Question about clear bottles

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KepowOb

KepowOb

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So my wife has been buying a two brands of lemonade that come in 750ml flip-top bottles... they'd be perfect for my homebrew, except that they're clear.

Now, I'd be keeping them in a room in my basement with no windows, and the only time any lights are on in there is if I'm going to the fridge to grab a beer... so would his actually cause any problems? I'd be able to store them in a box to really make sure no light gets to them as well...

I know clear bottles are far from ideal, but would I run into any problems with these? Should I just do one or two bottles the first time around as a test, or would I be safe doing more?

bottle_01.jpg


bottle_02.jpg
 
IMO, if you are keeping them in a completely dark environment the possibility of skunking is minimal
 
Problem 1 which you've identified.. skunking/light contamination. That is a risk, but if kept seal in th dark until drunk, I don't see an issue.

Problem 2 which hasn't been mentioned is bottle bombs. I'd be concerned that these bottles haven't held presured liquids, and might not be up to the task. General rule of thumb is it is ok to reuse a bottle that had some sort of carbonated drink in it, but that if the drink was uncarbed, the bottle might not be preasure safe for beer. Looking at these bottles and your description, that is my worry.... Although to be honest, I might give it a try with 1 or 2 anyhow.
 
I had the same though as AC, if they are not made for pressure you are gambling on safety.
 
The lemonade that we're getting in them is carbonated... though it is a rather light carbonation. The glass is really thick on them too, if that changes anything? I never thought of that though, heh...
 
x3 with regards to those bottles holding pressure. They look really cool though, so I'd try one out in your next batch. Wrap it up in a towel and place in a strong box of some type and see what happens.

Light not an issue if you keep them from the light.
 
I've got some very similar bottles that my wife likes. I planned on bottling cider in them. The lemonade is carbonated, so I figured they would be safe. Maybe I will take precautions as well...
 
Thanks for all the really quick replies :). I think I'll do 2 bottles as a test when I bottle my next batch, putting them in a box, wrapped in a towel as was suggested. Better safe than sorry, and if it works out all the better moving forward :mug:
 
KepowOb said:
So my wife has been buying a two brands of lemonade that come in 750ml flip-top bottles... they'd be perfect for my homebrew, except that they're clear.

Now, I'd be keeping them in a room in my basement with no windows, and the only time any lights are on in there is if I'm going to the fridge to grab a beer... so would his actually cause any problems? I'd be able to store them in a box to really make sure no light gets to them as well...

I know clear bottles are far from ideal, but would I run into any problems with these? Should I just do one or two bottles the first time around as a test, or would I be safe doing more?
Click to expand...

What is the brand of lemonade?
 
BonzoAPD said:
What is the brand of lemonade?
Click to expand...

The stuff I got is called Rieme'. I got it at Meijer (pretty generic Midwest grocery store - certainly NOT specialty). Got it in the international foods aisle. I think it was 4.99, which is pretty expensive for what it is, but my wife gets a kick out of it. So I get brownie points, she's happy, and I get a pretty sweet bottle.

BTW, its pretty thick. I'd definitely say thicker than Grolsch bottles. I understand that doesn't NECESSARILY make it carbonation-ready, but I think the lemonade is pretty highly carbonated. I think I'm going to use them for bottling.

Edit: Sorry about the terrible pictures. My beer cellar is pretty dark, soy phone doesn't take particularly clear pictures.

image-2907536804.jpg


image-3026545108.jpg
 
One brand we get is called Elixia, http://www.elixia.fr/en/. Wife says its around $3-3.50 a bottle. We took the label off the other one so I don't know the brand name, but she says it's not more than $2.50 each. The Elexia one is from a health food place, the other the regular grocery store.
 
I used to keep a few clear champagne bottles around to allow me to easily check how the beer was clearing in the bottle. As long as the were kept out of the light, everything was dandy
 
I thought this would be a good spot to ask......

I have been using any color beer bottle (green clear brown) I just had my first 2nd bottle break. (carbonating) Teh first was a 22oz brew store bought bottle and the bottom only broke with a milk stout made from a kit. The second just now was a wheat kit bottled in a green dos equis bottle, it decentigated. My question revolves around living in Texas qith house temp around 78 probably higher midday. am i going to have to fridge all beers after a week or god forbid not brew in summer. Any thought would be appeciated.

Sorry about the poor spelling, I am off to clean up.
 
Just keep them out of uv and you'll be fine, uv cause yeast mutations and makes the hops skunk.
 
Those bottles are absolutly no good for beer! You should put them in your recycling ASAP. By the way, where do you live and what day is your recycling collected?:D;):D
 
all bottles were in boxes and in a closet hoping to limit the light. BTW
I do have a couple of cases of stella bottles in lewisville.
 
