glass & plastic

tallybrewer · 02-08-2010, 05:34 PM

Lately I've been bottling part of each batch using 2 two-liter plastic soda bottles & the rest (about a case & a half) in 12 oz bottles. I started doing it this way because I wanted to share the two-liter bottles with friends, but I have noticed some other advantages to this practice.

It's easy to determine if the beer is conditioned. So far, I've noticed that my dark beers take a little longer to condition than my ales. I quickly tell by squeezing a two-liter bottle if it is conditioned or not; they get rock hard when ready to drink.

Although I've been warned that the plastic bottles are more permeable & can allow oxygen into the beer over time I haven't noticed a problem. This is probably because we usually drink the two-liter bottles first. Nevertheless, I wouldn't bottle, for instance, an RIS, mead, or other beer that I intend to store bottled for a long time.

The two-liter bottles take up less space in the pantry and the price is right for empty soda bottles. Since I have no desire to keg, this combination of bottling part of each batch using two-liter soda bottles works well for me.

firebird77 · 02-09-2010, 07:50 AM

I did this per the directions in my first beer kit (Mr. Beer). It worked out fine, and the two-liter bottles are great for transporting beer around too. The only concern I have is skunking the beer if it isn't kept out of the light. I bottle a lot of beer in 1L Aqua Panna bottles, and I just put each bottle in a paper bag and put the bottles in a dark tupperware container to keep them safe. And no, I haven't had any bottles explode even though they weren't intended for carbonated beverages.