are cheap and metal tops (you can get dual purpose crown seals) are quite cheap.

For grolsch bottles you may have to replace the 'rubber' seal at the top of the bottle occasionally.

For ease of bottling, grolsch are easier.

As to the best, it's a personal choice.

 

[bconnery]

As someone who regurlarly uses swingtop, screwtop, plastic and crown seal I can say categorically that the best sort of bottle is one that seals properly.

I use my swingtop bottles mostly as my testers so they get drunk early. The seals will need replacing after a while.

Crown seal tallies are definitely my favourite though.

 

[lokpikn]

I,m using both types of bottles and i just got the wife to buy me 4 more grolsh bottles for my birthday. They are quite expensive. If you can handle the cost i think the swing tops are great but don,t hold as much liquid.

Long neck means you don,t have to clean as many bottles and coppers long necks seem to be the best in my option as they are made from much thicker glass.

As beconnery Said the grolsh are great if you want to try some beers early as testers and you would want to make sure your mates dont forget to bring back you bottels at the cost of them.

 

[Norsman]

I've said this before here on the forum, and I know it is controversial... but I have always found that my grosch pop-top bottles give better head after a couple weeks' bottle conditioning compared to stubbies or long necks. Not exactly sure why but I always seem to observe this. I know it isn't a issue of proper sealing with my crown caps because my crown capped bottles are always fully carbonated.

 

[Rod]

I have 600 grolsh ,

love im

 

[Mattorade]

I have 600 grolsh ,

love im

How often have you had to replace the seals? With that many bottles it must be really expensive. How much is it to get one seal replaced?

 

[Weizguy]

I have a number of Grolsch bottles, including some 500ml ones from back before they started down-sizing the bottles to cater for the American market (473ml indeed).

I find that they don't always stand up to rigours of a well-carbonated beer (read, Weissbier) and have seen a few empty units with no bottom in them. The flat base just pops off.

As for colour, green bottles do little to avoid skunking, so when I use the Grolsch bottles I assure that they go into a dark place and are covered from light strike.

A better option, if you can get hold of them, is the 500 ml Schwelmer Bernstein bottles.
Advantages:
Brown bottles,
500 ml swing-top,
Heavier glass than Grolsch
about $16 for a 4 pack, which is better value than Grolsch.
Flavour - Mmmmm, more please.
Available at most Dan Murphy stores (no affiliation)

Seth

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

A better option, if you can get hold of them, is the 500 ml Schwelmer Bernstein bottles.

Pil
Good luck if you can find them. I'm buying 330ml Schwelmers at the moment. I don't believe they sell the 500mls any more. I agree with you on the flavour issue though - it's yummy.

Edit: clarified I'm buying pils.

 

[Hogan]

Pil
Good luck if you can find them. I'm buying 330ml Schwelmers at the moment. I don't believe they sell the 500mls any more. I agree with you on the flavour issue though - it's yummy.

Edit: clarified I'm buying pils.

500 ml Schwelmers appear quite frequently at my local Dan Murphy shop at Campbelltown.

Before I went to kegging I used the Grolsch swing top. They were terrific if your bottles were a little over primed (read bottled before ferm had fully completed) and you could just flip the top to release a bit of pressure and reseal.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[3GumsBrewing]

I'm wondering if I should start drinking Grolsch so I can use the bottles...

Hi Mattorade,

I scored around 128 Grolsch swing top bottles on eBay a year or so ago, and have never looked back, they are easy to clean, easy to fill and bloody easy to cap, and great to store - 16 Grolsch bottles fit perfectly in a milk crate!
Great for a special brew you don't want to keg.
Have a search around on eBay, I think I picked mine up for about $75.

Cheers
DK

 

[JCG]

I personally like the 1.5L Grolsh Bottles the only problem is getting more, they add a nice apeal when you do a special brew.

JCG

 

[Rod]

Keep my beer in the garage , no windows

never had skunk beer

does several tests in direct sunlight , no smelly rodents

change my seals as needed , some replacement seals are better than others, synthetic ones last for ever but are a bit thin

can get about 5 times arround , ie 2 cents a bottle

 

[wildschwein]

I use Grolsch and modern longnecks with threads which I usually just cap with regular crown seals (no bad seals yet). I think Grolsch bottles are by far the best, all though you have to wash/sanatize more at bottling time. The best thing is that if you don't want to drink a whole longneck some days you save wasting the product of your precious labour. Smaller portions can mean less waste. I have done about 5-6 brews in mine without yet replacing the seals. I just keep flipping over to the opposite direction that they were last sitting. Compared to today's longnecks Grolsch bottles are much heavier gauge glass too, which I think makes them a bit safer. Capping longnecks worries me (I've got the old hammer capper!!!) If you can find a friend who works at a rubbish recycling place you may be able to land some Grolsch bottles for free. I scored about sixty off a mate of mine who was working there and I had to turn down the rest (another 40 or so) at the time for lack space etc..Regret it now though: Get Grolsch bottles

Prost!!!!!

 

[johnno]

I have had some of my grolsch bottles for over 3 years now.

Have never had to change any of the washers.

cheers
johnno

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I'm trying to convince my friends (both of them) and my relatives that if they want to buy me a gift, it should be Beer Bling. Grolsch in swingtop bottles lives at the top of the list because it is easy to come by and easy to describe to the Unwashed.

I sent an email to Dan Murphy's customer service people on the subject of 500ml Schwelmer bottles. Short answer is if you see them, snap them up while you can...

There's some brown Grolsch bottles on ebay at the moment.

 

[brettprevans]

Hi guys, a friend of mine reckons Grolsch bottles are the best to use for brewing.

I'm wondering what's cheaper. I mean wouldn't you have to buy new caps for your new batches?

Also, what are everyone's thoughts on which is easier? The grolsch bottles have the metal bits that put the lid back on with ease. For the screw-tops you have to use a tool to put it back on.

I'm wondering if I should start drinking Grolsch so I can use the bottles...

I go longnecks wih stubby testers. Anything that costs $ is bad. I have even gone one step further and ripped off Heiniken's idea of 'celebration Magnums (2 bottle) and JEreboams (4bottle)'.

View attachment 12389

For discussion on how to cap one of these suckers see thread www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=664&hl=grolsh

For 'freeloader' or cheap style beers where I know lots of people will be coming over and drikning my beer, Im also thinking of just investing in a couple of 4L or 5L bottles that I'll use to make massive bottles. I know the beer will get drunk fast so why bother going to the effort of using lots of individual bottles.