What bottles are best

[Red Baron]

James,
As you live in Toowoomba, go down to the Spotted Cow and ask them for any used crown seal or flip top bottles- they must have heaps in the bin on a Saturday and Sunday morning- the larger the bottle the better though- anything less than 500ml will cause you excess pain on bottling day.

Do you know any girls? If so, ask them to save cider bottles for you- you know the Swedish brands i'm talking about. Get yourself a pint glass and then you're set for life.

If you want to pay for them, go to E.J. Busby and Busby glass recyclers out the back of the airport and get some old school XXXX tallies- that's where I got mine from and they have good plastic crates that will hold 2 cartons of beer too!

If you don't want to do any of the above, cap your mates VB bottles and give them a good twist in a clockwise (tightening) direction after you've capped them.

Hope this info helps you along on your journey.
Cheers,
RB.

 

[James85]

Thanks for the advice guys, and a big thankyou to the Red Barron I never even thought of the cow of the glass recyclers. Might head there tomorrow.

 

[JDW81]

My bottle collection is mainly coopers long necks champagne bottles and grolsch swing tops (with a few growlers thrown in for good measure).

The VB long necks will be fine for a while and will get you through until you can source some more durable bottles. (I used them for quite a while, until I had enough stronger bottles to send them to the recycling depot). Head to your local club/pub and see if you can get some champas bottles. They are sturdy and the bigger capping bell and caps can easily be sourced from any reputable HB store.

You can buy glass bottles, but I figure why pay for them when I can get the for free.

JD

 

[Green-Lobster]

Old darwin stubbies are good, even the more modern ones that hold a miserly 2 litres are a fair option. otherwise any longneck or pint bottle . get it in and stack em up .

 

[Aydos]

Where do you live, why not just grab some off a fellow home brewer.

When I was bottling I was using kozel 500ml bottles. Very sturdy and withstand highly carbonated beers.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

What's the deal with plastic? I have read in the past of plastic being used (and coopers kits use them), but wanted to know how long beer will last. I'm going to need to use plastic to supplement some glass, in order to build stocks. With a holiday going to happen, and cutting some weeks out of drinking, I want to know what I'm up for storage wise, to minimise losses.0

 

[Red Baron]

Thanks for the advice guys, and a big thankyou to the Red Barron I never even thought of the cow of the glass recyclers. Might head there tomorrow.

No worries mate- I'm glad we all don't have to learn from scratch.

Cheers,
RB.

 

[Greg.L]

What's the deal with plastic? I have read in the past of plastic being used (and coopers kits use them), but wanted to know how long beer will last. I'm going to need to use plastic to supplement some glass, in order to build stocks. With a holiday going to happen, and cutting some weeks out of drinking, I want to know what I'm up for storage wise, to minimise losses.0

You get about 3 months max with plastic bottles, after that the oxidisation gets pretty obvious. Of course the beer will start oxidising as soon as it is bottled, so glass is much better.

 

[MartinOC]

It's not the pressure tolerance, it's the whacking a new cap on tolerance that is the problem with twist tops/thinner glassed bottles.

Yep! No argument from me. I actually thought about this after I'd posted, but never got back to including the caveat "If you use a bench/lever capper & not belt the shit out of them with one of those nasty hand-cappers".

Like any piece of kit in your brewery - treat it with respect & it'll last you a LONG time. That includes bottles. I've used a bench-capper with twist-tops for years & never had a single problem.

 

[Tex083]

I have a mix of 330ml & 660ml "home brew" bottles from the HB store, Yes I paid for them but they work a treat and are strong. Dropped a few and only broken 1
I recently got some 500ml & 750ml swing top bottles form ebay and they are great love them easy to sanitise no capper involved and as someone else said dont use any thing smaller than 500ml or bottling day takes a long time.

 

[Bentnose]

You get about 3 months max with plastic bottles, after that the oxidisation gets pretty obvious. Of course the beer will start oxidising as soon as it is bottled, so glass is much better.

