Not all 12 oz are created equal...

I finally did what I wanted to do for a while, weighing 12 oz empties, to see if some were stronger/more reliable than others. Here is what came out of my small sample test, from empties on hand:

Harpoon, Victory, Red Hook = 199-202 g

Lakefront = 219 g

Sam Adams = 217 g

Generic freecycled to me, probably LHBS-bought = 244 g, quite a bit more

Assuming heavier equals stronger, equals better bottling experience, I now know what to prefer.

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I've used and re-used quite a few different types of bottles with no problems except one broken neck, not sure what that bottle was.

That's interesting, the only time i have dropped and broken a bottle (empty thank god) was last week when i was cleaning and delabeling a bunch. some fell off the tray and i caught three a missed the last (sam adams), it hit the floor and shattered right out.

I have however dropped bottles before and had them bounce... It seems like with the thicker bottles the first two hits don't hurt it, it's the last light tap on the floor that breaks them. So i've learned that even if it hits the ground i can still save it... I've caught a couple with my foot after the first bounce...

A buddy of mine and I have both snapped the tops right off of redhook bottles a number of times now.

I will have to weigh my new belgium bottles and see how they compare... fat tire was the big thing on sale all the time last summer around here, so I have a lot of their bottles.

DeadYetiBrew said:

I've caught a couple with my foot after the first bounce...

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i can't tell you how many times i've dropped fragile things while my hands are full and managed to get my foot under it in some way so that i'd at least break its fall. it works very well. 1 thing i don't try to stop from hitting the ground: knives!

i just weighted two bottles. new belgium is 196.5, and rando plain bottle was 197.5. i'm not so sure that weight is necessarily a good indicator of strength. a heavy bottle with lots of bubbles in it would be weaker than a lighter bottle with no bubbles. the chemical composition of the glass has a lot to do with strength too. and don't forget design shape. a new belgium bottle is on the low end of weight, but it's more tapered, and so maybe less edges sticking out to catch the ground funny.

I've always noticed, in terms of weight:
Samuel Smiths > Paulaner > Flying Dog > Sam Adams > typical bottles

Never weighed them (just sensed by holding them), but I've suddenly got the urge to.

My roommate had some Erdinger Hefe Weizen. I'd noticed that the bottles were significantly heavier than most of the bottles I had, so I just put one on the scale. 298g - this thing is solid.

16 oz Aluminum Bud Light Bottle: 54g

I threw one at the floor. Nope, they don't break. They do bounce kinda high, though...

Yuri_Rage said:

16 oz Aluminum Bud Light Bottle: 54g

I threw one at the floor. Nope, they don't break. They do bounce kinda high, though...

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LOL, hey has anyone tried reusing the pop-off bud bottles?

DeadYetiBrew said:

LOL, hey has anyone tried reusing the pop-off bud bottles?

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Yup! They work great! You just need a bench capper (they don't have the lip on the neck for a wing capper to grab).

SenorWanderer said:

i can't tell you how many times i've dropped fragile things while my hands are full and managed to get my foot under it in some way so that i'd at least break its fall. it works very well. 1 thing i don't try to stop from hitting the ground: knives!

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I used to be a night stocker in a grocery store, and we would use our feet to catch anything glass, even if it was heavy enough that we knew it was going to hurt like crazy, because we did not want to have to waste time getting a mop and broom to clean up the mess. Stupid vinegar bottles.

Yuri_Rage said:

Yup! They work great! You just need a bench capper (they don't have the lip on the neck for a wing capper to grab).

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I prefer the original aluminum bottle...



it's cool though, we're used to it, we started the aluminum can too...and look where it's at now...