Types of Bottles?

I have just ordered my first Home Brew Kit, and I was attempting to collect enough beer bottles to not have to purchase them. But I was wondering if I could use twist off bottles with my capper, or do they need to be bottles that you need a bottle opener for if I'm trying to cap my own bottles. Thanks, and I'll keep yall posted.

Personally I've never reused twist offs, though some people do. If you have one of the really cheapo cappers(like I do) it might not be able to get a good seal over the threads, if you have a nice bench capper you have a better chance of getting a seal. IMO you're better off w/ the pop tops. And, anyway, pop tops usually have better beer in them

I have not tried twist tops. Some people say you can do it with a bench capper. I too have been collecting some bottles. I bought a bunch of beer in 22 oz. to start with. Sam Adams, Guiness, St. Pauli, Pyramid Heffe and Pacifico. I have also been buying some Sam and Pacifico in 12 oz. If you like Mexican style beer Pacifico is a cool brown bottle with a really long neck. All of those have pop tops and appear to work pretty well. You can also buy Fisher with the cool swing cap. But, I am not a big fan of the beer.

I used twist offs to bottle a few times. It is not so much the seal as when you go to bottle, the tops break off- seriously. I had 3 out of about 10 shatter the top off and said forget it. A case of 22's costs $9. That suffices for what I don't drink in pry-offs. If you can, buy pry-off's...and I prefer 22's. O...and get brown colored, too.

I have a bench capper. Have used twist off for three years. Have some old beers left and they are still good and bubbly. Buy a good bench capper and then buy the beers that you like to drink. I do agree though, most of the better beers are in pryoff bottles.

I wouldn't worry about it. ...although it could be that the twist offs in Australia are made of thicker glass. I have had NO breakages (touch wood - ...and cheese, no)

dibby33 said:

I have a bench capper.

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Fwiw, if you (you meaning everyone ) bottle you really should have a bench capper. It is well worth the extra $10 or $15 extra. You'll save time and never have troubles with capping really.

I would contact a local micro if you have one. A lot of times breweries will have bottles that go to recycling because they didn't fill right, or a label doesn't go on right, or the cap doesn't go on right etc...and if you contact them, sometimes they will sell you those bottles instead of sending them to recycling. And sometimes, (as in my case) they will just be totally cool with you and just sell them to you at cost. A local micro here sold me two 12 packs of 22ozers and 1 24 pack of 12ozers for $11.

zoebisch01 said:

Fwiw, if you (you meaning everyone ) bottle you really should have a bench capper. It is well worth the extra $10 or $15 extra. You'll save time and never have troubles with capping really.

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I agree, but I got my cheapo swing capper for free so I figure I'll use that until either it breaks or pisses me off enough to get me to pony up the dough for a bench capper

I use my wife to cap after I bottle. She dose a good job with the free capper, if she can use it any one can use it,lol. We only had about 3-4 caps that didn't work. We use 22 oz. bottles, it takes about 26-30 bottles per 5 gal. batch, and 22 oz. are enough to get a good buzz going after about 2-3 bottles.

cnbudz said:

I agree, but I got my cheapo swing capper for free so I figure I'll use that until either it breaks or pisses me off enough to get me to pony up the dough for a bench capper

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True dat, nothing wrong with free

Every time this subject comes up, I feel the need to interject the marvels of the bench capper.

cnbudz said:

I agree, but I got my cheapo swing capper for free so I figure I'll use that until either it breaks or pisses me off enough to get me to pony up the dough for a bench capper

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Same here...I'll use the hand held one until it breaks, right now I'd rather spend my dough other stuff. Even though in the end, it'd probably be worth investing in a bench capper, when it comes down to it, SWMBO only lets me spend so much a month on my beer, so I'd rather spend the money on ingredients to make more beer.

If you have beer drinking buddies, you should be able to come up with enough bottles in no time!

No one's mentioned it in this thread, but champagne bottles can be fun, too. Some work and some don't, you just need to check the lip to make sure that a cap can fit.

Happy bottling!

I just bottled a batch today, and I used 35 Grolsch bottles and 5 "others". So I only used the capper for the five, as the Grolsch bottles are swingtops. I just sanitize the rubber seals and the bottles and then close them.

The only problem is you have to drink the Grolsch to get the bottles!

Yooper Chick said:

The only problem is you have to drink the Grolsch to get the bottles!

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Here in PA, there is a beer called Stoudt's...now it aint the worst beer on earth, it is actually a well made lawnmower beer. Not too shabby. Now the bottles aren't swingtops, but you mentioning having to drink the Grolsch made me think of them. They are, however, heavy duty 16 oz. returneable bottles. The are perfect for Hefe's, or just bigger bottles if you want them...plus they come in a pretty darn sturdy box.

I just picked up six champagne bottles from a wedding last weekend. They're 24 oz. bottles so for every one I get, that's one less 12 ozer to do. It is summer, so there are lots more weddings to go to. You could also check a restaurant that sells Mimosas on Sundays, they'd be willing to save bottles for you.

Does anyone else get bottles from a bar? I just picked up 20 Grolsch bottles for the $0.05 deposit = $1.00. Cleaned and sanitized them and didn't have to drink a single bottle of Grolsch.

I get some of mine from a pub here in town, they let me take home the ones I drink and sometimes will bring me full six packs with empties in them. Usually I get to take home some unique empties and carriers.

Keep a few 2ltr plastic bottles around. Save the caps from the soda bottles. In fact, that's all I use now. I can give beer away and not worry about replacing the bottles. I reuse the caps. (I bottle a few in glass to have when I want to sample the brew while it's aging)

I's likes plastic....


Neil