Does that mean if we bottle in the Tap King or Tap A draft bottles we'll have the same issue with oxidization?

 

[Greg.L]

3L bottles won't oxidise as fast as 750ml bottles because the surface area/volume ratio is smaller, but they will still oxidise. I used to use PET bottles but in the end you realise you're not doing your brew any favours.

 

[Dan Dan]

3L bottles won't oxidise as fast as 750ml bottles because the surface area/volume ratio is smaller, but they will still oxidise. I used to use PET bottles but in the end you realise you're not doing your brew any favours.

AH CRAP!!!!! I have an 18 month old stout that I bottled in PET. This is the first I've heard of this. Glad I gave all of the PET bottles to my old man!

 

[brentice]

I find the best beer bottle is the one that has beer in it. I have tried empty beer bottles once but it just doesnt cut the mustard. I cant really add anything intelligent to this conversation as i use both plastic and glass beer bottles and i am happy with the results from both..True story

 

[Greg.L]

AH CRAP!!!!! I have an 18 month old stout that I bottled in PET. This is the first I've heard of this. Glad I gave all of the PET bottles to my old man!

I've had wine in plastic bottles for that long or more. Makes you feel pretty silly when you open it. Better to read up in advance, but I had used plastic short term for beer, it seemed ok.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

You get about 3 months max with plastic bottles, after that the oxidisation gets pretty obvious. Of course the beer will start oxidising as soon as it is bottled, so glass is much better.

Seems strange that there would be such a push in the 'all in one' kits to have plastic. I mean, not everyone drinks all their beer in three months and most people, even our Kit Kousins will have two batches side by side (with a running reserve of 30 until you start brewing the next batch) to avoid running out. 60 bottles in 3 months starts to push it - that's effectively 2 tallies out of every 3 days - and if they (Coopers, or whomever makes other kits) want to promote home brewing as something more than cheap swill for cheap drunks - then I would think that they'd want longevity from their bottles.

Not discounting it, just thinking.

I've resorted to 1.5L bottles (woolies soda water) for my bitter, plus some pint/500ml bottles to mop up the remains. I reckon I've got 13 bottles (so 26 tallies) worth to get through in 3 months, if this is the case. Lucky it's only 3.5%.

 

[Greg.L]

If you just do a 20L batch and drink it in 6 weeks then PET is fine, many people use it this way. You are welcome to try using it for longer but then you realise your brew has been getting just a little bit worse every day, and it seems a bit silly.

 

[scon]

I managed to pick up about 400 pickaxe bottles from a deceased estate not long after getting in to brewing. That was a super lucky find - they weren't even advertised as such. These were the original Coopers bottles that were designed to be returned and reused, before it became more economically feasable to just crush the bottles and make new ones. I think they're about 600g per 750mL bottle. They're rock solid.

 

[MaltyHops]

Seems strange that there would be such a push in the 'all in one' kits to have plastic. I mean, not everyone drinks all their beer in three months and most people, even our Kit Kousins will have two batches side by side (with a running reserve of 30 until you start brewing the next batch) to avoid running out. 60 bottles in 3 months starts to push it - that's effectively 2 tallies out of every 3 days - and if they (Coopers, or whomever makes other kits) want to promote home brewing as something more than cheap swill for cheap drunks - then I would think that they'd want longevity from their bottles.

Not discounting it, just thinking.

Probability a liability minimising exercise ... think: newbies + glass bottles = boom!

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

If you use twist top bottles make sure the caps are on well. Use a lever capper if you can.
Use two pulls to seal the cap, do the first pull, turn the bottle 1/4 turn and pull again, I find it ensures the cap folds around as much thread as possible.
Just be prepared to lose bottles to lack of carb occasionally.

+1 just bottled 130 long necks two weeks ago in vb/draught bottles, no problems or bombs yet!