What bottles do you use?

I like to clean off the old labels & add my own to bottles. What bottles do you use for the cleanest look?

So far, I use mostly Sierra Nevada's & Dogfish Head bottles...

Any standard bottles except the threaded ones ( like Shipyard ).

For competition, I tend to buy a case of new bottles at the LHBS since a lot of comps don't allow the raised lettering like Sam Adams bottle have.

I used what ever I had on the first batch, a wide variety of beers. I came to the conclusion that out of what bottles we had the easiest lables to remove with a warm water and oxy clean soak were Leinenkugels and New Belgium. They both have the brewery name on them though so as stevo155 pointed out they would not be allowed under some contest rules. I would say find a commercial beer that you enjoy most of their brews and start buying those, that way when you do bottle they will mostly be the same bottles.

Sierra Nevada's are my favorite, I have cases of both long necks and short stubbies and the short ones are my first picks.

deschutes and sierra nevada... they both fit under my capper better. I also really like the sam smith bombers.. very dark glass.

Nuggethead said:

Sierra Nevada's are my favorite, I have cases of both long necks and short stubbies and the short ones are my first picks.

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+1. recently Ive been gathering more sierra nevada bottles.. I like the feel of them in my hand a little better, and they take up less space vertically with virtually the same footprint.

I know I'm the oddball, but I always have trouble with Sierra Nevada bottles and the top snapping off in my capper. Something about the shape of the neck that my capper doesn't like.

Also, most of the Sierra Nevada bottles shed their labels quite easily in Oxyclean and hot water. But for certain varieties, like Celebration and Torpedo IPA, the labels are a sticky mess to remove.

Perhaps my favorite bottles are anything with paper labels that comes in a 22oz bottle. Big bottles = less boring bottling work.

I use Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, and bottles from midwest.

These are my main choices becasue the labels will just float off of them after a 5 min oxy clean soak.

I saved SN bottles for a long time without using them because they were a p.i.t.a to cap with my wing capper. After I got a new bench capper (Ferrari Colt) it was a new ball game.

I use all kinds, but I'm starting to cull mine out. My favorite is traditional long-necks because 25 of them fit perfectly in a plastic milk crate and I can stack those (empty or full) to the ceiling.

If storage wasn't a problem, I would go with short-neck bottles like Sierra Nevada. I just like them better. Also the stubby bottles like Full Sail uses. So I'll keep my full cases of short and stubby bottles and recycle the buckets of loose ones.

1 liter flip-tops:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/ez-cap-bottles-brown-1-liter-with-flip-tops.html
Much easier than crown caps & fewer of them to fill per batch. Just the right size for drinking too.
Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

1 liter flip-tops:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/ez-cap-bottles-brown-1-liter-with-flip-tops.html
Much easier than crown caps & fewer of them to fill per batch. Just the right size for drinking too.
Regards, GF.

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I use 1 liter twist-top pop bottles sometimes. (at least one or two bottles per batch so I can monitor how they're carbing)

I like swing-top bottles, and I have a few, I'm just too cheap to pay for bottles.

One of my LHBS has 500ml (US pint) short necks like Double Mountain uses. I find the unique shape, compared to most commercial bottles, helps my empties make it back to me instead of the bottle depot.

Anchor!

My stock includes bottles from Boulevard, I like the short bottles and they are a little unusual. I recycle about 8 cases.

I've been starting to collect Brew Dog's 22oz bottles. Beer is great, curve shape is elegant and their labels peel off easily.

I use fliptops mostly as they typically (commercial varieties) have high quality polymer gaskets and bullet proof glass. Grolsch and those clear 750ml ones that are filled with italian soda from Xmas tree shops or simlilar stores.

My other favorites are any and all belgian bottles such as the rochefort style, piraat ale stubbies, and cappable amber 750ml ones.

Believe it or not the next best option is the Martinelli's Cider bottles. They cap well with the red baron capper set to the 29mm neck width and 26mm capper head.

I use the bottles the beer I bought came in. Lots of Sierra Nevada, some Boulevard, some Lagunitas. Longnecks bug me, but I have some O'Dell and Real Ale. My favorites are Modelo, because I can see my beer before I chill and drink it, and the bottle is cool.

I feel like I'm with most on here that I prefer the the short stubby Sierra Nevada or Lagunitas bottles. I also like the full pint bottles like these from Ayinger....

Any free, for the most part clean ones. I only bottle from the keg with a beergun for travel packs/giveaways to friends so I dont bottle too often.
I do not use green bottles. Only the brown ones. Light is the mortal enemy of beer.

For my first (and so far only brew), I used some 16oz Grolsch-style flip top bottles by EZ-Cap (not a fan- "EZ" is not how I would describe the process of capping them), and then a neighbor who also brews gave me a couple cases of Hoegaarden bottles with several 12oz bottles mixed in. I think for next time, I'm going to be sure to use bottles of a uniform size. Having to do the math for 5 gallons across 3 different bottle sizes was a bit complicated.

I love using these. I have 4 cases (of 12) of the 1/2L stoneware, 5 of the 3/4L stoneware, and 5 cases (of 24) of the Duvel. I use the stoneware for ciders, and the duvel for hard lemonade. Otherwise I bottle beer in longneck 12s.

I like bottling in 500ml (16oz) bottles as they fill my Favorite Pint Glasses perfectly.

I also really enjoy the Fullers ESB and London Pride, so when I buy beer I add a few more bottles to my growing collection.

I also have a few cases store bought 650 or 750 ml bottles that i'm not a huge fan of.... I only like pouring once lol So I use those for sending beer to buddies as I spend less time bottling for them lol

I like re-using the bottles from Great Lakes, Port City, Bells, and a few others I can't think of right now, because the labels come off so easily. Also, Angry Orchard cider bottles - I gave their new "Hop'n Mad" variety a try, and I kind of like it. Hopped just a touch, and not overly sweet like everything else they make.

Al these labels come off very easily after a very short soak in water with sanitizer mixed in.

whatever i get from friends, though i prefer .5 L fliptops