bottles from the recycle tub?

So i'm at my local pub sunday night having a DFH Palo Santo and talking with one of the bartenders i know there about what they do with their bottles since they have lots of brews in larger "bomber" size bottles. He says they put them all in a recycling tub in the back and i could come take some any time i wanted.

I'm not sure if this is smart or not. Any suggestions?? I want some bombers, but don't really ever buy any larger bottle size beers. Would i be able to clean and sanitize these bottles by soaking in bleach solution and scrubbing?

Free bottles sound "smart" to me. Just de-label them first. Wash and scrub in a separate container to eliminate the risk of glue residue, dry them out and re-rinse them before sanitizing.

Reminds me of the little 12 oz Corona bottles i got from a buddy when i started out (still using those) how hard i had to brush scrub some of them, and oh the horror found at the bottom of some of them...

Was hard work, but hey... i did it all for the brew! :rockin:

Oxyclean + Big Tub + Bottles + a few hours + good rinse = clean bottles

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/used-bottle-cleaning-help-95171/

+1 on what T said - a good long soak in Oxyclean Free does wonders.

Remember, there are two steps you're interested in: 1. cleaning and 2. sanitizing. The Oxyclean soak is for cleaning, and maybe a bottle brush, and then you'll need to sanitize, with Star San or some other rinse free sanitizer, or bleach (and then rinse well).

Free bottles = good

Jim

I've gotten several bottles from our recycling center. Just wash them and check inside for any objects.

I +1 the oxyclean. I use second hand bottles 'all the time' (being subjective as I've only brewed twice... but most of those were second hand bottles)...

The big 500ml sizes that are all over Japan (Asahi, Sapporo, Suntory, etc) are awesome for this.... The oxyclean has gotten off even the grossest and crustiest of stuff from recycled bottles.

+1 on the above posts, but here is what I did when I scored ~200 bottles from the recycling center.

1 day soak in a strong bleach solution then bottle brush

2 day soak in oxyclean and another bottle brush

wiped the bottles down with a scour pad then rinsed twice and dried.

waiting to sanitize and fill with beer.

YMMV

One thing to add to everything already stated. Make sure you inspect them before you try to use them. I've had a few bottles that I got from recycling bins break when capping. I assume it's from when they are tossed in the bin.