Transfer from PET Bottles to Glass

Quick question that I was thinking about the other day and finally have a place to ask it. My first homebrew (via the Mr. Beer kit) is currently fermenting and I plan to bottle it in the included 1-liter PET bottles so that I can tell when carbonation is done (via stiffness of bottle) as well as in the case that I do over-carb I don't want to have a glass explosion.

I can easily find reusable glass bottles, but I don't see many brown/green plastic bottles to use as a replacement for the ones that came with the kit, so my question is the following.

Is it possible to transfer beer that has conditioned & carb'd in a PET bottle into a glass bottle or will I just pretty much undo all of my carbonation and have a flat beer stored in my glass bottle? If it is not possible, can anyone recommend an alternative to this?

Thank you!

There's no way to do that that won't run the risk of oxydizing your beer. Just enjoy these beers as is, and bottle your next batch in whatever you want. Do change things in mid stream.

+1 to the Rev

Why do you want to transfer?

jsv1204 said:

+1 to the Rev

Why do you want to transfer?

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For the first few times I wanted to bottle in the PET bottles so I could check their carbonation via feeling the bottle and not run the risk of over carbonating and having a glass bottle explode.

BUT I only have a limited supply of PET bottles to bottle in, but many more glass bottles so just trying to figure out a solution.

But I guess after the first few batches I will just bottle in glass after I have enough experience with the amount of sugar needed to reach the correct carbonation level.

You don't need to "feel your beer" to know if it's carbed. Just don't try them until it's been a MINIMUM of three weeks for a 12 ounce bottle stored at or above 70 degrees, or in the case of those pet bottles or larger, at least 5 weeks.

And as to bottle bombs, if you make sure your beer is completely done fermenting and conditioned for awhile, used the correct amount of sugar, and made sure to clean and sanitize your bottles and caps, there's really no need to fear a bottle bomb.

Revvy said:

You don't need to "feel your beer" to know if it's carbed. Just don't try them until it's been a MINIMUM of three weeks for a 12 ounce bottle stored at or above 70 degrees, or in the case of those pet bottles or larger, at least 5 weeks.

And as to bottle bombs, if you make sure your beer is completely done fermenting and conditioned for awhile, used the correct amount of sugar, and made sure to clean and sanitize your bottles and caps, there's really no need to fear a bottle bomb.

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Revvy - thanks for the insight.

So those 1-liter bottles could need almost 5 weeks to fully carb? Good to know as I was only planning on going for 2-3 weeks. Thank you!

Stigy said:

Revvy - thanks for the insight.

So those 1-liter bottles could need almost 5 weeks to fully carb? Good to know as I was only planning on going for 2-3 weeks. Thank you!

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Bigger bottles take longer than 12 ouncers....

Revvy said:

Bigger bottles take longer than 12 ouncers....

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Makes sense now that someone said it, just never crossed my mind to increase the carb time for a larger bottle.

There is such a wealth of information here - it is absolutely incredible. Thanks again!

One thing many people do, especially the impatient ones like me, is to bottle one or two out of every batch in 16 oz soda bottles. It works great (just don't use bottles from "smelly" soda like rootbeer) and then you can judge carbonation with just a squeeze.

In a pinch, I've forced carbed beer in PET bottles for competitions. To tranfer to glass, all you need is a Carbonator Cap and a picnic tap. Put a gas out disconnect onto the picnic tap and use the "We no need no stinking beer gun... " method. Bleed the air space off the PET bottle, turn it up-side-down and squeeze. Works fine. Minimal O2 and little carbonation loss.

Edit to say:
It helps to have two people.

AnOldUR said:

In a pinch, I've forced carbed beer in PET bottles for competitions. To tranfer to glass, all you need is a Carbonator Cap and a picnic tap. Put a gas out disconnect onto the picnic tap and use the "We no need no stinking beer gun... " method. Bleed the air space off the PET bottle, turn it up-side-down and squeeze. Works fine. Minimal O2 and little carbonation loss.

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This is probably the ONLY safe method to do it and protect the beer.

Revvy said:

And as to bottle bombs, if you make sure your beer is completely done fermenting and conditioned for awhile, used the correct amount of sugar, and made sure to clean and sanitize your bottles and caps, there's really no need to fear a bottle bomb.

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(nods) be methodical about your calc's, precise with your measurements (sugar weight and wort volume), patient with your fermentation and thorough with your sanitation and bottle bombs should not be a concern. PET should give you a good "feel" for what is going on.