Yuck - Grolsch

Ugh, I hate Grolsch with a passion, but I just bought a whole bunch of it just for the 16 oz swingtop bottles. I wanted to earn them rather than buy this style of bottle at the LHBS. I have issues...

Anyone else put themselves through this? I just don't like any beer in green bottles with the exception of Canadian beer, which I typically only drink in Canada or if I am at a hockey game (Go Bruins!).

I am going to keg my Belgian Witbier, and I already have an Amber Ale in regular capped bottles but I wanted the swing top for my next brew (yet to be determined...but will be something light for summer).

Invite some friends over to watch a game and push the beer on them.

Grolsch is actually a decent lager, but you need to get properly stored bottles. Most of the time, they've been through large temperature swings and had a ton of light exposure. After that sort of treatment, no beer is good.

And make sure when you bottle in those green bottles you keep them out of light. Unless that is you want them to taste like, well, Grolsch.

Yeah, i don't like Grolsch either.....that's why i buy my bottles back from the recycle depot for $3 per dozen...much easier....

Jmac00 said:

Yeah, i don't like Grolsch either.....that's why i buy my bottles back from the recycle depot for $3 per dozen...much easier....

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I haven't been able to find a local place that I can do this at yet.

I never had Grolsch but plan to buy a case this weekend for the swingtop bottles. How much does a case of the swingtops run?

12x 16oz for 30$ or 12x 1 liter for 40$ at my LHBS. Online prices I've seen have been fairly similar.

Sorry, I was actually asking how much a case of Grolsch cost but thanks for that info as I was curious about that as well.

Around here, the bottles of Grolsch sell for $3 each.....so a case of 12 Grolsch is $36 Cdn.......this is why i won't buy them just for the bottles, i pay for them from the depot, much cheaper, and i don't have to drink the nasty beer.

Chadwell, i'm not sure what your local laws are, but around here we pay a deposit, then return them to the depot to get some of it back. So if you have no recycle depots in your area, then i'd start putting wanted ads for the bottles up on Craigslist (we have kijiji here) or any other classified ads looking for the bottles. Or i've read some ppl on here ask around the local restaurants and bars and give them away....Good luck..

Chadwell said:

Ugh, I hate Grolsch with a passion, but I just bought a whole bunch of it just for the 16 oz swingtop bottles. I wanted to earn them rather than buy this style of bottle at the LHBS. I have issues...

Anyone else put themselves through this? I just don't like any beer in green bottles with the exception of Canadian beer, which I typically only drink in Canada or if I am at a hockey game (Go Bruins!).

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I hadn't tried Grolsch in probably about 25 years. I didn't like it way back then, but I figured my tastes have probably changed, right? Besides, I wanted the bottles. I think I paid $8-9 (US) for a 4-pack.

Well, I'm glad I only bought a 4-pack. I forced myself to drink one of them, but now I can't force myself to choke down another one and I can't bear the thought of pouring "beer" down the drain, so there they sit in the back of my fridge...and sit...and sit...

Oh, and Go Bruins!!!

The only way to drink Grolsch is fresh from the brewery. Hell, it's even good in the can when it's fresh.

(Lived in the Netherlands 3.5 years)

The wife likes it!

Well I went to pick up a case of the flip tops and they were out. Oh well. I will try a 4 pack first and go from there.

You might want to try Fischer also. It is a French beer in 16oz amer swingtops that sells for just over $3. The bottles are great for homebrew IMHO and the beer is definitely better than Grolsch, although not great.

Yes here in greater Chicagoland, I found that finding bottles at the local recycling center worked fine. As mentioned above, I'd be cautious about using green bottles.

