Dumpster diving for bottles

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You are not crazy, I actually used to do the same thing. We have recycling day in my neighborhood, and I used to go out before the bums and pull out the usable bottles from the recycling bins. Some of my neighbors even saved bottles for me.
 
I tried to get a few bars to give me bottles but the vast majority were BMC and screw offs. Your best bet is probably your neighbors recycle bins.
 
Our Kroger has recyling dumpsters behind it and the glass one is always full of beer bottles.

You could also try going to a local bar and sitting down and having a few beers and just ask the bartender to hold any pop off bottles to the side for you while you enjoy your beers. then just leave him a decent tip for the favor....
 
i have my local recycling centre hold certain bottles for me and they sell it to me for next to nothing. not free, but its easier than getting up earlier than the bums...
 
I've been d-diving for bottles for years..........every time we get within five miles of the recycling place, I've gotta make a bottle run. SWMBO rolls her eyes, and my basement's full. The price is extremely right!:cross:
 
BierMuncher said:
20-Pack of Schlafly (local micro brew) pale ale on sale for $15.99.

I gave up on trying to clean cigarette butts out of slimy beer bottles a long time ago.
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srsly

I looked at grabbing a bunch of bottles from some bar bins but between all the twist-tops and general grossness of the bottles, I would much rather empty 'em myself.

PorterBeerDay005.jpg
 
brewt00l said:
srsly

I looked at grabbing a bunch of bottles from some bar bins but between all the twist-tops and general grossness of the bottles, I would much rather empty 'em myself.
Click to expand...

I see some full ones back there on the left…

GET BUSY ! ! ! :D
 
I'd rather pay extra for brand new bottles than clean a bunch of ash tray bottles. When friends offer me empties for my brewing, I always ask if any of them are ash trays before I accept them.
 
BierMuncher said:
20-Pack of Schlafly (local micro brew) pale ale on sale for $15.99.

I gave up on trying to clean cigarette butts out of slimy beer bottles a long time ago.
Click to expand...


Hah.. I've been collecting bottles for my first run and I thought the same way.. That's what I've been doing, I check for style, then I check the cap, then I check the style again.

Waiting on that Celebration Ale to hit my local stops..
 
Meh, I'd rather not have to clean nasty bottles.

Go out, buy a case of two of Sam Adams (or any other pry-off bottled beer), invite your buddies over for a party, and empty them.

Much easier and much more fun than collecting nasty bottles and cleaning the stale beer, mold, and cigarettes out of them.
 
I hear ya, but I'm looking for a lot of bottles... like 4 - 500 bottles. I already have quite a few. I"m trying to build up a nice cellar of homebrew belgians/imperials and barley/wheat wines. But I need bottles, lots of bottles. I keg everything I'm gonna dirnk within a couple months.
 
My name is Lorena, and I'm a dumpster diver. I hit the recycling center and dive into the glass recycler area. I've found a great number of bottles and fermenters (Carlo Rossi jugs) for wine. I have a gazillon beer bottles, so I wish you were closer. I have about 300 beer bottles to give away. But, the wine bottles are what I want now. If you live in an area where there are actually dumpsters behind bars, you might hit the jackpot. Or, you could just ask the bar to save them for you and they might. Especially if you offer to pay them .10/each.

Someone here on HBT drew a diagram of their dumpster diving stick. It was a long pole with a noose-like thing on it. I wish I could remember who that was! It was the perfect dumpster diving accessory.
 
My best score was when our HBT buddy Beerific built a keezer. He gave me 144 bottles a couple weeks later. "Delivered" to my work, too! Usually, I just buy 22'z from the LHBS. If you see anyone on HBT that lives nearby bragging about going draft, shoot them a PM!
 
Donasay said:
You are not crazy, I actually used to do the same thing. We have recycling day in my neighborhood, and I used to go out before the bums and pull out the usable bottles from the recycling bins...
Click to expand...

Same deal for me, minus bums.

