Water bottles work for bottle conditioning

I just used about 37 0.5 L bottles to bottle my scottish 80 schilling with 4 oz corn sugar. The bottom begins to bulge, but it still seems very sturdy. I am telling you all this because there is a misconception that these bottles are unable to hold pressure. I had asked numerous times and most people said any amount of pressure will make these bottles explode.

So if you are looking for some cheap bottles go pick up a 32 pack of Nestle Pure life or any other brand of water for $5.

This is the kind I am talking about.





Also by the way, if anyone does decide to use some water bottles, I would recommend throwing them out after one use simply because if the bottom is bulged out it just doesnt seem like a good idea to recarbonate in them.


Patton

How many volumes was that?

there is a misconception that these bottles are unable to hold pressure

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I guess it depends on your definition of "able".

I had asked numerous times and most people said any amount of pressure will make these bottles explode.

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I looked in the two threads you started on this topic and nobody said that.

How permeable to gas movement are they. I imagine after a few weeks, all the co2 would eventually find it's way out of the bottle.

And I don't know why you would risk a $30 batch of beer on these bottles.

I just bottled my first batch using a mixture of 0.5l German Weissbier bottles and 1 litre PET bottles. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing beer in plastic bottles with a screw top so will move to all glass as soon as I can drink enough Paulaner to have enough bottles. I think the de-labeled Weissbier bottles just look so cool.


Edit: Although having 1 clear PET bottle is nice as you can feel the beer carbonating, check the clarity and see the sediment settling at the bottom,

I think I would be less worried about the pressure, and more concerned with the fact that they are clear bottles. But that's just me. I guess this is a good tip to file under the "Frugal Brewer" category?

I used plastic bottles once when I was making beer (a la Mr. Beer) in college. BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD idea. Gave the beer a horrible off-flavor and killed any kind of head you might have had. I made that batch with 1/2 glass (we were dirt poor) and 1/2 plastic and the difference between the two were night and day. Just don't do it.

I've used PET bottles that came with my Coopers since September. I am not going to use them anymore because some bottles from my last batch did not have that much carbonation. I've used them for around 10 batches so I think thats enough. I also used seltzer bottles and they are still ok. Water bottles on the other hand I dont think will work that well since they are not supposed to hold pressure.

This is not really meant to be a cheap hobby. im usually all about pinching a penny or two if possible but its not really worth it to risk a whole batch on cheap plastic bottles. might as well spend the money on bottles that can be re-used over and over.

plus i can see the plastic giving an off flavor like what SmugMug said.

I'm a little disorganized with my bottle keeping and when it comes time to bottle I always have a combination of plastic & glass. The plastic bottles I use include both the 0.5L PET bottles that homebrew shops sell, as well as the 591mL coke-style bottles (I prefer ones that come with club soda, but if I have to use ones that came with coke in them, I'll soak them overnight in oxyclean which seems to destroy all coke flavour leftovers).

Anyways I digress. Basically I've never noticed a difference between glass and plastic. However...I usually drink my beer faster than oxygen could theoretically permeate the plastic! That being said if I can exercise enough control to set a few bottles away for a year I'll make sure they're glass.

I only wish I had more friends that would drink Grolsch. I personally don't care for it, but I will occasionally buy some just for the bottles. They might be green glass but I store my bottles in cardboard boxes in a dark closet or bathroom so it doesn't matter much.

SmugMug said:

I only wish I had more friends that would drink Grolsch.

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I wish I had friends that drank Mönchshof (500ml BROWN swingtop):

and DFH Fort (750ml BROWN, takes 26mm crowns):

944play said:

I wish I had friends that drank Mönchshof (500ml BROWN swingtop):

and DFH Fort (750ml BROWN, takes 26mm crowns):

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Well I live in the friggin buckle of the bible belt and we can't get beer down here over 6%abv, so unfortunately I can't even begin to get my hands on those bottles.

Cross your fingers that we can get the gourmet beer bill passed in the Senate. We passed the House last year but got filibustered and it looks like it may happen again this year. Damn rich fundie rednecks!

taylornate said:

I guess it depends on your definition of "able".



I looked in the two threads you started on this topic and nobody said that.

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I disagree

quotes:

"I don't think they are rated for pressure, so I wouldn't try it..."


"Water bottles won't work for bottling. They just weren't made to hold pressure."

"No, neither the quality of the thin plastic bottles nor the caps will be conducive to holding pressure."

"The critical part is the bottom, it will pop out and make your beer jump off the shelf if it is not the soda style 5 pointed thing (I speak from experience, that was quite the shock at 5am)."



So the consensus is that they won't work and I am just trying to help anyone out there that has a short supply of bottles, and/or wants to keep it mega frugal.

Also plastic bottles work fine whether they are the brown PET ones or the soda bottles. I cant see how you would expect off flavors to come from plastic when people use the same type of bottles to ferment(Better Bottles).

I'm not trying to start an argument I am just always looking for new ideas to make everything, but the ingredients cheaper ( I don't skimp on ingredients, just everything else).

Patton

EDIT:

masher2882 said:

This is not really meant to be a cheap hobby. im usually all about pinching a penny or two if possible but its not really worth it to risk a whole batch on cheap plastic bottles. might as well spend the money on bottles that can be re-used over and over.

plus i can see the plastic giving an off flavor like what SmugMug said.

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That's my point, it's not a risk because I have tried it and it works. No off flavors have come from the bottles because they are the same type of bottles as the Better Bottles and as you know plenty of people use those.