ScrewTop Bottles

Is it ok to bottle sparkling ciders in screw top glass bottles or will the CO2 leak out? Wine bottles are so freaking expensive and I have 15 gallons to bottle...help!

You can't bottle carbonated cider in wine bottles anyway, so don't worry about that. (The corks would blow out, or the bottles would blow up- wine bottles aren't designed for carbonation). I also wouldn't used generic glass bottles, unless there were designed for soda for the same reason- the glass could explode under pressure if the bottle wasn't designed for a carbonated beverage.

There are a couple of choices that you have though- plastic soda bottles aren't very attractive, but they would work great. You could use beer bottles, and a regular capper. I have some brown PET bottles that I got from the LHBS, and those would work as well, and have reusable screw tops.

YooperBrew said:

You can not bottle carbonated cider in wine bottles anyway, so don't worry about that.

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Not nitpicking Yoop, just don't want him to get the wrong idea from a typo

You can use screw tops. I work part time at a bar (endless supply of wine bottles!) and they serve welches sparkling juice. I use those bottles all the time. However you must save the caps.I've never been able to find caps that are lonfgenough to get a good seal.

- You can get a good seal with twist off bottles using a bench capper
- Wine bottles aren't built to hold pressure and a prone to explode, so don't use them
- Champagne bottles are fine to use, but you will need a cork, wire thing (just like when you bought the champagne) plus a champagne capper
- I would avoid plastic bottles for cidars

Just curious.....why would you avoid plastic bottles? Is it because of the chemicals? I use PET bottles

Well this is all very interesting...i went to work tonite and started saving wine bottles...I had already got a whole mess of 1/2 gal glass bottles from my LHBS plus screw-on caps. The reason i asked is because it occured to me that CO2 may leak out of an incomplete seal. I have 15 gallons of cider to bottle, so as you might imagine, I am not too interested in using all 12 oz. beer bottles. Thanks for the info, folks, as always...I'll stick with the original plan, i think.

I would add that most Champagne bottles can also be capped with your everyday equipment. I do it all the time.

You can bottle in larger beer bottles, if you don't want to use 12 ounce bottles, or in 2 liter soda bottles.

I would NOT use glass jugs or wine bottles that aren't designed to hold pressure. If you do anyway, make sure you keep them in a big rubbermaid container so that if they do explode, the glass shards are somewhat contained.

I cap my champagne bottles also. Just make sure you have the right size caps and capper before you start. ( I learned this the hard way). I believe US
bottles are 32 mm and European are 33 mm .

ah, so 2 liter screw top soda bottles can be used? Nice to know

nickmpower said:

ah, so 2 liter screw top soda bottles can be used? Nice to know

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True you can use soda bottles for short term... I use champage bottles and champage corks... they hold a sh*t load of pressure and at easy to cork yourself with a wooden mallet and some bailing wire... REgualr wine bottles in some cases do hold pressure... jsut find out if the orginal wine was carbed if so then go for it, if not then dont... some wine is carbed... some isnt, infact most isnt... so infact most wine bottles explode...

Cheers

g'day cobbers, having just read the thread on screw tops & the use of P E T placcy bottles has been mentioned,I can say that so far no difference in taste [not that I can notice at least] between glass or plastic . Here in Australia we can buy 740ml brown PET bottles and screw top caps , they work great for any lively brews you might concoct.

Hi Guys,
Found this forum and thread after wanting to know if I can use screw top glass bottles.

I am a coopers pale ale drinker (I am from Australia),and the brew I have just started is of course Coppers pale ale.

The thing is, I like to drink out of stubbies, which for those not living in Australia,is a 375 ml glass bottle, and Coopers sell the stubbie with a screw lid.

So, my question is, can I bottle my brew in these same glass bottles, using the same screw on lids, and if so, is there a tool that would enable me to get the lids on tighter than what could be done with my bare hands? (I'm assuming because the lids are designed as screw offs, that using the standard bottle cap tool with a hammer is not the best method?)

Many thanks guys, and glad I found this forum as my brew did not start bubbling in the first few hours as what suggested in the manual and so I started to panic, and this forum was the first I found when I googled for help!

Dean

coldrice said:

Is it ok to bottle sparkling ciders in screw top glass bottles or will the CO2 leak out? Wine bottles are so freaking expensive and I have 15 gallons to bottle...help!

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BANG!!! (what happens when you use wine bottles for a bottle carbed drink)


if you are concerned about price, AND want to bottle a carbonated beverage

try Half liter PET bottles with screw tops - they are cheap, safe, and capable of holding extreme pressure - I use them quite a bit because glass is TOO expensive to ship to hawaii.

I'm planning on using clear 32oz screw top glass bottles that beer such as "OE" and Miller High Life come in from convenience stores. I want to use my 12oz brown bottles for my beer, and figure these 32oz bottles are perfect for a couple of gallons of cider.

Are screw-top 1/2 gallon beer growlers OK for carbonated cider?

jaginger said:

Are screw-top 1/2 gallon beer growlers OK for carbonated cider?

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No. They're fine for storing already carbed beer to be consumed in a couple of days, but not for bottle conditioning. They aren't designed to hold fermentation pressure.

Anybody for re-using screw-cap Reunite bottles for champagne (or EdWort's Afpelwein!)? I was considering this but the bottles look awfully thin, maybe even thinner than some wine bottles... We don't want bottle bombs for sure. Anyone ever try these?

I hate to break it to you but you're just going to go have to buy tons of good beer in bombers or a bunch of samuel smiths (cause its good) and just drink it to get the bottles. It is what I have been doing, it is tough but you can succeed if you put your mind to it. Think about it, 15 gal is 150 beer bottles roughly; if you are determined you can get through that in less than a week, that is only about 21 beers a day. Like my friends say, work a shift, drink a shift.

I'm planning on bottling 10 gallons of cider in 50 glass beer bottles and the rest in plastic 2 liters or 20 ounce bottles. I hope it turns out ok.

hi all...

only 10+ years later, but this thread come up as I am trying to fond an answer to my question. I carbonate my own water and have been using plastic bottles, but the more I read about problems with this the more i would like to change to glass bottles. Is there a carbonation cap I can buy to fit the wine bottles? I have not been able to find one online or in stores around here that fits. thanks.

Lynn Zimmerman said:

I carbonate my own water and have been using plastic bottles, but the more I read about problems with this the more i would like to change to glass bottles.

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There's nothing wrong with using plastic.

Agree with RPH, plastic works. It should also be noted that wine bottles are not designed to hold pressure. Unless they are champaign or sparkling wine bottles i would not use them.

Lynn Zimmerman said:

... but the more I read about problems with this...

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While far less dangerous, this is no less fake psuedoscience than the anti-vaxers. Just remember that anyone can make a website now and treat all of it with a hefty dose of skepticism.