...where do you get bottles?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jvp1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
97
Reaction score
1
Location
New Westminster
Hi guys,

This is something I've been wondering for a bit. Where do you get empty bottles? Is there a trick or a place you can go or what? My local homebrew store doesn't carry any, I typically don't drink out of bottles, and I can't think of a place to pick them up? Should I just hang outside a bottle return place and buy them off people or what?
 
That's one of the options. You could also go to a local bar/pub/restaurant and buy (here in NY, just pay the recycling deposit) them. You could also buy bottles with beer already in them and re-use them. See if your friends have some as well.
 
get friends and family to save beer bottles for you. Start buying some 12 packs and saving the bottles. Have some parties that are BYOB. Craigslist, etc.
 
I got lucky. My friend is a driver for fedex and delivers to a brewery about every day. They sold me 8 cases for 20 cents a bottle and offered to give me all the yeast I want for free.

Sadly 8 cases is not enough
 
I live near a local pub. The hippie types that work there gladly give them to me for free. Just have to beat the recycling truck.
 
I bought a few cases from the lhbw but most came from the Liquor store. Ya see, sometimes bottle manufacturers accidently ship bottles to liquor stores with beer in them. Seriously, I could not function if I did not have case boxes, 6 pack racks and bottles. Case boxes are slightly different, and 6 pack racks are slightly different. They need to fit. I also have a several loose 6 pack racks folded flat hat I use when I'm giving out samples to friends. I'm not parting with my 6 pack racks. I get kinda possessive.
 
I used to save the bottles from what I drank, got quite a few from bars & restaurants too. Then I discovered the fliptop bottle & I've been using those almost exclusively ever since.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/case-of-12-32-oz-ez-cap-beer-bottles-amber.html

They make bottling so easy, I can bottle twice as much in less than half the time it would take with crown caps; I love 'em.
Regards, GF.
 
all of our bottles are just from craft 6 packs we've bought, if you cant get 40-50 bottles in a few weeks this probably isn't your hobby ;)
 
Didn't think of Craigslist, for some reason, but I've got a lead on 100 bottles for free. Here we go!

I advertised on Craiglist that I was looking for Grolsch or swingtop bottles and picked up 125, 16 ouncers in great shape for $40. I also like Sam Adams beer (brewers choice) and just save those I've got plenty of bottles this way.
 
Great topic as I'm currently wondering the same thing...But if I were to say just buy a 12 pack of bud light bottles... would they work for a crimp on not twist off cap? If not what bottles would you guys suggest for someone who would rather pay 1 dollar per bottle with beer in it rather than a dollar a beer at my local retailer for an empty?
 
Great topic as I'm currently wondering the same thing...But if I were to say just buy a 12 pack of bud light bottles... would they work for a crimp on not twist off cap? If not what bottles would you guys suggest for someone who would rather pay 1 dollar per bottle with beer in it rather than a dollar a beer at my local retailer for an empty?

I've seen where some people have used twist off bottles and recapped. I would not suggest this. Try some Samuel Adams called Brewer's Choice comes in a 12 pack of amber bottles you can recap and it has 2 bottles of 6 different types of beer so you may find one or two you like and then make a clone. They just had these on sale at my local grocery for $11.99 for a 12 pack so I bought 2. I like the alpine spring, boston lager and the irish red, also there is an oak beer in there that's very good.
 
I got my bottles at a local beer tasting. Just asked the guy what they do with the bottles after the tasting and he said they throw them out. Got as many cases as I wanted. Even got several cases of bombers at one tasting.
 
I haven't bought an empty bottle yet. I drink lots of craft beers and after I pour them in a glass I rinse well and store. I pick up a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bomber about once a week to cut any bottling time down, although I have 3 kegs now too.
 
A local restaurant gives me bottles as I need them. If you've been going to a specific restaurant for years no harm in asking.
 
Go to the nearest recycling center an dig them out of the dumpster. When I needed bottles I took a long handled fish net to get the bottles that I couldn't reach.

Soak them in Oxyclean to get any gunk out and the labels off.
 
I have friend's and family save them for me.

Also, my parent's own a bar so i get a few from them. They mostly serve the big three so i don't get as many as you would think.
 
My LHBS sells them, but I also find just saving the empties of bottles I drink throughout the week/month is a good way to get some. Just make sure you clean and sanitize thoroughly.

