Bottling In Soda Bottles

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jtf3456

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Step-By-Step, How do I go about bottling in 2L soda bottles?

Do I fill them all the way up? Almost all the way?
Do I squeeze the bottle until the beer is at the lip and then cap it?
What exactly will I need to do?
 
Out of curiosity, why soda bottles? I wouldn't trust the plastic for carbonation. Glass can break from overpressurization from 12oz. 2 liters behind plastic puts the odds of bottle bombs MUCH higher with MUCH more to clean up.
 
Soda bottles work perfectly fine. Soda is MUCH more highly carbed than beer, and if the soda lived through it, your beer will too. It's fine, and I've done it myself.

The only "problem" I see with 2L bottles is that when you pour a homebrew, you pour off of the sediment. That works great for 12 ounce bottles, when you pour into the glass. But with a 2L bottle, you'd have to pour in a pitcher and then drink the whole thing, or stir up the sediment each time you lift the bottle.

I'd bottle in 1L (or smaller) soda bottles, just for that reason.

In a soda bottle 1.5" of headspace is fine!
 
i've bottled in re-used 1L soda bottles. there is NO problem with it. it is actually far superior to glass in many respects except that it is somewhat ghetto.

2L is just too big because unless you are sharing, 2L of the same beer is too much at once. It might get flat.

plastic soda bottles can easily take the CO2 pressure. Soda is bottled at 120psi or something close to that. Beer is carbed well much lower than that

just wash and sanitize the bottles as usual.

don't fill up to the level that the manufacturer did for soda. Leave a bit more head space. if bottle carbing, just let them sit with the headspace. if force carbing in the plastic bottle. squeeze the air out and let it sit like that until you force the CO2 in.
 
Wow. I stand corrected then. I'd treat them the same as you do bottles. Make sure they are clean and sanitized well. Exposure to light would be my next concern since I'm assuming they are clear. Just be careful with that.
 
Wow. I stand corrected then. I'd treat them the same as you do bottles. Make sure they are clean and sanitized well. Exposure to light would be my next concern since I'm assuming they are clear. Just be careful with that.

that is a concern...but i avoided that by keeping my brew in a closet. i'd have done the same if it were amber glass or green/clear plastic.
 
Soda bottles work great! they get nice an firm when carbonated. 1 1/2" head space add screw the cap on. Waynep005 use a quart mason jar for starters, and use a measuring cup to get the proper volume. cover with sanitized foil.Cheers:D
 
I've been using 20 oz. clear soda bottles for a little over a year. No discernible skunking tastes. Re-usable caps! The ability to see how carbonation is proceeding (squeeze test). I use a bottling wand when filling. I wind up with about an inch or so of head space. I've never filled any larger than a 1 ltr. bottle. Two liters is too much for my bottling wand. You might wind up with too much O2 when filling. I've read other posts about someone using 2L bottles...
 
Thanks! I guess I will buy some 1L club soda for the bottles. I suppose it'd be relatively cheap.

Iron, soda bottles because I am looking to go a cheaper route than glass bottles and buying a capper. But, from my understanding, it seems you had not known that it was possible to do so, before others replied.
 
I think A&W bottles at least the 1 liter or 20oz bottles in brown plastic so that might be an option to look for to avoid the whole skunking issue.

I've tried using 2l bottles to make soda but I can't seem to retain carbonation. I'm sure others have had better luck.
 
From what I have read, It is near impossible to get the root beer taste out of a bottle, or anything that had root beer in it . However, I have never tried it so I wouldn't know. I will keep the bottles in a dark place though.
 
I use 1L plastic beer bottles, got them from my LHBS. Brown color like a glass bottle to prevent skunking, holds a liter of brew, nice easy screw on caps. Best part, is they're only 8$ a dozen, and last forever.
 
This seems a great idea for some bulk bottling to take to parties (I don't want to lose my nice glass bottles!). I always assumed that the reason that soft drinks go flat after opening is because the seal has been broken but I must have been wrong. If you bottle in plastic does the beer stay carbed until opening or is there a limited window where it will be ok (I bottle carb).
 
I've used plastic bottles for years and had beers in them for up to several months at a time - just keep them in the dark. Even when I use Grolsch bottles I still fill a couple of plastic bottles to see how it is clarifying and to do the squeeze test to check carbonation...
 
