plastic soda bottles

I'd like to take some homebrew with me on vacation. I want to use plastic soda bottles because I have to pack all of our stuff in the trunk of a convertible and I'm afraid glass might break. I also like the stealth factor.
Do these things really work ok? I would imagine I would need to buy new caps for them.

Using soda bottles will work perfectly fine. You don't need to buy new caps for them unless you use them over and over again, but a few times they'll be fine.

They work fine.
Make sure and DO NOT let them see the light of day! You WILL skunk your beer.

**Edit
Dang...EvilTOJ is one fast Sun of a gun!!

I've heard a few things re: soda bottles, but the bottom line is they work just fine. Thoughts on them are:

- Caps can be re-used once or twice before they start to lose their grip. Not necessary to replace the caps each and every time though.
- Avoid the root beer ones (kinda like kegging, eh?!)
- Oxy clean for 30 mins, rinse well, then Star San should take about any odors out
- Keep them in a brown paper bag, well closed. Avoid teh skunk.

So with that, I say give it a shot! Plus, if it's a porter, you could even leave the Cola label on the bottle - like you said, stealth factor!

I've actually thought about trying plastic bottles for shipping in swaps. I want to run a few home tests on durability / long term viability. But the lessened weight and increased resistance to breakage seem appealing! (Like Yuri's aluminum bottles he used.)

I'm saving up mountain bottles. I think that should disguise the contents ok. I understand not having glass on the beach but no alcohol? Alcohol and beaches are made for each other. I think they will work well in the pool area too.

Go to your local bar and ask them for the caps they take off the 750ml (Fifth) bottles of booze. Those caps are hard and fit 1 and 2 liter plastic bottles and hold up much longer than the original caps. They also seal better.

nyer said:

I'm saving up mountain bottles. I think that should disguise the contents ok. I understand not having glass on the beach but no alcohol? Alcohol and beaches are made for each other. I think they will work well in the pool area too.

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Interestingly, carbonated apfelwein looks just like ginger ale, especially when it is poured out of a green 2 liter plastic Canada Dry Ginger Ale bottle.

I guess I better start collecting ginger ale bottles. So far I'm bringing apfelwein, your haus pale ale and the bavarian wheat. Well, unless I run out of the pale ale and bavarian wheat. On second thought I might need to brew another batch of something before we go.

Mountain Dew bottles & a little food coloring.