Heineken Bottles

[mynameisrodney]

Hi guys,

I'm just moving from PET to glass bottles, and have a steady supply of imported heineken bottles. The thing that is bothereing me is that the imported bottles feel a lot weaker than the Australian bottles. i weighed them on my kitchen scales and the import bottle was 180g compared to 260g for the Aus one. here is a pic of the different bottles, Aus on the left, import on the right.

has anyone used these imported bottles before? should i risk it or just chuck them away?
Cheers,
Chris

 

[cdbrown]

The bottles are made to store beer why wouldn't you trust it?

 

[bouncingcastle]

The only issue I can really think of is if you have a lever capper (one of those two handle ones) and the bottom of the crown seal is thin... If you have a bench capper, I wouldn't stress at all - they will be fine.

If you're still unsure, I can always use a constant supply of bottles

Cheers,

Chris.

 

[Goofinder]

Apart from being green, they should be fine. Just remember to keep them out of the light.

 

[HoppingMad]

Pretty much what everyone's said, Green glass is fine, just don't go leaving it on the window sill of your sunniest room or you'll fast discover what old socks dipped in beer tastes like.

The safest bet is always brown glass, because it lets a fraction less light through, but as long as your beer is bottle conditioning in a cupboard/box or other dark place you will be fine with the green. There are many brewers who have been bottling with swingtop grolsches for many years with fine results.

Personally have brewed and bottled using every type of bottle - from Clear Carlton Cold & Corona Bottles through to Green Heinies right through to the Delirium Tremens bottles which are grey and you can't even see the contents!

Have found brown glass best for keeping beer fresher for longer. Have had disastrous results with the clear stuff so don't even go there! Commercial brewers pump preservatives through their megaswills that go into clear so it doesn't get light-struck. We don't have that luxury.

Hopper.

 

[WildaYeast]

Agree with all. Not sure from the photo, but looks like both have paper labels. I have used some heineken bottles with silk screened labels that are quite nice. If that's what you've got, should be fine. Biggest issue is usually the twist top necks -- not really made for reuse. But, so long as you don't severely overcarbonate your beer or bottle too early, shouldn't matter anyhow...

 

[drtomc]

+1 to all of the above.

I've used a large variety ranging from 185ml chinotto bottles (early on I did a tripelish thing which at about 10%abv, I bottled in small doses), through to 1L green san pellgrino mineral water bottles and a pair of 2.5L Darwin stubbies. The only breakages were from poorly cleaned bottles - self inflicted mess.

T.

 

[Cocko]

I have slab of imports in my bottle cycle and have never had an issue with them....

INFACT Drinking from them, via a glass of course, as I type!

In short: Mate they will be fine.
:icon_cheers:

 

[mynameisrodney]

Cheers for the info guys. they will be kept out of the light so the green glass doesn't worry me.

Chris

 

[KGB]

Are you Chris or Rodney? ...or both? :blink:

 

[mynameisrodney]

real name is chris, nickname is rodney. mynameisrodney is an easy alias which is never taken anywhere i go so i stick with it.

I'm getting these bottles from a mate of mine who is a demolition worker. every day after work him and his work mates sit around drinking heineken and talking shit for an hour or so. just went out to his workshop then and they had saved me 5 cases of bottles since last tuesday.

Chris