I see someone suggested craigslist, which I can see working. Also, you can ask around at work or ask friends to put them aside. Nothing like picking through friends recycle bins! I have the girlfriend and her roommates put them in a brown paper bag and not recycle them.

Mark
 
I knew I had the bug the other day when I was shopping the beer aisle at the grocery store, checking off beers that I knew had hard to remove labels (Mendocino Brewing Company), while having a renewed love for breweries that use easy to remove labels (North Coast).

The key for me is keeping all my own bottles and the bottles from my in-laws, who go through a 12-pack per week. It's all different sizes, but I don't really give a crap. It's all the same on the inside.
 
I knew I had the bug the other day when I was shopping the beer aisle at the grocery store, checking off beers that I knew had hard to remove labels (Mendocino Brewing Company), while having a renewed love for breweries that use easy to remove labels (North Coast).

The key for me is keeping all my own bottles and the bottles from my in-laws, who go through a 12-pack per week. It's all different sizes, but I don't really give a crap. It's all the same on the inside.

Exactly, re: bottle size. I like to mix it up with bottle size and shapes. :)
 
Exactly, re: bottle size. I like to mix it up with bottle size and shapes. :)

I love using different size bottles, I always have some randomly shaped 12 oz and 22 oz bottles floating around. Only problem is couple brews ago we brewed a golden belgian strong ale, well I thought Belgian, I want some 22's of this. After I bottled them, I realized that drinking a 10.2 % ABV 22 oz is going to mean that's about all she wrote for most people. Good thing or bad thing I'm not sure ha.
 
dbhokie said:
I love using different size bottles, I always have some randomly shaped 12 oz and 22 oz bottles floating around. Only problem is couple brews ago we brewed a golden belgian strong ale, well I thought Belgian, I want some 22's of this. After I bottled them, I realized that drinking a 10.2 % ABV 22 oz is going to mean that's about all she wrote for most people. Good thing or bad thing I'm not sure ha.

Nothing like feeling tipsy after one bottle.
 
Yeppers! One big bottle of Chimay dubbel & 6-12 shots of vodka will git-r-done. And don't bother with twist offs,as it's a crap shoot whether they'll seal or not,(def need bench capper here) & the glass is thinner. Sam adams bottles are the easiest to get,& are quick to de-label. Dito with German beer bottles. I too love getting bottles with different shapes in the shoulder area.
ALSO,Paulaner stopped making the bottles with the bearded monks embossed around the shoulder. Bummer man,those were my faves. It's also fun noticing the actual color of amber/green,amber brown,dark brown,etc of the bottles when compared with each other. I never payed attention to how many variations of brown,amber,& green there are. I noticed the Franziskaner bottles are amber/green. Paulaner is brown with a touch of amber....or at least they were. No embossed bottles on the last 6'r of Salvator doppel bock,& it tasted a heck of a lot more like my EB!...wtf?? Too bad the Cooper's sparkling ale bottles are twisties,unusual shape that costs more to get enough of.
 
My brewing buddy has a keg system and rarely needs bottles. Between the two of us, we have a solid stream of bottles.
 
I remember the first time I was getting ready to brew, I was a little short of bottles so I went to the store, bought a 12 pack of Sam Adams & told my g/f I would brew on Saturday if I drank 3 beers a day.:)

Been brewing about a year, have 1 keg but still bottle & have enough that I am now helping my new brewing buddies when they need some extra's. And usually get 'em back with something in them!!!
 
Many nice apartments offer their residents a recycling point for plastics and glass.

Residents tend to throw away some pretty nice bottles of various sizes.

Just make sure you clean them.
 
Another good bottle to reuse is anything by New Belgium Brewing. Fat Tire, etc... The labels come off very easily, and they recap very nicely.
 
Not sure if its been said before, I get mine from the beer distributer. 5¢ each.
 
I haven't bought an empty bottle yet. I drink lots of craft beers and after I pour them in a glass I rinse well and store. I pick up a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bomber about once a week to cut any bottling time down, although I have 3 kegs now too.

+1 on this. Bombers are clutch.

I've started to buy beer based on how easy the label is to get off. Sierra uses a crap ton of glue on their labels! As I build my pipeline I'm hoping to be buying less and less craft brew..
 
Back
Top