FANTASTIC! I have been worried about buying glass bottles price wise etc and now i have a second plan BRILLIANT! Why didnt i think of this? Thanks again I know like what was said its ghetto but when in a pinch HEY WHY NOT! Im in a pinch so Thanks again! Everytime i mess something up or start to worry yall pull thru :)
 
mtk6006, Ghetto looking or not, once it's in your glass, you'll probably never know what type of bottle it came from.
Tiredboy, I think the reason soft drinks go flat is the amount of new head space they have. I think they're trying to achieve equilibrium. I'm at the end of a year long (not intentional) experiment. I brewed a batch of a chile beer, in Oct. of 2010. The last two I've tried have been flat, but retained their flavor. I've yet to do a side by side with PET vs. glass.
pyth, Why not try an experiment, fill one clear soft drink bottle with brew and see how it compares. At the most, you're only out 16 - 20 oz..
 
The only time I've had a bottle explode was when I was making root beer for the kids. I filled 5 2L bottles and 1 6 pack of glass. It was a glass bottle that exploded. It was amazing to see the 2L bottles actually stretch. Had to keep venting the pressure just to let myself asleep at night. Got lucky, when I say the recipie that said 1.)dissolve 5 lbs sugar in 5 gallons water 2.)cool 3.)add yeast and bottle immediately, I got nervous, so I put the entire batch in a rubbermaid tub.
 
i just bought a couple sixpacks of A&W rootbeer in the brown plastic (PET) 16.9oz bottles for $2.98 at walmart.

i'm bottling on saturday, so i will post my findings as i get to them. i know a few youtube brewers use soda bottles, but the biggest i've seen anyone use are the 1L. most are using 20oz or smaller. (jakeanddar, thegentlearts, craigtube)

happy brewing!
 
I used to use the 1L Mtn Dew bottles for my Mr. Beer batches years ago when they had the wide mouths and never had a problem. Once I switched to partial mash and 5 gallon batches I use my left over PET bottles when I am in a pinch. I have yet to find a discernable difference between my PET bottled brew and brew I put in a 22 glass bomber.
 
Would a 2 litter Soda bottle be OK to make a starter in?

Sure, they work great for the intermittent shake method. Before I made a couple stir plates, I would use 2 liter Coke Bottles. Just keep the cap loose for the co2 to get out then when you are ready to shake, just tighten the cap, shake it up, loosen the cap, and go on about your day.

As far as using soda bottles for bottling... I've done it in a pinch several times and have had no issues at all. I will suggest using only soda bottles that have the star like indention on the bottom though.
 
This seems a great idea for some bulk bottling to take to parties (I don't want to lose my nice glass bottles!). I always assumed that the reason that soft drinks go flat after opening is because the seal has been broken but I must have been wrong. If you bottle in plastic does the beer stay carbed until opening or is there a limited window where it will be ok (I bottle carb).

Ya Mon. She stay nice and firm (carbonated)until open. I use 1 & 2 Lt. bottles for travelers. The 2 Lt. you will lose carbonation if you leave it over night. If you pour a glass and want to keep the rest of the bottle carbonated just squeeze until the liquid rises to the proper head space and recap; it will stay good for a few hours. Cheers:ban: :mug:
 
This seems a great idea for some bulk bottling to take to parties (I don't want to lose my nice glass bottles!). I always assumed that the reason that soft drinks go flat after opening is because the seal has been broken but I must have been wrong. If you bottle in plastic does the beer stay carbed until opening or is there a limited window where it will be ok (I bottle carb).

IT isn't the fact that the seal is broken so much as that you pour out some soda and that leaves space for some CO2 to come out of soda... after 3 or 4 days taking a glass a day, you've really degased the soda.

I've bottled in plastic and they have stayed carbed at 6 months now.
 
The only time I've had a bottle explode was when I was making root beer for the kids. I filled 5 2L bottles and 1 6 pack of glass. It was a glass bottle that exploded. It was amazing to see the 2L bottles actually stretch. Had to keep venting the pressure just to let myself asleep at night. Got lucky, when I say the recipie that said 1.)dissolve 5 lbs sugar in 5 gallons water 2.)cool 3.)add yeast and bottle immediately, I got nervous, so I put the entire batch in a rubbermaid tub.

I think the numbers in one of the other threads is that
beer glass is betwen 2 and 3 volumes
wine bottles - don't even think about it.
champagine is like5 or 6 volumes of CO2,
PET bottles are at 10 volumes of CO2. And they are fun to watch when they expand a little.
 
i just bought a couple sixpacks of A&W rootbeer in the brown plastic (PET) 16.9oz bottles for $2.98 at walmart.

i'm bottling on saturday, so i will post my findings as i get to them. i know a few youtube brewers use soda bottles, but the biggest i've seen anyone use are the 1L. most are using 20oz or smaller. (jakeanddar, thegentlearts, craigtube)

happy brewing!