Unfortunately you can't buy glass bottles in this country (well you probably can but I can't find them and if I could they would be expensive). So diving for small bottles is the only way to go, and it sucks because you can only use them once before the tops break off when capping or opening the bottle.
 
Yah, maybe you all live in the cleanest places on earth, but I'd rather buy 500 bottles of beer out of the store than risk coming into contact with any of the disgusting beasts that populate NYC. There's a lot of talk about ash tray bottles and that, what about people with STDs, or any other kind of nasty. Snuh huh, I don't care if the bottle was sterilized using alien space trek technology, if it came from a strangers mouth or any other unkown source, no thanks. I'd rather hit the beer store and buy a few cases of their cheapest beer (well, I do that anyway) and pour it out rather than take the risk. Do you need all 500 bottles immediately? If not, start buying cases of beer while you brew. I did that, and I now have 2 5 gal batches bottled, 1 fermenting, and probably 100 empty bottles extra.
 
I bought two cases of philadelphia lager for $20 a case had one and dumped the rest on a old stump in my buddies backyard. that stuff was nasty but i have a nice collection of bottles now with my first batch in them:D
 
Hit the bars. Especially those that serve 22oz bottles.

If you're doing that many, someone posted something about buying a bench capper and using screw off bottles (and only getting 1/100 that didn't seal right). I'm gonna try it with my next cider, so I'll let you know how it works out. My bench capper is from the 20's-30's.
 
feedthebear said:
I'd rather pay extra for brand new bottles than clean a bunch of ash tray bottles. When friends offer me empties for my brewing, I always ask if any of them are ash trays before I accept them.
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Colorado has come up with a solution to butts in bottles. Smoking is no longer allowed in bars. Now if we can get it eliminated from casinos...:D
 
I got my first two cases of empties in a college town during football season on recycling day. Blech.

Since then I buy six of this and six of that to try new stuff/ new styles and I buy new glass as needed to fill in.

If I was on a real tight time or $$ budget I guess I would dumpster dive again, but I would sanitize them all outdoors.
 
DaveGerard said:
...There's a lot of talk about ash tray bottles and that, what about people with STDs, or any other kind of nasty...
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Don't stick your penis in the bottle then?

But seriously, all the bottles I've 'dived' for have been left out in the ****ty cold weather overnight, thoroughly soaked in a strong bleach solution, rinsed very well and then sanitised before use. I would be extremely surprised if there was enough nasty crap left in them to do any harm.

I mean, I use public toilets, surely that's got to be more hazerdous to my health than some thoroughly sanitised bottles...
 
Find your local beer guy. Ours just gave us 9 cases of swing top empties. He's my hero.
Hubby thinks i'm crazy because we have around 14 empty cases already.
I think he's crazy 'cause he wants to fill them all!
 
BierMuncher said:
I see some full ones back there on the left…

GET BUSY ! ! ! :D
Click to expand...


Old pic....loooooong gone:(

With several busy weekends, I am running without back stock right now brew on demand!
 
Crazytwoknobs said:
Hit the bars. Especially those that serve 22oz bottles.

If you're doing that many, someone posted something about buying a bench capper and using screw off bottles (and only getting 1/100 that didn't seal right). I'm gonna try it with my next cider, so I'll let you know how it works out. My bench capper is from the 20's-30's.
Click to expand...

If these are gonna be in my cellar for possibly years, I want to make sure it's a seal that will hold. I'd be too worried with twist off. I've used twist off before, but I drank the beer within a month.
 
johnsmith098 said:
I have about 60 bottles, mostly washed..

I thought I might bottle but now I has no intresat

Will give to any who wants too pick them up for free. (BeWare DALLAS)
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I'm driving through Dallas on Saturday or Sunday, you gonna be around?

EDIT: I'll just send a PM ;)
 
Personally, I don't think I could see myself dumpster diving for bottles ever, and I live on a college campus where bottles are everywhere. A much better option that I would highly recommend is looking for a local beer fest/event. We had an Alefest event in my area a few months ago, and I just went by the tables at the end of the show and asked if I could keep their empties. Normally, the vendor just opens the bottle, pours into an event glass, and puts the bottle back in the box. Very convenient.

