problem finding bottles

having a hard time finding bottles. dont really want to buy them at 15 bucks a case.

obviously could go to kegging but prefer bottles. any ideas on where to find cheap bottles?

Austin home brew has them for 14.99 a case but of course shipping and possible 8.25% tax on them

You can of course use empties from commercial brews. Many bars will just give them to you. Soak them, clean them, sanitize them, and recap 'em. Many homebrewers end up with way more bottles than they'll ever use.

I'm a little odd, I guess... I don't want to put my brew in a bottle with a different name on it, so I do shell out the $15 per case for new, plain bottles. That's pretty much the going rate, unfortunately.

I try to roll bottles in with my other purchases from AHS, so I at least don't have to pay for shipping.

i didnt want to "hassle" the bars around here? not a problem though?

Captainfester said:

i didnt want to "hassle" the bars around here? not a problem though?

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I don't think so - tons of people do this. All they can say is no.

I just bought some used bottles from a home brewer for $5 a case. I bought 6. I found the deal on craigs list. He also threw in about 20 wine bottles. Not the best deal but ok. Try craigslist in your area and surrounding areas.

Does your city recycle? When I first started, I went down to my local recycling center on a Sunday afternoon. About 2/3 of the people that drop by on a Sunday have at least a dozen empty beer bottles. Instant recycling! I had four cases of empty bottles in about 45 minutes.

I recently did the same thing for wine bottles. Haven't gotten into winemaking quite yet, but I'd like to sooner than later!

https://bellsbeer.com/store/products/Bottles-%2d-12-oz-Amber-%2d-Case-of-24.html

This is the cheapest I've seen. $8/case. Check the shipping tho. I'm 100 miles from them, so shipping is cheap for me too...

Make friends with a bartender.
-or-
Check Craigslist religiously.
-or-
Start drinking more.

check plus on all the above. thanks. shipping was too much on the bellsbeer but thank you anway!

SFSpencer said:

Make friends with a bartender.
-or-
Check Craigslist religiously.
-or-
Start drinking more.

Click to expand...

Let your friends know you are brewing. A sixer here, 12'er there....it adds up fast. I've had to turn down taking bottles from friends/family because I have too many now. Well, not too many, you can never have that, but more than I have space to store.

Check the classified section too. I know there's a thread with people giving free bottles away. There's even a spreadsheet to see who's closest to you.

I have a lot I was going to take back for my deposit how many do you need

Evillive said:

Check the classified section too. I know there's a thread with people giving free bottles away. There's even a spreadsheet to see who's closest to you.

Click to expand...

Yep.... I just happened upon it last night. Here's the link https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/got-free-bottles-give-away-post-em-here-157575/

i need like 10 cases. i will of course pay you for the deposit money

Wanted to through a huge thank you to hopalotamus for hooking it up big time with bottles!

Thanks again!!!

Redemption center. Even if you pay double what they do, you still get a case for $2.40. Bring a couple homebrews for the workers and you will be swimming in bottles.

dos equis bottles from the mexican restraunts.

In case anyone around central Ohio has the same problem, I have bunch of bottles I would rather take to the recycling center than delable. Shoot me a message and they are yours free.

I bought 6 cases of Asahi and Sapporo 650 ml bottles from my local sushi restaurant for the $0.05 deposit they would have got recycling them. Score!

just watch out for the fuzz in the bottom - overnight soak in the chlorinated TSP.

Also look up threads here on using oxyclean to remove labels, works great, if you dont mind using branded bottles... i use them because i hate trying to ask people for my bottles back when i give them beer...

There is an android app on the market... Craigs list something or another. It automatically searches for whatever term you are looking for, day in and day out, and alerts you when something is found. Makes finding homwbrew stuff a snap. I have carboy, homebrew, bottles, keg, and a few other common searches going on even when I'm sleeping. In cincinnati, I come across 1-2 ppl selling or giving away bottles cheap per week.

Craigs notification is the name.

Nice. Cool app