found a place for FREE bottles!

i just ordered my brewing kit, i haven't even brewed a single batch, but i was excited, and thought i'd go out and see if i could find somewhere to buy some bottles for bottling my first batch. i found out the liquor store TWO BLOCKS from my house is owned by a HB supporter, and he sells a bit of equipment, and ingredients, and promised me pretty much all the FREE bottles i would ever need! thought that was pretty cool, and the best news is, one of the employees there, that will be donating to this, actually takes the labels off of every beer he drinks, and saves the labels, so i don't even have to go thru the trouble of doing that. woo hoo!

lucky bugger!

Yeah, seriously. Do you have any clue how much I swear at those Saranac bastards when I clean bottles? No idea why, but Saranac labels are friggin' impossible to get off.

I just got 12 cases from the local bar for nothing. I tryed to get them to take the labels off for me, but that didn't fly.

P.S. Beck leabel are the easiest to get off. Warsteiner sucks

Mutine Bullfrog said:

I just got 12 cases from the local bar for nothing. I tryed to get them to take the labels off for me, but that didn't fly.

P.S. Beck leabel are the easiest to get off. Warsteiner sucks

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Beck's is easy and so is Harp.

Nice score! Make sure to keep the owner in mind when passing brews along to your buddies, so that he keeps helping you out.

the_bird said:

Nice score! Make sure to keep the owner in mind when passing brews along to your buddies, so that he keeps helping you out.

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oh yeah, definatley. heck of a nice guy.

DeadYetiBrew said:

Beck's is easy and so is Harp.

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The easiest thus far for me have been: Weihenstephaner, Franziskaner, Hoegaarden, Rogue, Schells, Magic Hat, Spaten (green bottles though), Troegs (if left sit long enough).

The worst..in order of decreasing difficulty: Penn, Amstel (somebody saved these things for me and I have no clue how to get the labels off), Stoudt's, Bell's, Brooklyn.

I am seriously tempted to buy some Genesse returnables. I have no clue how the beer tastes, but a fellow homebrewer who moved to kegs just gave me 2 cases of clean returnables. Those things are thick glass! I am betting they'll take Belgian style carbonation. Plus they are 16 oz, and come with the best boxes. I am seriously tempted just to go to those they are so nice.

Whelk said:

Yeah, seriously. Do you have any clue how much I swear at those Saranac bastards when I clean bottles? No idea why, but Saranac labels are friggin' impossible to get off.

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Two words: steel wool.

ayrton said:

Two words: steel wool.

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Or a green scrubbie thing.

Harp, Guiness, and Samuel Smith are the easiest bottles. I soak them in a bucket for five hours and the labels are usually floating in the water when I go back to them. Only problem with Sam Smith is the foil, but you can either leave it or use the green scrubbie and it comes right off.

St Peter's labels are the worst. Rogue ain't easy, they require scrubbing. I don't think the Warsteiner bottles are that bad if you can soak them for a long time.

Just an update...

whoever suggest Oxyclean rules the day!!!!

The playing field is pretty much leveled with Oxyclean. It is true! I tried a scoop to about 3 to 4 gallons of hot tap water and let them soak and it just penetrates so nicely. I say 15 to 20 minutes tops soak for all types. ALL EXCEPT AMSTEL LIGHT....if anyone ever offers you these...KINDLY DECLINE. I kid you not, I got them off by putting them in boiling water, peeling off the hot labels (which were still bears to get off) and the soaking the glue in Oxyclean, which barely got it to the point where a razor blade was useable! Never again.

zoebisch01 said:

Just an update...

whoever suggest Oxyclean rules the day!!!!

The playing field is pretty much leveled with Oxyclean. It is true! I tried a scoop to about 3 to 4 gallons of hot tap water and let them soak and it just penetrates so nicely. I say 15 to 20 minutes tops soak for all types. ALL EXCEPT AMSTEL LIGHT....if anyone ever offers you these...KINDLY DECLINE. I kid you not, I got them off by putting them in boiling water, peeling off the hot labels (which were still bears to get off) and the soaking the glue in Oxyclean, which barely got it to the point where a razor blade was useable! Never again.

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Just remember when you delabel a bottle that's the ONLY time you have to for that bottle...

Oxyclean is great.... I think it was Yooper that suggested it... It was amazing i left about 2 dozen bottles to soak overnight and in the morning all the labels were floating and there was no glue anywhere on them... I had a problem with Sam Adams Light bottles but not the others...

zoebisch01 said:

The worst..in order of decreasing difficulty: Penn, Amstel (somebody saved these things for me and I have no clue how to get the labels off), Stoudt's, Bell's, Brooklyn.

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Brookyn are a ***** to get off...


Smithwick's are pretty simple to take off too.... and the beer's pretty good...

Brian,

Where did you get these free bottles? I recently moved and didn't bring my bottle stash with me. If any body knows a good place to get free bottle in NJ, I will be their best friend. Thanks,

Levi

If you just go to any redemption center (grocery store, liquor/beer store), they'll usually let you pay the 5 cent deposit to them per bottle and you can take as many as you want. $1.20 a case isn't free, but it's close.

Levi said:

Brian,

Where did you get these free bottles? I recently moved and didn't bring my bottle stash with me. If any body knows a good place to get free bottle in NJ, I will be their best friend. Thanks,

Levi

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well, i'm in indianapolis, and i got them from a local liquor store on the south side.