I left with 400 bottles! 200 were your regular 12 oz, and the other 200 were cool bottles like hobgoblin, st pete's, and ommegang. It was one hell of a score! All my barleywines now go into the specialty bottles I got with corks.
 
Khirsah17 said:
Personally, I don't think I could see myself dumpster diving for bottles ever, and I live on a college campus where bottles are everywhere. A much better option that I would highly recommend is looking for a local beer fest/event. We had an Alefest event in my area a few months ago, and I just went by the tables at the end of the show and asked if I could keep their empties. Normally, the vendor just opens the bottle, pours into an event glass, and puts the bottle back in the box. Very convenient.

I left with 400 bottles! 200 were your regular 12 oz, and the other 200 were cool bottles like hobgoblin, st pete's, and ommegang. It was one hell of a score! All my barleywines now go into the specialty bottles I got with corks.
Click to expand...

That would rock if we had a beerfest around here.
 
I don't know that I'd sign up for this either. Nothing against those that do.

I managed to accumulate/buy about 500. I've found that the best way to get free bottles is if you have friends that drink decent beer. Tell them that you'll give them some homebrew if they save their bottles for you. That's how I got the majority of mine.

Even now that I'm going to be kegging soon I'll probably still want to bottle certain batches for aging, so they'll still get used.
 
ohiobrewtus said:
I don't know that I'd sign up for this either. Nothing against those that do.

I managed to accumulate/buy about 500. I've found that the best way to get free bottles is if you have friends that drink decent beer. Tell them that you'll give them some homebrew if they save their bottles for you. That's how I got the majority of mine.

Even now that I'm going to be kegging soon I'll probably still want to bottle certain batches for aging, so they'll still get used.
Click to expand...

I don't have any friends in this new city :( so what I drink, I drink alone most of the time. I collected a fair amount before my homebrew cycle got going good here, but I have 4 batches that need to go in bottles and 3 batches that are already in bottles... aging. I have enough bottles for maybe 3/4 of 1 of those batches. I need bottles bad, and I don't want to drop 75 bucks on 150 bottles (from my LHBS).
 
DaveGerard said:
Yah, maybe you all live in the cleanest places on earth, but I'd rather buy 500 bottles of beer out of the store than risk coming into contact with any of the disgusting beasts that populate NYC. There's a lot of talk about ash tray bottles and that, what about people with STDs, or any other kind of nasty. Snuh huh, I don't care if the bottle was sterilized using alien space trek technology, if it came from a strangers mouth or any other unkown source, no thanks. I'd rather hit the beer store and buy a few cases of their cheapest beer (well, I do that anyway) and pour it out rather than take the risk. Do you need all 500 bottles immediately? If not, start buying cases of beer while you brew. I did that, and I now have 2 5 gal batches bottled, 1 fermenting, and probably 100 empty bottles extra.
Click to expand...

Ah, buncha freakin' hypochondriacs around here. Are you serious? You're actually afraid of contracting an STD from a beer bottle? Unless it's got needles sticking out of it (in which case, I'd leave it alone), I can imagine no scenario where you'd get a venerial disease from a beer bottle...umm...maybe if some hooker was using it as a dildo, then you went and drank the contents...but let's be honest: nobody (with the possible exception of Cheese) is ever gonna do that.

I get some nasty bottles, but I've never run across one that wasn't sparkling clean after a few days in an oxyclean bath. And honestly, if you think that there's still something to worry about after oxyclean, bottle-jet and star san, then, well...how do you ever survive the horrors of a public bathroom?

I've never dumpster-dove for bottles, mainly because I have friends that bring me cases. They're sometimes nasty, ash-tray bottles, but I get over it. I've probably got 18 or so cases of 12's alone, plus about 10 or 12 cases of large-format bottles. Granted, most of them are full at the moment, but that just means I need to drink more.
 
