Best commercial beer bottles for homebrew

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Soc

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I have been homebrewing for about two years but I have never bottled before. I had a kegging system right away so all of my brews have gone to keg. I have a Holiday Ale right now, however, that I want to bottle so I can give some away as Christmas presents. I don't have any empty bottles right now and I feel like buying beer bottles without beer in them is a waste. When needing good bottles for homebrew, what beers do you guys buy? I'm looking for several things here, they obviously need to be dark non twist off bottles but I would also prefer no real markings on the bottles and obviously need them to be good tasting brews. Any suggestions?
 
My two favorite are Sam Adams and (I hate to say it) American Lager from Budweiser. They are some of the heaviest bottles I have found.
 
New Belgium bottles..... labels fall of with 10-15 minutes in hot water and the minimal residual glue comes off very easy with a kitchen scrubby pad.
 
New Belgium bottles..... labels fall of with 10-15 minutes in hot water and the minimal residual glue comes off very easy with a kitchen scrubby pad.

I buy a Folly Pack every week. Decent beer and nice bottles. The labels come off easily and I like how the mouth is a little wider than other bottles to make for an easy pour.
 
I agree with all of these (I have numerous Sam Adams and New Belgium, and one case of Budweiser). Althought all three of these have embossed logos in the glass. Many microbrews use plain glass bottles. Rogue, Bells, Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, are ones I can think of that I have purchased recently with plain bottles.

I soak in OxiClean and warm water for a few hours or overnight and most labels fall right off, with minimal scrubbing to clean residual glue.
 
I really like the short fat Sierra Nevada bottles. They're easy to find, the contents are relatively cheap and enjoyable to drink, and the bottles are great (especially for stouts).

The meanest glass bottles I've found are the Lion Stout bombers. Those things are really thick and heavy. Beastly. I'm not sure what their six pack glass is like.
 
I like Duvel bottles for their shape, although they are pricey and only 11.2 ounces. I was just at a new bar last night that serves well over 50 Belgian beers and begged the manager to let me have some of their bottles-NO LUCK
 
Bear Republic bottles have worked very well for me. Seems like they use thick/strong glass for the bottles and the labels just fall off when soaked in oxyclean and hot water solution. There's very little glue residue to scrub off as well. It's on the expensive side for buying in mass qty however they do make some pretty good brews so I'm sure you'd enjoy drinking them.
 
I agree with sierra nevada, easy to clean, I like the shape and the contents are always delicious and reasonably priced.

I do like the shape of Anchor bottles the most though. Labels come off relatively easily too and Anchor makes good beer, though it is somewhat overpriced. But those bottles look so cool.
 
My favorite 12 oz bottles are the deschutes bottles. They have hopvines rather than logos in the glass.

For 22's, Ninkasi and Full Sail uses VERY easily removed stickers. They can be peeled right off, no soaking needed or anything.
 
+1 on the Sierra Nevada. They are a tad darker than many other bottles, heavy, and low profile. I have lots of New Belgian, but I don't like them. They are thinner, taller, and lighter color than the Sierra Nevada. The only time I ever broke a bottle while capping, it was a New Belgian. (Yes, that was my fault--it just seems to have broken too easily.)
 
I used to like Sam Adams bottles best, but now that I'm kegging and only use bottles for competition entries, I like Bell's bottles best since they're not embossed.
 
Sam Adams and Deschutes.

If you use milk crates to store bottles (as I do), I don't recommend Sierra Nevada bottles. I can fit 24 regular bottles in a crate, but only 20 or 21 Sierra bottles. Sucks cause I've got about 60 Sierra bottles in the rotation. Trying to slowly get rid of them.
 
I have been using:

new belgium
deschutes
widmer
sierra nevada - you can buy a case of SNPA for like $20 at costco, hard to beat that if you get use out of the bottles too.

Probably the most sturdy bottle I have are fullers bottles, man those things are solid. The thing is I think they are 11.2oz or something crazy.
 
Deschutes are by far the easiest to clean. Soak them in hot water for a few minutes and the labels practically fall off! But as mentioned they are embossed with the hop leafs. Sam Adams are a little harder to clean, and they have "Sam Adams" embossed on them.

Second easiest to clean are Sierra Nevada.

I would suggest if you're giving these as gifts to use the 22oz bottles. To me giving a 12oz. beer as a gift is kinda chincy, but that's just me.

