Clear glass bottles - how bad are they?

Hi there - I'm fixing to start my first batch of homebrew next month, and I have a question about bottling.

I plan on bottling half of my first batch in regular, reusable brown glass bottles.

I work at Ikea, however, and we have these great flip-top Grolsch-style bottles for $2 a piece, that hold 34 oz. each. In between a bomber and a growler, I guess. I was hoping to put the other half of my batch in 10 or so of these big bottles, which would be easy to give as gifts or perfect for storage.

The downside is that these bottles are made of clear glass, however. If I store them in boxes or otherwise cover them after bottling, what are my chances of avoiding lightstruck beer?

Thanks for any help you can provide - I'm sure this will be the first of many questions I have for the forum!

Ikea rocks dude... well, Id say if you prtect them from light, and the people that you give them to do as well (as if homebrew lasts very long anyway) then there shouldnt be a huge problem. But, brown bottles are pretty darn cheap for the extra insurance they provide. Brew away!

Just keep em in the dark and you'll be fine. The green bottles that Grolsch, Becks, & Heini uses create their trademark skunkyness from a chemical reaction hops have with light.

If it was me I would not do it even though they sound like a great deal. When I first bottled I put a few in Corona bottles so that I could see the color of the brew. They tasted different (not good) and all were in the same box. I know that sounds unlikely but I threw them out after that. Start drinking 22 oz. beers and build up a stock of those.

You could go with 1 liter plop top bottles from Austin Home Brew. They are brown and 12 bottles go for $39 and cover over half your batch. You'll only need 20 bottles for a whole batch of beer and no caps or capper. I have them for Apple Wine and they are great.

Nova,

I use 1 liter clear bottles (Lorina Soda bottles) and haven't had any noticeable difference in a batch. I saw the bottles you're talking about at IKEA the other day and I was going to pick up a bunch. The problem I saw was that they have a very distinct seam where the two halves were put together. It didn't look very strong and may not hold up to carbonation pressures. I say try a couple of them and see how it works out, but I wouldn't necessarily trust your whole first batch to them.

If they work well, let me know. I would love to get some.

I use the Lorina lemonade bottles and corona bottles almost exclusively (I only use amber bottles now for comps and ****s and giggles) and they work great. I hate not being able to see the beer.

Just keep em out of the light and youll be allright (this includes long exposure to artificiall light as well)

gruntingfrog said:

Nova,

I use 1 liter clear bottles (Lorina Soda bottles) and haven't had any noticeable difference in a batch. I saw the bottles you're talking about at IKEA the other day and I was going to pick up a bunch. The problem I saw was that they have a very distinct seam where the two halves were put together. It didn't look very strong and may not hold up to carbonation pressures. I say try a couple of them and see how it works out, but I wouldn't necessarily trust your whole first batch to them.

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Yeah, I noticed that, too...

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I like the bottles from Austin Home Brew. I guess I'll try a little of everything, and I'll let you guys know how it all turns out.

I think the biggest problem in using clear bottles for gifting is you have no control over how they are treated.

Absolutely, David.

I use normal 12 oz, amber bottles for giving to friends and keep the 1 liters for myself. That's also because you can't always trust someone not to pitch the bottle in the trash.

I use Coronas, but they mostly stay in a cardboard box in my basement stairway (The Stairway To Beerven) until they're ready to toss in the fridge. I like the clear bottle because I can better judge how carbonated the bottles are by the amount of yeast on the bottom.

Cheesefood said:

I use Coronas, but they mostly stay in a cardboard box in my basement stairway (The Stairway To Beerven) until they're ready to toss in the fridge. I like the clear bottle because I can better judge how carbonated the bottles are by the amount of yeast on the bottom.

