Swing tops.

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spriggan486

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so I went over to my brother's apartment today to help him replace the water pump on his truck, while over there He asked me if i wanted a beer... of course i said yes.... It was Grolsch Lager. I immediately noticed that the beer came in swing top bottles, so i asked if i could have his empty ones. he said yes.

so now I will have a steady supply of slightly used 16 oz swing top bottles.... for free.

just thought I would share.
 
That's great! I have about 150 Grolsch bottles, and I love them. The only things to be aware of- keep them out of the light, as beer can quickly skunk in green bottles in the light. Also, check out the gaskets and replace any that are worn. You can reuse them many times, just replace if torn/worn/bad looking.

Nice find!
 
I'm only on my second batch of homebrew but I have about 100 or so Grolsch bottles I bought locally.
I've had about 15 of my homebrews so far and they've all sealed perfectly. So far so good although I will eventually also use regular bottles for a slightly smaller portion.
 
I can't imagine they don't have Grolsch in SoCal. Up in the Bay Area it's very common. Just look for a green bottle, I think it's about 16-20 oz size with the old style white swing top cap. They're usually sold as individual bottles and, assuming they're not skunked and you like that style of beer, they're not too bad to drink either. I've been thinking about buying a few just for bottling in the future.
 
I was house sitting my parents house around Thanksgiving. Bought a 4 pack of Grolsch and left the bottles in their house. They return my PET bottles after they finished my beer but threw away 4 Grolsch :( I only bought them for the bottles, Grolsch is a decent beer but as mentioned before its pricey.
 
I love the Grolsch bottles for bottling. I have 8 cases of them and guard them closely. I have a standing rule that if I give out any beers and any come up missing, no more beer for that person. It works as I always get them back, and always washed out.
 
I've heard rumor that in California these were getting harder to find due to the ceramic in the swingtop (recycling and all). Are the ones you found in the Bay Area with ceramic or did they convert them to plastic?
 
My BIL used to work at Mader's in Milwaukee, and he also used to brew. He snagged a few cases' worth of bottles while he worked there, and when he quit brewing, he gave them to me.
 
I scored 2 dozen free ezcaps today. All my bottles have been scored for free now. 200 plastic 500ml, 50 1 litre, and 24 ezcaps.
 
Besides Grolsch, there are a number of other commercial beers that still use swing tops. Most are German, so check out a bottle store with the best selection locally, and possibly ask them to order certain brands from their distributor.

I prefer 500ml brown/amber swing-tops, but I have come to own quite a few of the Grolsch.

For alternatives, try looking for some of the following:
Monschoff, Hacker-Pschorr, or a variety of others (German) -- 500ml amber
Fischer (from the Alsace Region of France) -- they have 22 oz in amber or green
 
I've heard rumor that in California these were getting harder to find due to the ceramic in the swingtop (recycling and all). Are the ones you found in the Bay Area with ceramic or did they convert them to plastic?

I believe they are plastic. I think they're only ceramic still in my dreams.

For alternatives, try looking for some of the following:
Monschoff, Hacker-Pschorr, or a variety of others (German) -- 500ml amber
Fischer (from the Alsace Region of France) -- they have 22 oz in amber or green

I was going to mention Fischer, available in brown glass and a big 22 oz size. I think I might have to go pick up a few bottles RIGHT NOW! :drunk:
 
I just spent the $ and got twelve 32 oz capper bottles from AHS.

Works great for a 5 gallon batch - 12 quarts, plus ~a dozen 12 oz bottles.

If I could actually drink Grolsch, I'd buy 'em and save 'em though.

Good score!
 
Anyone living near Philadelphia, see here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/kapsreiter-landbier-bottles-95687/

Nice 16.9oz bottles w/ceramic swing tops $20 for a case of 20 of 'em (Filled with beer, even!)

They're at the drive-thru beer distributor on Ridge Ave in Manayunk.

Great deal at $1 per, IMHO.

That's one of the brands I've found with the 500ml swingtops. But I've never seen it that cheap. Sweet Jeebus. I'd buy a couple cases at that price.
 
I just spent the $ and got twelve 32 oz capper bottles from AHS.

Works great for a 5 gallon batch - 12 quarts, plus ~a dozen 12 oz bottles.

If I could actually drink Grolsch, I'd buy 'em and save 'em though.

Good score!

I bought 60. lol

It cost an arm an a leg, but oh well. Great stuff.
 
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