Cheapest Bottles

Anyone know a good website that sells cheap bottles? I'm loath to buy bottles, but it might come to that soon.

i've been looking too. the shipping is what gets expensive. austin homebrew seems to have the best prices.

Hey gentlemen, I bartend and save alot of bottles (even though I dont bottle to often, mostly keg) for my brother. Well the inventory is getting large, I probably have 8 or 9 cases of empty bottles.

I was wondering if I sold a case for 9 bucks (labels still on and they need to be cleaned, they have been rinsed though) would that be a fair price? I am mainly just trying to help out fellow brewers, not make a fortune.


Also when you buy bottles do you usually buy 2 cases at a time.

Your input is appreciated

Have you seen this recent thread?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=19715

or this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=20140

Buying a case of beer is not much more than buying the bottles. If you don't mind washing, better way to go. PLUS, you have another reason to drink beer.

Or just visit your local bottle recycling depot and see if they can sell you some cheap.

if that is 9 dollars shipped, i think that is a fair price. if you want 9 dollars plus shipping, not so sure...

i've heard of people going to places and paying the bottle return price, which is about 10 cents a bottle, and getting cases. i think you can also go to the recycle places.

other option would be to buy the beer in bottles and drink it yourself. you can also try to get friends to save pop-top bottles for you.

$9 + shipping for bottles I still need to clean and de-label is way, way too expensive. Honestly, if they aren't cleaned up, I probably wouldn't even pay shipping for them; I can always pick up a case at the HBS for $10 (and they're sturdier bottles than most). It's not a product that lends itself well to long-distance transport.

Oh, and the best way to acquire bottles?

Tell all your friends that you are more than willing to give them boatloads of free beer, but they need to start giving you crown-top bottles before you'll fill any (and you NEED to get them back). I don't mind brewing, I don't mind giving beer away one bit, but they need to help me out, too.

Anone who gets my beer had better give those bottles back! Nothing hurts as much as seeing a clean, label-free bottle thrown in the trash

Ok, excepting the breaking of a full bottle of beer that got dropped.

If you can find a store that sells cases of returnable beer bottles those would be your best bet. I normally get mine for $1.20 a case and all they need is some cleaning up.


I may make that part of my sig . . .

Yah I figured it would not be worth it. Especially with shipping charges being so high. O well maybe I can send out a free case with the "Great Beer Swap 07'"

Thanks for the input

Aside from some of the other great suggestions in this thread, I'd like to add as I have mentioned in other threads, the way to go is buy stuff on special. I recently bought a Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin ale case for $10. It isn't the greatest stuff in the world, but hey for $10...filled...you can't go wrong imo. Look for a distributor that moves a good deal of volume who are good at keeping up on their stock. Ask them if they sell expired beer at a reduced price. It is normally fine, if they are up on their game anyhow. I even bought a wheat out of date by over a month...tasted great.

Ps, the guys who sold me the wheat told me that if it wasn't any good just to return it for a refund.

Another option: I'm good friends with the owner of my local pub. He saves me all his Orval bottles (I love the shape and the fact that they are thicker and can hold pressure for bottle conditioning) If you have a relationship with your local pub, just get bottles from them. They're free and they'll probably be happy to have you take them off their hands.

Throw a BYOB party, and ask your friends to bring micros only. Save the bottles - most of them will be non-twist offs that you can re-use.

So today I went to the local specialty beer store and said I was a homebrewer that needed bottles, so I'd pay them the 5c per bottle for the deposit. They looked at me like I was nuts--"Wait, you want...empty bottles?" sigh...we need more homebrewers around here.

I got my bottle quite a few years ago (haven't brewed in a while), and I just went to my local bar and asked if I could have/buy a case of the returnables. I've heard they're getting rare, but I still see 'longnecks' in the bars. I've got 4 or 5 cases, along with a case of Grolsch swing-tops I emptied myself.

Keith

I second the idea of getting them at your local recycling center. In Idaho there is no bottle return fee and the guys at the recycling place were more than happy to let me pick up as many as I wanted. My brew partner and I literally filled the bed of my truck with empties out of their giant bin of glass bottles and we ended up with about 15 cases of bottles for FREE. Just dig out the phone book and start calling around to all recycling places and see which ones will help you out.

IDbrew said:

I second the idea of getting them at your local recycling center. In Idaho there is no bottle return fee and the guys at the recycling place were more than happy to let me pick up as many as I wanted. My brew partner and I literally filled the bed of my truck with empties out of their giant bin of glass bottles and we ended up with about 15 cases of bottles for FREE. Just dig out the phone book and start calling around to all recycling places and see which ones will help you out.

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At the recycling plants do you get the nice heavy duty carbaord case they originally were in?

I suppose you could ask for them, but we did not. Most likely you would have to dig through all their cardboard items just to find the case boxes and that would be a PITA.

IDbrew said:

I second the idea of getting them at your local recycling center. In Idaho there is no bottle return fee and the guys at the recycling place were more than happy to let me pick up as many as I wanted. My brew partner and I literally filled the bed of my truck with empties out of their giant bin of glass bottles and we ended up with about 15 cases of bottles for FREE. Just dig out the phone book and start calling around to all recycling places and see which ones will help you out.

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I agree with this...to a degree....

The caveat is, that many of these will be sour, mold filled and require a bit more work to clean. You are supposed to return them clean, but most people don't go that far. Just something to keep in mind. Unless of course the center has them cleaned already....then that would rock.

zoebisch01 said:

I agree with this...to a degree....

The caveat is, that many of these will be sour, mold filled and require a bit more work to clean. You are supposed to return them clean, but most people don't go that far. Just something to keep in mind. Unless of course the center has them cleaned already....then that would rock.

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We definitely had to scrub like crazy and double sanitize just to be sure. In fact some bottles were so nasty we tossed them without even trying to clean. I can only imagine what horrors some of the bottles were subjected to. The price is right, but you need to be willing to put in the leg work to insure there is no chemical or biological residue in these bottles before you fill them will beer.

zoebisch01 said:

I agree with this...to a degree....

The caveat is, that many of these will be sour, mold filled and require a bit more work to clean. You are supposed to return them clean, but most people don't go that far. Just something to keep in mind. Unless of course the center has them cleaned already....then that would rock.

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Soak your bottles overnight in a solution of TSP (buy at a paint store or Home Depot) and bleach. All that crud at the bottom of the bottle just melts away. A few blasts on the bottle washer (and a quick scrub if you are really nervous), and good as new! Nothing could be easier.

FlyGuy said:

Soak your bottles overnight in a solution of TSP (buy at a paint store or Home Depot) and bleach. All that crud at the bottom of the bottle just melts away. A few blasts on the bottle washer (and a quick scrub if you are really nervous), and good as new! Nothing could be easier.

Click to expand...

I guess, come to think of it....the first bottles I collected when I was ramping up had been sitting. I left them (which is common practice for me now) in a plastic trash can with a bleach solution. I think that took care of it. Funny how I forget sometimes . So I guess I'll have to revoke my statement, or rather add this: Please soak bottles in a bleach solution for some time if you get them from the recycler. It will greatly reduce your work load when it comes time to clean.

Try your local country club/golf course. My CC has a can/bottle trash can on every other hole. I usually find a case of non-twist offs easily during a round of golf. Plus they are all usually freshly emptied within a couple of days so they are fairly clean. Go to ToysRus and buy one of those extended arm claw grabber things so you don't have to reach down into the can. I also go through the glass can in the lounge/bar area and find some. I could go out there and get 1000 twist-offs at any given time but I am new to this so I am just saving up some regular bottles right now for when I do my first batch.