Ballast Points 22oz bottles are pretty easy to clean.
 
I'll add my 2 cents and say I prefer Rogue because I swear they are darker than other bottles and they seem pretty thick to me. Sierra Nevada are also good, but the low profile and wider bottle can be a PITA as Palefire suggested above. Too bad Sam Adams says "Sam Adams" on the side or they would be my top pick.
 
+1 on Budweiser American Ale bottles... I think they have a tiny Bud logo on the shoulder, but they are nice thick glass.

Best non-descript bottles I think are Rogue, Bell's, and Harpoon (except their labels are hell to get off)...
 
I like Newcastle bottles, because I can easily see how the beer is clearing up. Yeah, they let light in, but you shouldn't be storing your beer in the light anyways.

A close second would be Anchor Steam bottles. They have a sweet teardrop shape, and are the easiest to remove labels from, in my experience.
 
By far the thickest bottles I've found are from Erdinger and Ayinger. I wayed them one time, and they were something like 50% heavier than the standard bottles, far thicker than even the American Ale bottles people are mentioning. I don't bother saving new bottles any more, but I always save those.
 
I would take a look at your local microbrews. Where I am there are two that I consistenttly buy from and the bottles they use are the exact same as the ones we would by from a homebrew store. (no embossing)
 
Another nod to Sierra Nevada. They delabel easily, have no markings like Sam Adams, New Belgium and many others (important IMHO as you are planning on gifting them) and I enjoy drinking them.
 
Agree with the Sam Adams... nice bottles, exceptionally easy to clean. Perfer anything from Victory, though. Better beer and just as simple to clean...

Truthfully, I've had good luck with any labels that feel papery.... usually fall right off. If they feel glossy, they often come off, but they're often more troubling too... you have to try 'em to know.

And.... if you can find a few friends to drink the crap, i also agree with the Bud American Ale. Cool bottles, and much cheaper to quickly stock up on if you need them soon.
 
Guinness bottles are really easy to deal with, as long as you have a pair of needle nose pliers to get the nitro widget out with. The labels are just a piece of shrink wrap plastic so you can pop it with a knife pretty easily. I really like the curves that the bottles have as well. Only downside is that they are pretty spendy.
 
My favorite 12 oz bottles are the deschutes bottles. They have hopvines rather than logos in the glass.

For 22's, Ninkasi and Full Sail uses VERY easily removed stickers. They can be peeled right off, no soaking needed or anything.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I love Deschutes for 12 oz and Ninkasi for 22 oz.

Bridgeport isn't too bad either
 
Give guinness draught bottles a try. All you need to remove the label is a good box-cutter and run it along the side. Like magic the label falls to the floor and the bottle is good to go. No soaking needed. as for the plastic pieces, needle-nose plyers and pull. i save that job for my overactive G.F. keeps her busy for a good bit of time.
 
Highland Brewing Co. bottles have labels that peel right off, no soaking. 12 oz and 22oz, and if you're lucky, 1 liter grolsch tops in the winter time (if you can find them).
 
New Belgium bottles..... labels fall of with 10-15 minutes in hot water and the minimal residual glue comes off very easy with a kitchen scrubby pad.



+1

These bottles are also very tall and narrow. I like this. I store my beer in empty plastic milk crates. 25 empty new belgium bottles fit in each one perfectly. I have 10 of them full of beer right now. 250 delicious bottles of beer just aging away.
 
My favorite are Orval bottles.
The strongest I know of and I really like the shape (kinda like bowling pins).
But they are slightly bigger around so they don't fit in my small cooler or in regular six packs.
And the beer is over 100 bucks a case, which is OK by me but a lot to pay if you just want bottles.
 
I give a +1 on thr Rogue bottles being darker. But by far the easiest no logo bottle I have found is Hobgoblin. Under a full min in a hot water bath and all the labels were floating. plus they come in nice tall sturdy packs that hold up to getting damp a few times. Sam adams has nice tall carriers too, but they dont hold up so well with getting damp.Flying Dog has great beer but some of the most PIA labels i have ever come across. Just my 2 cents.
 
I use mostly Sam Adams and Schlafly because thats mostly what I drink. The labels come off both very easily and they seem to be sturdy. I bottled a few anchor steam bottles last night and the caps seemed to go on funny. I think they sealed okay, just felt odd going on the bottle.
 

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