You should probably try and see if you can get the rootbeer smell out of one bottle before Saturday. In every thread that I have read regarding PET bottles, someone always mentions "no rootbeer bottles".
 
As an added bonus, you can walk around town and drink beer all day long out of 20 oz. soda bottles. Stout...Coke...I defy anyone to tell the difference from 5 feet away. Even if you were drinking IPA out of a clear Coke bottle I doubt you'd get a second look unless you were being an idiot.
 
You should probably try and see if you can get the rootbeer smell out of one bottle before Saturday. In every thread that I have read regarding PET bottles, someone always mentions "no rootbeer bottles".

well. ok then...

i've got some dr pepper bottles that i've left sit overnight with a bleach/water solution and by morning they are completely without odor of the soda. then i rinse them with water as hot as i can stand/my faucet will produce, until there is no odor at all. (bleach or otherwise) then invert to dry.

i've not noticed a problem when using bottles cleaned like this for drinking water... so i hope there wouldn't be any difference for beer...
 
I think the reason soft drinks go flat is the amount of new head space they have. I think they're trying to achieve equilibrium. I'm at the end of a year long (not intentional) experiment. I brewed a batch of a chile beer, in Oct. of 2010. The last two I've tried have been flat, but retained their flavor. I've yet to do a side by side with PET vs. glass.
pyth, Why not try an experiment, fill one clear soft drink bottle with brew and see how it compares. At the most, you're only out 16 - 20 oz..

It seems obvious when someone points it out (hence the reason that those soda pump caps work to keep the drink fizzier once opened. I guess if you could pump in CO2 it would stop it going flat even after opening.

I have this experiment underway with clear glass versus brown glass. I bottled one clear glass so I could monitor colour and clarity. They've now they've been sitting for just over a month (when I put it that way I realise how quickly I polished off most fo the first brew!). I'll crack one of each open when I get a chance and do a blind taste test to see if I can tell the difference. May repeat the experiement with soda bottles against glass for the brew currently fermenting.
 
It may not look as good as a glass bottle, but hey it's still beer, plastic or glass.

And yes, I've read that the root beer taste is hard to get out.

Most say to put it in club soda bottles and there's no taste or smell. Just pour the carbonated water out and the bottle is already sterile.
 
just as a note, rootbeer bottle full of water, (it's own) capful of bleach in water. left overnight, rinsed 3x w/ hot water = NO RB SMELL. no bleach smell either.

the cap smelled a bit like rootbeer, so i've put it into a bowl of bleach water for the day.
i'm sure it'll be clear by noon.

will report how it goes.
 
i wash my caps in the dishwasher when i wash my nylon hop bag. it works well.

i use clear seltzer and green ginger ale bottles so i've never had an issue getting smells out but the overnight bleach trick should do the trick.

just a question...if you guys are worried about smells in your plastic bottles...how do you get the smell out of your fermenter? its a different type of plastic but the same idea.
 
Wow never thought about soda bottles. Ghetto or not great way to take beer to the lake house or where ever.

I was about to do 2 growlers and just leave them in my deep wash bin sink in my basement work shop but with this tried and true method I will definitly be going ghetto with at least 4-6 liters of beer each time I brew.

:rockin:
 
I went through a 20oz soda bottle phase last year when I was building my pipeline for the arrival of my kid, and running out of glass bottles.

Everything worked great except residual taste. Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew were bad enough to notice. I couldn't get the taste out of the bottles with oxyclean and water soaking. I still have a bunch of bottles so maybe I will try the bleach.

The bottles are actually super nice because they don't break and they are much lighter.
 
Out of curiosity, why soda bottles? I wouldn't trust the plastic for carbonation. Glass can break from overpressurization from 12oz. 2 liters behind plastic puts the odds of bottle bombs MUCH higher with MUCH more to clean up.

Soda bottles actually stand up to carbonation really well. What I would be concerned about is that most soda bottles are clear or green and thus they won't do much to protect your brew from photo oxidation.

I think soda bottles would be fine as "ghetto" growlers. Transferring a reasonable amount from a keg for short-term storage (like bringing to a gathering or whatever) but they're no substitute for proper bottles for long-term storage.
 
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