A few bottling ideas | your thoughts?

Ok, so I have ordered tons of goodies to start brewing beer. I have some already going in my Mr. Beer kit.

I refuse to buy empty brown glass bottles for more than $1 each when I can go to the local walmart, get a 24 pack of Sam Adams for LESS than $1 each, and they come with BEER in them...

I was also thinking about root beer plastic bottles.

I plan on mixing my priming sugar with the beer in a bottling bucket, and then filling the bottles from there.

What if I bought a huge pack of these root beer bottles and used them? Would it work? How much room should I leave for carbing?

Collect your glass empties. Get your friends to do the same. No matter the plastic, it's oxygen permeable at some level and will oxidize over time.

People have used PET bottles before. I think they come with the Mr.Beer kit, don't they? So, theoretically they will work. Just make sure you wash and sanitize them well. As far as head space, and inch or so would work. I've never used plastic bottles before so I'm not sure about how cleaning and re-using them works. I would make the change to brown glass bottles ASAP.

Ok, I will go to brown glass asap.

I just grabbed a few out of my own recycle bin! haha

Went to see my parents tonight for dinner and a movie, and my dad had like 50 pop-top empties but they are green...

As long as I keep them in a dark place, they're ok right? When people say light skunks beer, do they mean sunlight or ANY light?

When I condition them in the bottles, they will be in a very dark closet that no one ever goes in, so for those 3 weeks, I'd think the bottle color doesn't matter.

After that, the 1 week in the refrigerator. I could put them in a cardboard box, and seal it, and put it in the fridge that way so no light gets in...

Or is it all together a bad idea to use green?

(By the way, Yes, MRB came with brown plastic PET bottles)

If you have that many green ones, use them (as long as they are not twist-offs) while you build your brown stash.
As for the light, it's sunlight and fluorescent light that does the damage. You'll be fine with them in the closet, just fund some high side sixer packs or a commercial 12pk box to keep them in in the fridge.

Cool thanks man!

I'm building the collection of brown bottles

What about dark blue, like the Bud Platinum color but its a swing top?

(Also, some of these have been sitting in a garage for a while, so they're dirty, and some have cobwebs) What's the best way to clean em? Dish washer? Soak em in bleach water?

The PET bottles work fine. They're not ideal for very long term aging, like 6-12+ months, but they'll work fine otherwise. I'd avoid any that held rootbeer, Dr Pepper, or Mr Pibb though. Those have strong flavors that permeate the plastic, especially the underside of the lid, and it can impart those odors/flavors into your beer.

As mentioned, brown glass is your best option, so keep working on building up a collection. Before long you'll have more than you know what to do with.

Blue glass lets in more UV than green, nearly as much as clear glass. As long as you can keep them in the dark they'll work though. Unfortunately it only takes a minute of UV exposure to skunk the beer.

An overnight soak in a hot oxiclean solution usually works well for cleaning the nasties out of the bottles, and works great for removing the labels too. Just make sure you rinse very well several times before sanitizing and using.

Wow, only a minute?!?! That is insane.

What about when it's in the carboys? They're 100% clear. I have it in a closet with a regular 60w bulb for when I go in there to check on it.

I also used a flashlight the other day (LED) to check on it... Is that doing damage to my beer?

S2005 said:

Wow, only a minute?!?! That is insane.

What about when it's in the carboys? They're 100% clear. I have it in a closet with a regular 60w bulb for when I go in there to check on it.

I also used a flashlight the other day (LED) to check on it... Is that doing damage to my beer?

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Incandescent bulbs only put out very small amounts of UV light, and I don't think LED bulbs put out any, so you should be fine. The main ones to avoid are sunlight and fluorescent light.

Cool. I don't think I have any fluorescent light in my house... Though I'm not sure how to tell...

Thanks again for all the advice man!

Another thing you can do is call bars and restaurants in your area to see if they recycle bottles. We keep ours in bins in back and might have a few hundred before they get picked up for recycling

Remember as you are collecting bottles - you want the ones that require a bottle opener to open. NOT the twist off caps. Those you won't be able to re-cap.

devianttouch said:

Remember as you are collecting bottles - you want the ones that require a bottle opener to open. NOT the twist off caps. Those you won't be able to re-cap.

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You can re cap twist offs with most bench cappers.

I'm slowly drinking my way through a bunch of specialty beers I bought in brown bottles with pop tops

I've got about 25 now

I have like 50 green bottles : \

I f you bottle with the green, use them first. Keep em out of the light and drink them first. problem reduced.

Indeed, taht's my plan


Is it true you can recap twist offs? Not sure what kind of recapper i have

S2005 said:

Indeed, taht's my plan

Is it true you can recap twist offs? Not sure what kind of recapper i have

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I use some green bottles as well, doesn't stop me from drinking them.

Hand held cappers won't work on twisties but a bench capper will...but you have a greater chance of a dud. I've been quite successful...until you try to twist off a pop top when you are half cut.

Inner10 said:

You can re cap twist offs with most bench cappers.

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I stand corrected.

I don't think I have a bench capper.

I think mine is hand held, though on the picture on the front it does show a twist off bottle, and a bunch of pop tops...

*Clickable Thumbnail*

S2005 said:

I don't think I have a bench capper.

I think mine is hand held, though on the picture on the front it does show a twist off bottle, and a bunch of pop tops...

*Clickable Thumbnail*
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/20130104033737.jpg/

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That's not a bench capper. I have one the same as yours, I use twist cap bottles though, I haven't had a problem!

S2005 said:

I don't think I have a bench capper.

I think mine is hand held, though on the picture on the front it does show a twist off bottle, and a bunch of pop tops...

*Clickable Thumbnail*
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/20130104033737.jpg/

Click to expand...

They have a nasty habit of breaking the tops of some twist bottles. Cap at your own risk

S2005 said:

Cool thanks man!

I'm building the collection of brown bottles

What about dark blue, like the Bud Platinum color but its a swing top?

(Also, some of these have been sitting in a garage for a while, so they're dirty, and some have cobwebs) What's the best way to clean em? Dish washer? Soak em in bleach water?

Click to expand...

Hey man I bottle in brown &green glass bottles, and also clear and brown plastic bottles, & kegs. I have never had a problem. Have aged beer between 3 & 12 months. Beer always great. I clean bottles with a bottle brush first time and rinse out with water / bleach mix. If bottles have mould etc i fill with water and soak for 3 - 5 days first.
Happy brewing.