Bottle (color) Question

Ok...I got my first 3 cases of pry off bottles. A bar that my brother used to work at is letting him come in weekly to get whatever I need.

Even better, these bottles are free.

My question: Most of these bottles are clear some are green and a few are brown. I know that brown is ideal. I'm planning on having my bottles condition in a dark room in the basement. Lights are only on for a minute or two at a time when we are looking for something. If it stays dark and I keep the boxes closed, then will the bottle color really matter? I'm just excited that I found a solution (a free one at that) to getting bottles.

Something about light oxidizes hop particles in the beer I believe. Something along those lines. Brown bottles are ideal but as long as you keep them out of the light, it should'nt be a big deal. Heineken and all those other green/clear bottles get skunky because they sit on shelves for who knows how long and all kind of light gets in.

IMO, green and clear bottles are perfectly fine if you don't expose them to light. The clear ones are also a little easier to fill since you can see what level the liquid is at.

I think you should be fine.
I used mixed colored bottles regularly and keep them in a dark room for the most part. I particularly like the clear ones. It' would take a good bit of regular light to skunk your beer in light colored or clear bottles.

Agree - the value of brown bottles is highly over-rated for beer that is not sitting under fluorescent lights in a display case. For homebrew stored in your dark basement, it makes no difference. I've played around a bit with homebrew in clear bottles. It takes some time in full mid-day sun to get light-struck, and even then, it never gets as skanky as Heineken.

Again, thanks for the replies and putting my mind at ease. Now what is the best way to clean these "used" bottles. I'm getting a jet bottle washer and bottle brush. Soap and hot water, then rinse? Should I use some kind of sanitizer on them? I just want to make sure that if everything goes ok with the boil and fermenting, that it isn't my free used bottles botching things up.

A soak in a big tub full of oxyclean and hot water and most everything comes off after a day of soaking. As for colour, if you are keeping them in the dark, you should be fine, but after you get the required stock of mixed bottles, I'd slowly phase out the clears, then the greens with brown bottles, a dozen a batch if you can get them free (or drink craft/import beers that come in cool bottles). I have about a case of clear and green that I keep around for if I run out/miscalculate during a batch, or don't get the requisite drinking done prior to bottling day. I just kill the 'less desirable' bottles first.

bennyd said:

Again, thanks for the replies and putting my mind at ease. Now what is the best way to clean these "used" bottles. I'm getting a jet bottle washer and bottle brush. Soap and hot water, then rinse? Should I use some kind of sanitizer on them? I just want to make sure that if everything goes ok with the boil and fermenting, that it isn't my free used bottles botching things up.

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Buy yourself some oxyclean and let them soak. This will clean them up and remove the labels without any scrubbing.

You'll still need to sanitize them.

I use my dishwasher without any detergent for sanitizing. However there are a million ways to sanitize them. As long as you do it, your good.