Just throw it away....

I've realized 2 things lately.

1. Cleaning bottles and especially removing the labels is the most tedious part of beer and wine making.
2. I did not get into beer and wine making to save money.

So given this, I have decided NOT to recycle my bottles anymore. I will just buy new ones when I need them. The old ones will go to the county recycling on trash day.

Has anyone else come to this conclusion?

No, but why wouldn't you re-use bottles that you've already taken the labels off of, or bought without labels? Sounds like it would be expensive to re-buy bottles for every batch instead of recycling the ones you have.

My solution to the problem you mentioned was kegging. IMHO, if you're not looking to save money by brewing, definitely get a keg setup. You won't regret it one bit.

Around here, new bottles are expensive (roughly $15-20 a case). While I didn't get into brewing to save money, with the amount of beer I make I think it would be wasteful to add $15-20 dollars to every batch.

Another easy solution is to fill a bucket with Star San and just put your rinsed, already de-labled bottle in there after you use them. They will be ready for your next batch when you need them.

After two bottled batches my conclusion was Corny kegs.

I'll second Corny Kegs. I still have bottles though to send off to competitions or give to friends.

I agree corney kegs are the way to go. But I dont know whats so hard about soaking bottles in oxyclean for a few days letting them dry then rinsing and sanitizing on bottling day. You should rinse and sanitize on bottle day even with new bottles anyway.

if you buying "new" they wont have labels on them so it's really a simple pour -rinse the bottle a couple times let dry . Rinse again and sanitize on bottleing day.Even if you were to get some with labels just soak in Oxiclean ovenight and your done - Vinegar and water will work on labels too just like removing wall paper.

I keg but still have a case or so of bottles .

Even better...why don't you donate them to another local brewer who can't afford new ones?

I do also keg - most of my beer, but I like some bottles for friends and going out. Bottles are mostly for my wine-making where I typically bottle 60-90 at a time. Also I add labels to all my beers and wines. Sometimes those labels come off, sometimes they don't, but it always takes several hours to clean all the bastards. And I have tried the soaking in Oxy-clean and it helps a little, but there is still a lot of scrubbing to do. Also I am somewhat of a perfectionist and can't stand to have any little bits of old label anywhere on the bottles.

springer said:

if you buying "new" they wont have labels on them so it's really a simple pour -rinse the bottle a couple times let dry . Rinse again and sanitize on bottleing day.Even if you were to get some with labels just soak in Oxiclean ovenight and your done - Vinegar and water will work on labels too just like removing wall paper.

I keg but still have a case or so of bottles .

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Here's my take on cleaning bottles: If the glue isn't water soluble, I chuck the bottle. Its not worth the time. That being said, theres so many water soluble ones out there, that most of the time you just drop the bottles in a bucket of hot water and the labels come off. Rub with a sponge to take any residual glue of, and you're done.

1. Large plastic garbage can w/ water
2. measured amount of Oxiclean, close can lid over night
Awsome, all I had to do is rinse the Oxiclean off (not one label or glue left on) took maybe an hour to setup then rinse like 4 cases of bottles.

I keep about 6 cases of empties..and have now started to just leave them out here and there. And every time the wife says something about them I just smile and tell her as soon as we can get a kegging setup,I will get rid of them.

so far I got a few cornies and a sankie..just need a few more parts :rockin:

The idea of throwing away perfectly good beer bottles just upsets me.

I've always been pro-choice until I read this thread, but now I'm leaning towards pro-life.

After removing the labels for my first batch, I decided never to do it again. If I give it away for a present or send it to a comp, i remove. Its easier to remove 5 labels than 50. For general consumption, I leave the original label on.

Just don't leave a load of bottles in a tub of oxyclean with hard water for 1-2 months. I now have oxy-crusted bottles I still need to vinegar soak/scrub like a mofo.

Yes, I keg now. But I still save bottles.

I have definitely not come to the same conclusion. It's easy give bottles an overnight soak in a solution of TSP, Oxi Clean, or just plain water to clean and de-label them in one fell swoop.

It's even easier to keg.