Ariando said:
I thought this would be a good spot to ask......

I have been using any color beer bottle (green clear brown) I just had my first 2nd bottle break. (carbonating) Teh first was a 22oz brew store bought bottle and the bottom only broke with a milk stout made from a kit. The second just now was a wheat kit bottled in a green dos equis bottle, it decentigated. My question revolves around living in Texas qith house temp around 78 probably higher midday. am i going to have to fridge all beers after a week or god forbid not brew in summer. Any thought would be appeciated.

Sorry about the poor spelling, I am off to clean up.
Click to expand...

Bottles do wear over time, so they can break from that stress. In general, you can reuse a bottle which held beer before, or soda before. But your specifics might be different.

Somewhere is a discussion about bottle bombs. These come for 1 of 3 main sources. 1 Bad bottles - ie like water or juice bottles used for beer, or a now defective bottle -either through resue or manufacturing . But we can discount that as you said they held other products. 2 Over carb/bad carbionation. That is you put to much sugar in that bottle, eithe rdirectly, or there was a bid mixing of your bottling sugar at bottling time. 3. Possible infection/beer spoilage. There are certian bacteria that will infect the beer and eat more of the residual sugar that the yeast leaves behind, basically it is like a new primary and boom. bottle breaks.

Off hand, I'm leaning towards #2 in your case, although there could be manufacturing defect making elements of #1 part of the cause - that is you used a bottle which was bad when made.
 
I read somewhere not that long ago that commercial bottles generally are considered good for 12 uses. This is for commercial rebottling though, it's probably more uses for home brew (less travel wear and tear from use, plus mechanical capping). I have no idea at all how a brewery will determine the integrity of a bottle though...
 
Thanks a ton for the info. I think the bottom of the new store bought 22oz bottle must be a defective bottle or mistreated. My wheat beer is quite high in carbination, it is hard to pour and most of those are in the dos equis bottles. i have no idea how it got that way my numbers were almost perfect except 5-6 beers short of 52. Possible that or a poor stir to mix sugar.
 
Ariando said:
Thanks a ton for the info. I think the bottom of the new store bought 22oz bottle must be a defective bottle or mistreated. My wheat beer is quite high in carbination, it is hard to pour and most of those are in the dos equis bottles. i have no idea how it got that way my numbers were almost perfect except 5-6 beers short of 52. Possible that or a poor stir to mix sugar.
Click to expand...

I have had a similar issue. I had an all grain batch that I kegged the majority of the batch. I also bottled 12 with carb tabs. 6 went in the fridge after 2-3 weeks they were carve up nicely. 6 stayed in pantry for 4-6 weeks around 78-83 degrees. These bottles were explosive. Had to open all of them in the sink. They kept foaming and foaming and foaming? I chalked it up to temp? But what do I know
 
Maybe you used too many carb tabs,& the fridged batch,which would've carbed more slowly,seemed just right. Reduce the number of carb tabs used.
 
If you dont want to bottle with them, you can do some "brew art" with them. Next time you are at the LHBS, buy a couple different colored whole grains (dont grind them). Fill the bottles alternating grain colors and you have a nice kitchen conversation piece.
 
dodeebryan said:
I have had a similar issue. I had an all grain batch that I kegged the majority of the batch. I also bottled 12 with carb tabs. 6 went in the fridge after 2-3 weeks they were carve up nicely. 6 stayed in pantry for 4-6 weeks around 78-83 degrees. These bottles were explosive. Had to open all of them in the sink. They kept foaming and foaming and foaming? I chalked it up to temp? But what do I know
Click to expand...

I think from reading (I actually haven't even carbed my first batch yet) if you carb at higher temps, the CO2 can stay in the headspace, but if you fridge them for a week after the carbing period, the CO2 will "fall into solution" going back into the beer and stabilizing.
 
At our local Home Depot they sell the glass Mexican Coke's. They are thick glass and work quite well. As mentioned before I keep them in the dark until a couple days before drinking. I have had no problems with them. This is my experience but I know everyone is entitled to an opinion.
 
Shenanigan said:
I think from reading (I actually haven't even carbed my first batch yet) if you carb at higher temps, the CO2 can stay in the headspace, but if you fridge them for a week after the carbing period, the CO2 will "fall into solution" going back into the beer and stabilizing.
Click to expand...

Co2 does goe into a clod solution easier than a warm one. But the beer has to be carbed & conditioned at room temps a couple weeks first. That fridge must not have been very cold to carb in there. Now,if you open a fully carbed beer that hasn't been in the fridge yet,it could foam over. Put it in the fridge for a week,& you have a more carbonation. Temps get to low,& the beer will carb very slowly,if at all. Yeast will go dormant below their minimum threshold.
 

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