Evan! said:
Ah, buncha freakin' hypochondriacs around here. Are you serious? You're actually afraid of contracting an STD from a beer bottle? Unless it's got needles sticking out of it (in which case, I'd leave it alone), I can imagine no scenario where you'd get a venerial disease from a beer bottle...umm...maybe if some hooker was using it as a dildo, then you went and drank the contents...but let's be honest: nobody (with the possible exception of Cheese) is ever gonna do that.

I get some nasty bottles, but I've never run across one that wasn't sparkling clean after a few days in an oxyclean bath. And honestly, if you think that there's still something to worry about after oxyclean, bottle-jet and star san, then, well...how do you ever survive the horrors of a public bathroom?

I've never dumpster-dove for bottles, mainly because I have friends that bring me cases. They're sometimes nasty, ash-tray bottles, but I get over it. I've probably got 18 or so cases of 12's alone, plus about 10 or 12 cases of large-format bottles. Granted, most of them are full at the moment, but that just means I need to drink more.
Click to expand...

Yea, I thought the STD comment was pretty funny. iI'm pretty sure no STD can survive in open air for very long... I like the comment about sticking your penis in it as well, that would be a bad idea.

I have that new brewery cleaner from Austinhomebrew.com (free sample from Forrest :D ) So, I'd probably use some of that, then hot bath/scrub then sanitize before using. No STD could live through that lol
 
Evan! said:
do you have a bottle jet? That'll obliterate the rare caked-on crap that oxyclean or PBW can't get rid of.
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I do not, haven't even heard of it. Sounds expensive with the word jet in it.

EDIT: Your beers should arrive today Evan, :mug:
 
Ó Flannagáin said:
I like the comment about sticking your penis in it as well, that would be a bad idea.
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Anyone who can fit their junk into the opening of a beer bottle has much bigger issues to deal with than how clean their bottles are. :drunk:
 
RichBrewer said:
Colorado has come up with a solution to butts in bottles. Smoking is no longer allowed in bars. Now if we can get it eliminated from casinos...:D
Click to expand...

I thought the legislature passed that bill. Gave them a year to "prepare", so they'll be smoke free middle of 2008. I generally play poker and most of the poker rooms have gone smoke free already.
 
I don't dumpster dive - I've bought about 4-6 cases of new bottles fromthe LHBS and collected another 4-6 cases by drinking. Now I don't even save pop-tops anymore; especially since I'm kegging (10-12 cases is plenty to have around!)...

Ó Flannagáin said:
If these are gonna be in my cellar for possibly years, I want to make sure it's a seal that will hold. I'd be too worried with twist off. I've used twist off before, but I drank the beer within a month.
Click to expand...

But anyway, if you are really planning on keeping these for years, I might suggest dipping the tops in wax and/or corking the bottles. Even a poptop bottle might let oxygen permiate over a period of years - especially if the miniscule little seal on the bottom of the crowns dry out at all, etc. Better to be safe than sorry? :mug:
 
Just swing by our place some time this weekend. Have a nice cold IIPA, some Apfelwein and grab at least 100 free clean bottles with lables removed. I don't want the damn things anymore. I'm only keeping about a case of bottles and I have about 5 cases worth right now.
 
DaveGerard said:
Yah, maybe you all live in the cleanest places on earth, but I'd rather buy 500 bottles of beer out of the store than risk coming into contact with any of the disgusting beasts that populate NYC. There's a lot of talk about ash tray bottles and that, what about people with STDs, or any other kind of nasty. Snuh huh, I don't care if the bottle was sterilized using alien space trek technology, if it came from a strangers mouth or any other unkown source, no thanks. I'd rather hit the beer store and buy a few cases of their cheapest beer (well, I do that anyway) and pour it out rather than take the risk. Do you need all 500 bottles immediately? If not, start buying cases of beer while you brew. I did that, and I now have 2 5 gal batches bottled, 1 fermenting, and probably 100 empty bottles extra.
Click to expand...

Have you never eaten at a restaurant? Do you think the silverware you placed in your mouth was never in s strangers mouth? That water glass you had your lips on also had some strangers lips on it before yours.
 

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