Some questions on PET bottles

Last night I bottled my first batch of beer. I had just enough bottles to do it. I am not permitted to have glass bottles shipped to me but a case worth of brown glass bottles made it to me through the mail anyway, but the rest were rejected so I won't be doing that again. I made up the difference with Beck's non-alcoholic beer bottles. They seem to be working fine. But why the hell would I continue to buy non-alcoholic beer when I have my own homebrew now? Another concern I have about the Beck's bottles is they are rather thin and while they should do fine for the next couple batches I have planned, I eventually want to try experimenting with carbonation levels and I don't know how much pressure they can take.

I was contemplating using plastic soda bottles since I drink quite a bit of that and have the bottles to spare. If I were the only one drinking them that would be fine. But word has gotten out amongst the diplomatic community here about me being a brewer and many of them, including the Ambassador, want to try my beer. More brewing means more experience so I am all for that. But the idea of giving beer bottled in Pepsi Max bottles to folks like that just doesn't quite sit right with me.

So I can't order glass bottles. I don't like the quality of the glass bottles I can get here. And I want the bottles to look nice enough to take to functions attended by some pretty high level people.

So I am thinking about these from AHS:



The stats are here.

They don't look too shabby. They are pricey but I don't mind paying the money if they are good and will last. Which brings me to some questions about them.

1. The bottoms look like a pain to clean. But if I just do a lengthy soak in PBW solution will that be good enough to clean them and prevent any transfer of flavors?

2. How many volumes of CO2 can these things hold? I don't need a specific number but are they strong enough to hold the more highly carbonated styles of beer?

3. How long will they last me? I'd rather not have to change them out every year. I figure I will have to change the caps every now and then, which is fine.

I also like them because I move from country to country and they will be able to go with me without any danger of breaking.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I've used similar bottles in the past. They worked fine for the first use and are somewhat unpredictable on a second use. I sent a BD gift to a friend and 1/2 turned out to be flat by the time he drank them. I now am using them up to give out beer from the keg that I know will be used up in a day or so. Don't really know how much carbing they will handle beyond your basic brew. Also not sure how they would survive long PBW soaks as I usually rinsed them right after use and they were easy to clean at that point.

Surely the Ambassador can get you glass bottles shipped in, otherwise what good is he?

They are designed for soda, so they should take 4 volumes (~30 PSI) no problem.

Love the plastic bottles.

I've re-used Crystal Geyser mineral water 18oz and 42oz clear PET bottles, and they seem to work pretty well. I've never used them twice, though.