Score, case of old bottles

I was talking to my parents about how I had recently picked up about 3 cases of bottles from someone locally for free, but was telling them that I had already used most of them for my last batch and needed yet another case for the batch I had just brewed over the weekend. They tell me they think there is a case of empty leinenkugel bottles in the garage. That's great, what do I need with a case of twist-offs, but I decide to check just in case. There is a whole case of old crown top leinenkugel bottles in the garage in a box sturdy enough to ride out a nuclear blast if you could crawl inside.

Turns out that they bought the case about 10 years or so ago and actually had to pay a deposit on the bottles and box, and just forgot to return it.

Don't know why, but I'm far more excited about this case than the 3 I got before that.

Very cool. Don't worry pretty soon you'll have a huge stash of bottles and you'll wonder how you came to have so many!

yeah ain't THAT the truth? And then you will find you could use still more. but where the heck to store them all? The better half commented just the other day, that I'm acquiring too many bottles and kegs (kegs are up to 6 now and I stopped counting the bottles after a couple hundred) -my comment? No darlin', not by far!

Nightbiker said:

....that I'm acquiring too many bottles and kegs.....

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No such thing.

I finally got around to cleaning these bottles today. Wow, they are really heavy. I thought maybe I was imagining it, but I grabbed one of the newer bottles that I had laying around, and the old leinenkugel bottles weigh about twice as much as any of my newer bottles.

Loup said:

I finally got around to cleaning these bottles today. Wow, they are really heavy. I thought maybe I was imagining it, but I grabbed one of the newer bottles that I had laying around, and the old leinenkugel bottles weigh about twice as much as any of my newer bottles.

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I have nearly 3 cases of old Carling Black label pint bottles. The are really heavy and thick as well, I love them! I believe that bottling lines were a lot different in the old days, and the bottles had to be sturdier than today.

i have a few old bottles they are all real heavy as well, pretty nice. but after 3 years of bottling i think i have something like 200 bottles in boxes down in the basement. i'm not to worried about running out, haha. whenever i start kegging, i'll need to find someone local to give a bunch of bottles to!

Old bottles are very cool. Pics??

Sean said:

Old bottles are very cool. Pics??

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Beer Porn



I love the marks from the bottling lines on some of them, and am surprised how others are so clean still...these probably were from the 1970's...

Not all the bottles were carling bottles in the cases when I got them, most were from Straub and Stoney's out of PA.

This is all I've really got from before I removed the labels.

I decided to give them a second soak in oxi-clean. Even after a 24 hour soak and scrubbing with a bottle brush there was some residue in the bottom of the bottle. I figure some fresh oxi-clean and another soak should get rid of what's left.

Loup said:

I decided to give them a second soak in oxi-clean. Even after a 24 hour soak and scrubbing with a bottle brush there was some residue in the bottom of the bottle. I figure some fresh oxi-clean and another soak should get rid of what's left.

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A jet bottle washer will help too...the 3 cases were sitting in the back of my LHBS for god knows how many years when I bought them...all manner of dead insects and other flotsum and jetsum had floated to the surface of the oxyclean tub when I was cleaning mine...

One reason they were so heavey is because they were returnable -they had to be made to withstand a lot of abuse and not break -bottles were a substantial investment (as they are for homebrewers today) but todays' bottles are much lighter and less able to withstand the tests of time. I've had a number of them over the last year that were chipped (and in some cases outright broke) under the crown when they were opened.
I don't abuse my bottles, and I don't go nuts when capping. I meticulously inspect them before filling and capping to make sure there are no cracks or chips (absolutely no beer is worth accidentally swallowing a chip of glass -I've seen glass and other objects do horrible things to the gastro-intestinal tract) and one of the prime benefactors of my production (my PCP who isn't just my doc, but also a family friend) is the kind of guy who would never use anything but a proper bottle opener to open a bottle of beer) has commented that sometimes the bottles chip under the cap.
He knows to report any abnormalities so that I can track any problems that arise.
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hell of a find on those old bottles. Lucky dog!
I'm to the point that my goal next year is to do away with bottling except in certain circumstances (particularly some of the heavier beers that would benefit from long aging times or when a beer turns out exceptionally well, I'll bottle it (counterpressure) and put it away for future enjoyment.

I've acquired a few ceramic bottles that are combination crownable AND flip-top for just such occasions (besides which they look pretty cool and would make great gift-bottles).