swing top bottles

Two quick questions...

How do you know when to replace the gasket on the swing top bottles.

What other types of beer come in theses bottles besides grolsh?

Thanks in advance!

probably when they look like they are starting to dry out/crack...

Fischer is a French beer. It comes in swing tops, but I also think they export it in a non swing top. I found one the other night in someones recycling box. I have never tasted it.

http://www.epinions.com/content_100858171012

Rodanrodanadana said:

Fischer is a French beer. It comes in swing tops, but I also think they export it in a non swing top. I found one the other night in someones recycling box. I have never tasted it.

http://www.epinions.com/content_100858171012

Click to expand...

True, Fischer is a French beer, but it has a German spelling...it's a pretty tasty brew.

I was in ALA a couple of months ago and saw a brown Fischer bottle at a garage sale and the guy wanted $10.00 for it...it's still sitting there, I'm certain. I told him I should have brought along the 5 I have at home. At that price they're gone... I have a couple of the smaller Fischer flippies too.

Lots of German beers come in flippies, but you have to get them in Germany. I have about 5-6 cases of them...and about 5-6 cases of Grolsch flippies.

I mostly change out the grommets (pronounced "gummies" (GOO-mees) in German) whenever they feel soft when I close the bottle.

I found two beers, Schwelmer Alt and Schwelmer Pils, at the Beverages & More in La Jolla, CA. It comes in very nice 500ml brown flip-top bottles. I liked the Alt, but drank lots of the Pils just for the bottles.
They said they get it from a distributor in L.A., so if you live there, you may be able to get it somewhere.

Dirk

If I remember my history & geography correctly, the area of France where Fischer is brewed has a strong German influence. According to Fischer's website, they utilize German brewing techniques.

I found Fischer in swingtop bottles in our local wine store. Pretty tasty stuff, IMHO.

Yeah, it's the fuzzy border between the two that has transferred back and forth over the centuries.

I love this site! I get to learn about beer, and occasionally about history & geography!

Yes, we do tend to enjoy a well rounded curriculum here.

Salado Creek are some nice flip-tops. I only have one though

What do they usually sell for at the LHBS?

beer4breakfast said:

Salado Creek, I googled it. From San Antonio. I was thinking it would be from Salado. I'd never heard of it before. Is the beer any good?

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I never heard of or drank the stuff either. When I bought some used brewing equipment the guy gave me a few bottls, all were cappers except the one Salado Creek. The picture I posted is from Google. I will take a better pic of the one I have. They are very impressive looking.

Back to the original question, the key thing with swing-top bottles is to make sure that you remove the gasket each time when you sanitize. Gunk can accumulate back there, plus you'll be able to see each gasket closely to tell if it's starting to look crack, or feel brittle, or just look too far deformed to be able to trust sealing properly. Keep a bag of new ones around so you don't feel you need to keep re-using ones that you shouldn't. No sense losing a good beer over a worn-out gasket!

I thought there were two questions?

I remove my gaskets when I rinse out the bottle. I have a couple hundred on the sidelines waiting while I collect the others in a jar until the jars about full. After that I'll boil them to sanitize, place them on a towel to air dry then place them back inthe bags.

I check them for wear as I remove them.

As promised, here is a better pic of what one looks like. I have all my friends keeping their eyes open for them.

Sometimes, brewpubs will carry growlers that you can purchase at the pub and fill up with their brew. A local one here does that...which means they have cases of new 1-liter fliptop growlers in their storeroom. Which means that, should I need extra bottles, I just drop by there and pick them up for $5/ea. Well worth it, considering the use you get out of one of them. One time, I was short on bottles but planned on bottling...so I just ran down there and picked up 5 growlers. And they've been in my regular rotation ever since.

There's also a weird Italian brew whose name escapes me that comes in a beautiful 750ml+ flippy growler. The beer is...good, but odd. They use rose petals and other wacky stuff...but the bottle is an added bonus for those who need it.

Old marley comes in blue swing tops.
There is a meadery that uses large blue swing tops, but if you don't like mead it's an expensive option ($18+ a bottle)

Just managed to get two 1500ml grolsch bottles. The beer is nasty, but the bottles make up for it. $15 a bottle. Will be good as presents me thinx. Give a good mate a six pack of this and they will be happy!