Flying with Homebrew?

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ophillium

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Anyone have experience flying with homebrew in a grolsch bottle?

I had a (thinner) 1L bottle blow its bottom out in my gf's closet a few weeks ago (it's ok - she's my brew partner, so no cajones were injured in the process), which makes me wonder if a Grolsch bottle can withstand the pressure at that altitude.

I plan to duct-tape the top, wrap the bottle in thin cardboard, and then triple-wrap the whole thing in plastic bags. If it's gonna blow out anyway though, that wouldn't be worth trying...

Thoughts / experiences?
 
No experience with Grolsch bottles, but I've had a 100% success rate muling Homebrew and commercial beers. I wrap them in a couple,paper towels and then vacuum pack them. My theory is that if it breaks, the paper towel prevents tearing the bag and the vacuum packing enables volume to expand and still contains it. But I've never had one break, so I have no idea if it plays out in reality.
 
What seems most likely to me is that the liquid would sneak passed the rubber seal..
 
I travel with Homebrew in checked baggage in 1L or 2L soda bottles, pros are ability to squeeze before capping to make it 100% no oxygen and no fear of breakage and designed for pressure. This is fresh beer pulled off tap of keezer, not bottle primed or anything. This is for consumption within a few days of arrival, not long term storage.
 
No data to back this up, but I thought I read somewhere that swing top bottles like Grolsch could actually hold more pressure than the standard 12 oz longneck (although nowhere near what a Belgian or Champagne bottle could hold). My brother in law brought back a whole bunch of swingtops from Germany when he came back from deployment, and they all survived the trip just fine.
 
I regularly check 13 22-ounce bottles (each wrapped carefully in a bunch of bubble wrap) from Columbus to SFO. That's 49 lbs in my big suitcase...over a few years of doing this, I'm batting about 98% or so. One failure was I think a weak bottle...another, TSA opened my bag and repacked it haphazardly. You should have no problems.
 
This gentleman agrees with youse that it shouldn't be a problem, although he doesn't discuss Grolsch bottles specifically. I'll just have to try and let you know :)
 
I have a couple of Stainless Growlers that I took on a flight. Unfortunately TSA checked them and did not fasten back one of LIDs very tight so my clothes got soaked. One was empty and the other full when I got to my destination.
 
I don't know where you are to determine your elevation but...

Most airliners cabin altitude is ~6-8k feet at cruise (including baggage stored in the belly, and its also heated the same as the cabin). So if you bottled in say Denver and flew to LAX, you're only talking 4psi delta P in flight and ~12psi when you land at sea level. Put simpler, a plastic water bottle that is never opened in flight is fine when you land, if you open it in flight then seal it, it sucks down during the descent.

As others have stated, the TSA is the greater threat.
 
Confirmed - Grolsch bottles wrapped in thin cardboard and then double-bagged (each independently from the other) made it with nary a drop spilled, so far's I can tell. Real test comes tomorrow when I gift to my brother straight from the fridge, but I don't anticipate any surprises.

Case closed.
 
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