How To Store Bottles

[brente1982]

Ok so i now have around 100 750ml longneck beer bottles, but am finding it incredibly difficult to store them properly, either empty or whilst full of a brew.

The boxes i used to store them in just dont seem appropriate anymore and i am looking for ideas on better ways of storing them so they are:

1. upright,
2. easy enough to transport around, and
3. stackable if possible.



Does anyone have any ideas they could share with me as it would be greatly appreciated.



Cheers

 

[kelbygreen]

milk crates answer all them questions

 

[muthead]

Ok so i now have around 100 750ml longneck beer bottles, but am finding it incredibly difficult to store them properly, either empty or whilst full of a brew.

The boxes i used to store them in just dont seem appropriate anymore and i am looking for ideas on better ways of storing them so they are:

1. upright,
2. easy enough to transport around, and
3. stackable if possible.



Does anyone have any ideas they could share with me as it would be greatly appreciated.



Cheers

Hi Brente,

Empties live in stackable milk crates. Different colour crates for different type of bottles (ie blue crates are Coopers crown seal, green are screwies, black arte subbies..etc).

With full bottles you need to be careful. After reading some horror stories of shards of glass wedging in roofs and walls from bottle bombs I keep all of my full bottles in cardboard boxes, stacked neatly under my brewing table. With 3 young kids who are often in the garage with me I could think of nothing worse than them being subjected to bottle bombs and being injured. I have had one bottle bomb in my 4 months of brewing and it was full contained in the box.

My 2 cents.
Mut

 

[Yob]

milk crates answer all them questions

Yep.. the ducks guts.. all legally aquired of course

 

[WarmBeer]

Does anyone have any ideas they could share with me as it would be greatly appreciated.

Kegs.



Not being a smartarse, just trying to instill some hard-won wisdom upon a newer brewer. I fought against kegs for almost 4 years, justifying to myself that I actually enjoyed the process of bottling. Well, I still enjoy the process of bottling, it's just that it's one large, 19lt, stainless steel bottle. Easy to clean, easy to carry, zero possibility of it exploding and harming/scarring/worse myself or my kids due to "bottle" bombs.


Kegs.

 

[staggalee]

milk crates answer all them questions

They`re great if you can get hold of `em.
Stack em as high as you want, each crate holds 14 tallies.
I found 12, I seem to be good at finding things.

 

[brente1982]

Well i do work in a supermarket so there are plenty there, but not do easy to aquire them out of there.
Might have to find some somewhere else.

 

[MaltyHops]

Well i do work in a supermarket so there are plenty there, but not do easy to
aquire them out of there. Might have to find some somewhere else.

Try bottle recycling depots - I got some from one and the bloke told me the
dairy companies usually aren't interested in reclaiming crates from depots,
often a bit dirty and tatty but usually scrub up pretty good.

 

[black_labb]

Milk crates are excellent. Just don't jam that last bottle in there. I've had bottles crack and leak from being too tight in there. I doubt it was bottle bombs as it's never happened in a milk crate that wasn't overpacked. The worst part is the bottles look perfectly intact until you pull it out and the top of the bottle comes without the bottom. All your other bottles underneath have a bit of yeast/mould spores stuck to the outside which isn't too pleasant. The moral of the story? carry those extra 5 bottles to the cellar loose instead.

 

[Truman42]

Hi Brente,

Empties live in stackable milk crates. Different colour crates for different type of bottles (ie blue crates are Coopers crown seal, green are screwies, black arte subbies..etc).

With full bottles you need to be careful. After reading some horror stories of shards of glass wedging in roofs and walls from bottle bombs I keep all of my full bottles in cardboard boxes, stacked neatly under my brewing table. With 3 young kids who are often in the garage with me I could think of nothing worse than them being subjected to bottle bombs and being injured. I have had one bottle bomb in my 4 months of brewing and it was full contained in the box.

My 2 cents.
Mut

Must admit Im paranoid about bottle bombs and find myself handling my bottled beers like theyre nuclear waste when Im moving them etc. (Havent had one yet..touch wood)
I put my full bottles in a milk crate under the stairs but may switch to cardboard boxes to be safe.

 

[brente1982]

I have done quite a few brews now and havent had a bomb yet either (touch wood) but i also make sure that fermentation is finished in the fermenter. That would generally eliminate the chances.

Ill keep an eye out for some crates as it would definately make stacking them in the garage that much easier.

 

[scooter_59]

I store my bottles in styrofoam boxes . Bottle bombs yeah I have had some from overcarbonating them and they were well contained inside the box . Although I did have to clean up the mess which was in the box and not all over the floor .

 

[adz1179]

i bought a cheap upright cupboard from fantastic furniture with sturdy shelves.... didn't cost much at all, and keeps the youngun's away from the beers (use a bike lock on the handles so they cant get in there)

if one happens to explode it will be messy, but fully contained in the cupboard.

 

[Wimmig]

In the recycle bin, where bottles belong.

Kegs are for re-use.

 

[brente1982]

i bought a cheap upright cupboard from fantastic furniture with sturdy shelves.... didn't cost much at all, and keeps the youngun's away from the beers (use a bike lock on the handles so they cant get in there)

if one happens to explode it will be messy, but fully contained in the cupboard.

you make a good point there, and made me just remember that i have a disused cupboard out in my back shed, i could whack a couple more shelves in it and wallah, nice storage that the youngen cant get into. Cheers for that.

 

[woodwormm]

Kegs.




Kegs.

+1

but quite frankly... why are so many ppl having bottle bombs... 3 years of bottling, storing them in hot sheds, cramming that last tight bottle in the milk crate... never had one... just lucky i guess...

if you're into bottles, get milk crates (legally of course - or at least covertly )

if you're into better tasting beer and ease of use.. get kegs

 

[JDW81]

Yep.. the ducks guts.. all legally aquired of course

+1. I use milk crates for all manner of brewing steps. I store my bottles in em (full and empty), use em to sit my HLT on and two stacked with a piece of cardboard on top makes an excellent seat.

 

[WarmBeer]

... and two stacked with a piece of cardboard on top makes an excellent seat.

Cardboard on top? Pffft, you're soft!

What's wrong with a criss-cross pattern on the arse-cheeks? :lol:

 

[Fish13]

I stack my empties on the bottle tree. i have 2. one for long necks and one for stubbies.

my full ones inthe cheap plastic crates from k-mart

 

[going down a hill]

I have a standard size bottle so I can stack back into slab boxes. Cascade and Coopers 375ml bottles are roughly the same size so they are interchangable. You can get em from sports clubs and pub bins.