Favorite Beer you buy to save the bottles?

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aoverturff

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I've been buying Dos Equis Amber because it's OK for drinking, and I get to keep and re-use the bottles for my homebrew. I have a problem spending $15 at my LHBS for 24 empties when I can spend $12 and get 12 fulls. Most of my beer purchases are based on whether I can re-use the bottles or not. My main exception is Shiner, which is a local brew for me (I feel the need to support Texan brews). What types do you guys buy with an eye on keeping the bottles when you're finished?
 
I've had problems with the Dos Equis bottles in the past. I love using the Sierra Nevada bottles, especially if I'm buying the Celebration Ale or Harvest Ale.
 
what types of problems have you had with XX bottles? I'm only on my 3rd batch (due to a refrigerator accident that lost my 2nd 2 batches) but I've never noticed a problem with their bottles. I also like to buy quart bottles of Tecate/Carta Blanca. One of these days I'm going to brew a malt liquor and bottle it only in quart bottles.
 
I find Sam Adams easy to re-use. The labels come off easily and they re-cap well.

But they do have the "Sam Adams" imprinted on the glass. Dosen't bother me.

They are cheap (relatively) too.
 
aoverturff said:
what types of problems have you had with XX bottles? I'm only on my 3rd batch (due to a refrigerator accident that lost my 2nd 2 batches) but I've never noticed a problem with their bottles. I also like to buy quart bottles of Tecate/Carta Blanca. One of these days I'm going to brew a malt liquor and bottle it only in quart bottles.

For some reason I couldn't get the butterfly capper to get me a good seal. That was a while ago though, I don't bottle much anymore.
 
Anchor bottles rule and have no printing. Pinkus bottles are cool too. Tonight I got an awesome bottle (a Deus Brut des Flandres). I don't bottle either but like having some nice ones around for the occasional traveling homebrew.
 
Most of my bottles are Deschutes or Bridgeport - the Bridgeport are my favorite, they have a sloped neck which allow a very nice pour. Although I have been buying quite a few 22oz bottles of most anything that catches my eye - they are nice for bottling.
 
The best bottles that I have come across in my travels are Hobgoblin 12 oz. bottles. They are a little hard to find, and a bit spendy, but its good beer and the bottles are thick with no imprints.
 
I personally like Rogue and Sweetwater bottles. The Sweetwater labels come off easily, and the Rogues are a little thicker than most. Don't know how far reaching the Sweetwaters are though, I'm only about an hour from Atlanta.
 
I don't drink them....but I get LOADS of Coors Light Bottles. They are free, they have NO marking on them, and I don't care if friends don't give them back. I had to spend $50 on a bench capper, but I have 40 cases of bottles in the basement that didn't cost a dime.

Now I need to figure out who has wine bottles......:mug:
 
BigKahuna said:
I don't drink them....but I get LOADS of Coors Light Bottles. They are free, they have NO marking on them, and I don't care if friends don't give them back. I had to spend $50 on a bench capper, but I have 40 cases of bottles in the basement that didn't cost a dime.


I don't care what anyone else says, THATS RAD!
(yes, i'm bringing back 80's words!:rockin: )
 
I like these guys cuz they're great for helping me skunkify my basic beers for that St. Pauli Girl flavor.

Yuri...this one's for you... :D

skunked_2.jpg
 
I like Sam Adams and New Belgium Bottles. Labels slip right off with a soak in Oxyclean and they seem to cap well. I have all sorts of bottle but those seem to be my favs.
 
I've been using Grolsh, Howe Sound 1L self-cappers, some Phillips bombers and stubbies (sadly, they don't have them anymore...). Self-cappers are sweet.
 
I usually use Sam Adam bottles. I've also found that Pete's bottles work very well too. They seem to be a bit heavier on the neck.
 
Moose Drool bottles are my favorite. The labels fall right off after just a few minutes in warm water.

I have had more Sierra Nevada bottles break than any other while being capped.

Aoverturff, how long have you lived in Katy? I grew up that way, Fry/Mason road. Went to Taylor High.
 
BeehiveBrewer said:
Moose Drool bottles are my favorite. The labels fall right off after just a few minutes in warm water.

I have had more Sierra Nevada bottles break than any other while being capped.

Aoverturff, how long have you lived in Katy? I grew up that way, Fry/Mason road. Went to Taylor High.
I've only been in katy for about 9 months. Work brought me to Houston from the Middle TN area.
 
When I buy beer I usually buy something I havn't had before. I do try to find beers with nice bottles for reuse though.

However my favorite bottles are Orval. A little expensive to build up a stock though.

Craig
 
I have had problems getting caps on foreign beers. When I bottled, my in-laws would save their bottles. They typically had moosehead, red stripe, newcastle, heineken, and amstel light. I had better luck with US bottles. I think there is a slight difference in size with the NA brews. As long as I could get it capped, then they did well. My favorite was the larger German bottles. I went to a German Restaurant and they had a ton of bottles. THey were gllad to get rid of them and I think they were 22 oz. Hard to cap some times with a butterfly capper, but they were thick.
 
I'm with you on the german bottles, really thick and heavy. Great since I have a bench capper. I dumped the wing capper after 2nd batch.

Also anything at my recycling center that isn't twist top...free is the best bottle.
 
I like 32 oz. bottles from Tecate or Carte Blanca. With a lime, they go down easy on a hot summer day and the bottle just rocks!

Tecate32oz.jpg
 
Heineken/Heineken Light have good bottles. They use plastic labels which peel right off after soaking in water for an hour or so; and they leave no glue residue of any kind. They have a solid rim which makes for easy capping with a wing-capper, and are pretty thick. They are green, but I've never noticed any off flavors.
 
Well, I really Like Bells. Oberon is awesome, and I just receintly found Bells Double Cream Stout.....wow.....
 
My brother works for the company who makes Sam Adams bottles (his plant wasn't the one with the little shards), so far he had gotten me 5 cases of brand new sam bottles AND a case of 22oz Sam bottles (all free of course), never knew the 22 existed. I will be using the 22's on the Stout I just brewed last night.
 
Anything brown besides beers from the Tractor Brewing Company- never had a harder time getting a label off- Oxyclean only helped a little. Luckily I only had one six-pack to deal with.
Sam Adams, Left Hand, Smuttynose, Sierra Nevada, Troegs's- all of them come clean really easily.
 
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