what type of bottles

I just got into home brewing and I'm not sure what type of bottles are best. Can you use twist off?

Don't use twist off bottles. Some people have success with them. Far more people experience sealing problems and breakage (they're made from thinner glass and can break during bottling).

Use pry-offs or Grolsch style swing-tops.

Welcome to the forums! A quick hint...learn use the search function. A search for the word "twist" would have yielded your answer.

I say a big No to twist tops. I know some have had sucess using a bench capper but why take the chance of having your bottles leak. Brown bottles that need a key to open or swing top are the best.

Both can be purchased new from any home brew store.
You can have your friends save bottles for you. If your friends only drink twist off BMC, get a better class of friends.
You can make deals with bars to save bottles for you or you can check out craig's list. Lots of folks have stock piles of bottles that they'll give you for free or for the deposit amount.

Welcome to HBT!

I use the Plastic (amber) PET bottles. They have the screw tops and are reusable many times. Pretty cheap also (about $15 for 24 bottles). i have used them for about 7 batches so far and still look/work great.

I use mostly glass but will add a couple of PET bottles. They are a good indication of how carbination is going. When they are rock hard you know carbing went well.

I'm not sure about everybody else but the set of flip tops bottles i have suck..There brand new, i've used them once and most of the batched is friggin flat...My suggestion would be to stick with any sized amber bottles and use bottle caps with them. Or keg..

I use 90% Grolsch type bottles with the flip top. They are great! You can buy new rubber (silicone?) seals when you need to, but I've been reusing the same ones over and over.

Yuri_Rage said:

Welcome to the forums! A quick hint...learn use the search function. A search for the word "twist" would have yielded your answer.

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Actually, that probably would have brought up pictures of that naked twister game that the VAgraNCy boys had... way too much of a sausage fest.

the_bird said:

way too much of a sausage fest.

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No such thing!

YooperBrew said:

I use 90% Grolsch type bottles with the flip top. They are great! You can buy new rubber (silicone?) seals when you need to, but I've been reusing the same ones over and over.

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I wish my were as good. I dont know what I'm doing wrong. I cant imagine that you can screw it up. You know, flipping the tops on. My last batch i wanted to try them again, so i filled a couple of them. 2 to 3 weeks later , the same flat beer.

I dunno, I never seem to get carbonation that's as good with the flip-tops. New gaskets and everything. Carbonation is always more hit-or-miss with them, it seems, whereas with regular crown-top bottles, it's pretty consistent.

So, chalk me up as one that doesn't really love the flip-tops.

the_bird said:

I dunno, I never seem to get carbonation that's as good with the flip-tops. New gaskets and everything. Carbonation is always more hit-or-miss with them, it seems, whereas with regular crown-top bottles, it's pretty consistent.

So, chalk me up as one that doesn't really love the flip-tops.

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Me too. Miss more than hit...

Bulls Beers said:

Me too. Miss more than hit...

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I guess I can understand that- but I've never had an issue at all. Perfectly carbed beer in a flip top. I'm pretty anal about making sure the tops fit perfectly, though.

I have a few half liter swing tops, and no problems thus far. Getting back to the original question, I get my bottles from the local package store - they are happy to sell me returned bottles for the deposit price. Just be sure to wash out the crud and cigarette butts!!

I have had the best results with Dogfish Head bottles. The labels come off SO easily compared to most other brands. Buy a case of your favorite DFH variety, and rinse them out as you finish them. When you have a full case of empties, dump them into a cooler or washtub with about 5 gallons of water and a scoop of OxyClean (or B-Brite, or One Step, etc.) Submerge them all so the labels stay wet. In less than an hour the adhesive from the labels will be super soft and the labels that haven't already floated away on their own will slide right off. Once you get all the labels off, go over the bottles with a scrub brush to get the last bit of adhesive residue off.

I did this routine for a couple months and now I have about 8 cases of squeaky clean empties that I can use for my homebrew. Of course, I'm kegging now as well so I tend to leave the bottles on the shelf until I do a batch that I intend to give out to friends (Christmas this year... 6-packs of Oatmeal Stout!) or when I do something that will require extreme aging like a high-gravity ale. Rather than tying up a keg for 4-5 months, I just bottle it and forget it until it has achieved bottle-conditioned perfection. :rockin:

I've never used PET bottles...

beer in plastic bottles???? never!!!!!! :cross:

I used about 3 twist off bottles when I last bottled. Thankfully they didn't break, but they were a huge PITA to release from the capper.

I have swing tops to get most of the batch in bottles, and then the rest are pry off's.

Plastic Pet bottles...With screw on caps...Works for me.