massappeal120

Recipes 

anyone know where one can buy bottles for cheep? I have been saving bottles from purcahsed beer but i kinda would like to just buy 5 gallons worth of bottles so I can start doing more batches. only have enough for a littel over 5 gal right now. Most the bottles i use are the grolsch style easy capping bottles, but i do have a capper and caps are cheap so i dont gotta go that way bigger bottles are a plus though

the_bird

Recipes 

Best source; alcoholic friends. "I'll give you a sixer of homebrew for every four sixers of empties you provide me." Other people report success with having bars save pry-off bottles for you; prolly depends how friendly you are with the barkeep. Check Craigslist, too, sometimes you'll see someone giving away bottles (usually after they've finally wised up and gotten kegging gear ).

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BierMuncher

Recipes 

Ah...seems so familiar.

I got to drink a lot of pretty good craft brew for the sake of the empties.

You can get a 24 pack of bottles from Austinhomebrew.com for $13.99 each and shipping is a flat $6.99.

So for around $77, you'd have 5 cases delivered to your door.

Or...you could buy 12 packs of craft beer on sale for about $9-$11 per 12 and stock up that way...

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BierMuncher Tried & Trues:
Tits-Up IIPA (3-Time Medalist), Black Pearl Porter, Kona Pale Ale, Outer Limits IPA, Centennial Blonde (4.0%), Nierra Sevada (SNPA), SWMBO Slayer Belgian Blonde,

Bernie Brewer

Recipes 

You could go trolling around bars and restaurants. Ask if they'll save you any decent bottles. Can't hurt to ask. Back in the day I got a sh!thouse full of swing-tops from my BIL that worked in a restaurant at the time. So, connections don't hurt, either.

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Joker

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I always keep one eye on craigslist, you never know what will turn up there. I have gotten some very good deals on brewing equipment and bottles.

elderbrewer

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I find lots of the swing top bottles at the Goodwill store. I pay $ .50 -$1.00 for them.

quickerNu

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Hippie friends who are big into recycling!

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BrianP

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+1 on drinking cases of beer - it's a tough job but someone's got to do it. And it can help expand your palate to new sytles. Just watch out for twist-offs.

and +1 on hitting up places for empties. I've had good luck at high-end liquor stores that carry good selections of beer. I've picked up full cases of 12, 16, and 22 oz bottles (including several cases of flip-tops) just for the price of the bottle deposit. (And of course also buying a sixer or 12 so as to not wear out my welcome).

Unless you're really in a hurry to bottle, I wouldn't buy new empties.

One more thing - cleaning - If you're making your own empties, rinse them out right after use, then all you'll need to do is sanitize before bottling. If you wait you'll need to scrub. If you do 'dumpster dive' - you will need to scrub well and clean very thoroughly. (There's other threads about this - but I use a soak of oxyclean and hot water to loosen the gunk and remove labels, then scrub with a bottle brush, inspect, re-scrub, rinse, etc.)

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BP

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Fermenter 1: Best bitter (1)
Fermenter 2: Best bitter (2)
Fermenter 3: APA
Fermenter 4: APA

Professor Frink

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A lot saturdays for me involve dumpster diving. It's not as bad at it sounds.

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Secondary:
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Lagering:

http://www.lazydogbrewery.com

Judd

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Is there a university/college in your city? If yes, try there. Otherwise, go out on recycling day and loot.

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