strongest 12 oz. bottles?

I need to bottle a strong golden belgian to about 3.5 volumes CO2. I normally cork champagne bottles but you need 12 oz. bottle for the NHC next month, any ideas on which are the most robust. Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam seem pretty solid to me....but maybe not strong enough?

strongest 12 oz i've come across are from Duvel - their beer clocks in at 4.25 volumes. very thick glass.

on the downside, buying duvel is expensive. it's $15 for a 4-pack 'round my hood. how many bottles do you need? i have at least five 12-ouncers at home, possibly more. i'd consider a trade - my empties for some hops, or some of that golden belgian? other? PM me with an offer if interested.

based on what i've read, standard beer bottles start to fail at 3 volumes. that why i've been saving my Duvels - in case i get around to brewing something that i want to carb that high

Look for Belgians - though the bottles (such as Duvel) often aren't quite 12oz. Affligem is a less expensive Blond that has a pretty hefty bottle. Good brew, too.

I was just going to post the same thing. Super frustrating...I have two beers I want to enter that I only bottled in large format bottles because they are highly carbonated...ugh. Russian River as small Belgian style bottles as well.

Green flash has some pretty thick bottles. They do have markings on them though. Never had judges like those bottles.

Only 11.2 ounces and they have raised lettering....but the Chimay stubbies are really thick & strong.

I don't know what the bottles are rated for as far as pressure/CO2 Volumes, but when bottling this past weekend I noticed that there was 1 type of bottle that was noticeably heavier and thicker (and darker).

It was from a "Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale". It was a present, so I don't know exactly how much they cost, but it was only a 4-pack, and it might be up there near the Duvel in price.

Randall said:

Green flash has some pretty thick bottles. They do have markings on them though. Never had judges like those bottles.

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I came here to post this too - the Green Flash bottles are some of the heaviest 12oz bottles I've come across, but as Randall mentioned they do have markings.

Raised marking are okay as far as the NHC are concerned....and they need to only be a minimum of 10 ounces. I think my friend said that Costco had Duvel now, price is going to be cheapest around if they do.

Samuel Smiths is a pint bottle, so I think it may not fit in a standard case slot which is a requirement for NHC comps.

In San Diego I normally only see Russian River Belgians in Champagne style bottles like Alesmith Horny Devil.

Lindemans Lambics usually come in pretty heavy bottles. They look like small champagne bottles.

Any sort of sour beer will probably have pretty thick glass. Duchess comes in a very thick glass, though it is 11.2oz.

If you can get any of the older bottles that were truly returnable and reused by the brewery, they are much heavier than your standard 12oz longneck. I have several cases of Old Milwaukee bottles I've acquired over the years like this.

jaba said:

If you can get any of the older bottles that were truly returnable and reused by the brewery, they are much heavier than your standard 12oz longneck. I have several cases of Old Milwaukee bottles I've acquired over the years like this.

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You beat me too it! I have 7 or 8 cases of those that I bought off of a guy and I swear they feel like they're twice as heavy as the newer bottles! Plus the added bonus of the old bar cases.