I've gotta check a few more recycling centers. Perhaps I just ran into a grouchy guy that day. We do have the 5 cent deposits here in MA. A 4 pack of Grolsch runs $9. I figured my tastes have changed over the years (like Greyhound mentioned!) since I appreciate the taste of beer much more, but no, still don't like Heineken, Grolsch, or any other lager of that variety. I was drinking the Grolsch yesterday/last night and stripping the labels and cleaning them as I went (felt like a small victory each time!). I plan on continuing. It is tough since I have two cases of Amber ready to drink and also a 12 of Hoegaarden in the fridge!

Pappers said:

Yes here in greater Chicagoland, I found that finding bottles at the local recycling center worked fine. As mentioned above, I'd be cautious about using green bottles.

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If your green bottles will be exposed to light, you could just spray paint the bottles. I'm sure they make paint specifically for glass - Krylon Fusion might do the trick.

a case of Grolsch swingtops is $39 here. Keep in mind that a case of swing tops is only 20 beers not 24 like usual.

A 4 pack here is $7.50.

I wouldn't buy a beer I didn't like just to get the bottles. My collection of 16 oz. flip-tops comes from the $1 special MW offers when you buy a kit. Since I'm shipping the kits anyhow, it doesn't really add any cost. I'm up to about 20 now....

I am pretty sure Grolsch makes beer in brown bottles too. I've never bought it myself, but I found about 8 of the green bottles in my basement. Must have picked them up from somewhere and forgot about them. Now what to do with them...

rico567 said:

I wouldn't buy a beer I didn't like just to get the bottles.

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I actually do it quite often. My favorite Micro uses screw tops.

The wife likes lots of beers I don't so when I buy to her style, I make sure I can use the bottle. I also have two kids who are both out of college and when they come home all their friends head over here. I buy them Miller Lite and Bud Light in the 16oz plastics. Works great for me... I get bottles without drinking swill or having to watch a bunch of people just looking to get drink suck down all my beer!

Chadwell-
When I still lived in Boston/Cambridge, we used to take shopping carriages and go down the street before BFI or WMI did. We'd usually get enough bottles to buy a couple of racks of Yeungling's Black and Tan pint cans every day. You just gotta get a hold of the schedules and see which neighborhoods get their recyclables picked up on which days.
This way you'd have $ from the screw-tops and cans, and pry-tops for your brew.
The various parts of Newton were good. As were the campus housing areas (not the dorms, tho).

I was in the same boat. Grolsch just doesn't taste good to me. Although I find that if I add some lime to the beer it cuts down on that nasty skunky taste.

Fischer uses amber flip tops for many of their brews. They're not bad.

I use Grolsch to add bubbles to the bath-water I wash the dogs in....
Makes their coats shiny and cost half of what the vet wants for the prescription stuff.

Homercidal said:

I am pretty sure Grolsch makes beer in brown bottles too. I've never bought it myself, but I found about 8 of the green bottles in my basement. Must have picked them up from somewhere and forgot about them. Now what to do with them...

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Apfelwein time!

Flensburger Pils from Germany has brown flip tops, can you get that in the USA?

I've done it too. I hate it too. But worth it for the bottles. I buy 4 packs of 16oz. in NJ for $7-$8. I just wish they were brown.

Grolsh makes a good amber that comes in brown swing tops.
I have several cases!

How much sunlight does a beer in green bottles need to become light struck? How can they get light struck in carboard 4 packs, in cardboard case boxes?

I have a homebrew I put in Grolsch bottles, back in the 4 packs, in the closet. We open the closet to grab some coats and stuff and then nclose it right away. Now I am worried; they way you guys talk it seems like 5 seconds of sunlight and the beer is trash.

Heh, I haven't had a Grolsh in prob a year but when I was drinking it I loved the stuff. Since I've started brewing all I've been drinking are Ale's with the exclusion of SA (lager and winter lager) but I'm sure my taste's may have changed so it could be hard going back but I still think about picking up a 12-pack from time to time.

double_e5 said:

Apfelwein time!

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Great Idea, but my last batch of apfelwein is in my keg, conditioning...

I *could* brew up a small batch of soda for the kids and put it in the grolsch bottles. I bet they would think that is fun.