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Really? I bottled a few of mine in clear just because I wanted to see how much the beer clears in the bottle. Is it better carbonated if there is more or less yeast on the bottom?

gruntingfrog said:

Nova,

I use 1 liter clear bottles (Lorina Soda bottles) and haven't had any noticeable difference in a batch. I saw the bottles you're talking about at IKEA the other day and I was going to pick up a bunch. The problem I saw was that they have a very distinct seam where the two halves were put together. It didn't look very strong and may not hold up to carbonation pressures. I say try a couple of them and see how it works out, but I wouldn't necessarily trust your whole first batch to them.

If they work well, let me know. I would love to get some.

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Update on this old thread. I bottled my first batch in some PET bottles I got as a Christmas gift, but I did fill one of these Ikea bottles and let it carbonate.

No problems whatsoever. The seam in the glass held, and I got good carbonation. I plan on buying lots more!

I can add two cents to this.

I like to put one bottle of each batch in clear glass so I can see how it looks. I usually drink that one first, and it always tastes the same as the next one.

Re: plastic bottles, I read a very interesting piece on how Miller developed plastic bottles for use in stadiums. Those plastic bottles have three layers, with something sandwiched between the regular plastic. The middle layer prevents oxygen and other gases from getting in or out, which evidently happens with regular plastic bottles. The middle layer would add a bad taste to the beer if it was up against the beer. The upshot is, I wouldn't bottle in plastic bottles unless I knew I would be drinking it very very soon.

gruntingfrog said:

Nova,

I use 1 liter clear bottles (Lorina Soda bottles) and haven't had any noticeable difference in a batch. I saw the bottles you're talking about at IKEA the other day and I was going to pick up a bunch. The problem I saw was that they have a very distinct seam where the two halves were put together. It didn't look very strong and may not hold up to carbonation pressures. I say try a couple of them and see how it works out, but I wouldn't necessarily trust your whole first batch to them.

If they work well, let me know. I would love to get some.

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I noticed the same seam after reading this post some time back. I looked closely at them on the shelves and decided it wasn't so much where 2 halves of a bottle were attached, but more where 2 molds didn't align perfectly. That's what you get for IKEA quality I suppose. Anyway, my theory then, which is now confirmed, is that they would hold just fine...

my 2 cents I guess.

kvh

kvh said:

That's what you get for IKEA quality I suppose.

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Careful, now. Some of us don't just buy our bottles there, but work there as well.

NOVA Brewer said:

Careful, now. Some of us don't just buy our bottles there, but work there as well.

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Don't get me wrong, I love the place. They're ecologically minded, fashionable, and they sell dollar icecream on your way out the door -

but 6 wine glasses for 3 dollars... you know they're not lasting forever, no matter how good you take care of them...

kvh

kvh said:

Don't get me wrong, I love the place. They're ecologically minded, fashionable, and they sell dollar icecream on your way out the door -

but 6 wine glasses for 3 dollars... you know they're not lasting forever, no matter how good you take care of them...

kvh

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Very true. With that said, I'm bottling my first complete batch almost completely in the 34oz clear glass bottles with flip tops that sell for $2 each. Since I plan on giving away most of my homebrew, that size (and price point!) makes sense as a gift.

Why buy bottles? Emptying them is half the fun. BTW I use empty Martinelli's bottles. They're 24 oz and easy to come by around the holidays. They can be capped with a standard capper and if you pay attention when you ope them they come with a plasic topper that does a decent job of saving any leftover beer till tomorrow.

onecolumbyte said:

they come with a plasic topper that does a decent job of saving any leftover beer till tomorrow.

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Leftover beer? What is that? Please explain. :cross:

I use clear bottles alot because I have easy access to Newcastle bottles (bar I work at sells alot of it). I have only had one bad experience and that was at a tailgate party, but come one that is direct hot sunlight they were exposed to. The rest of the time I noticed no difference in the taste as opposed to the same batch in amber bottles. I don't think I would use them though if I were paying for them anyway. It doesn't make sense to me. I use them b/c I hate buying bottles, but if you're buying them anyway why not buy dark ones?

Probably just fine for use when bottling mead and cider since they are usually not hopped. I have heard or read in numerous places that skunking is a result of a reaction in hops/hop oils to light.