grolsch bottles

Quick question.
I used grolsch bottles for the 1st time and have just finished my the first one from that batch and it occurs to me... are the rubber seals reusable?
And as long as I'm here asking questions... is there any difference other than athstetic value to using them?
thanks
FFF

yes, they are reusable many times. Take them off the caps when you sterilize to make sure you get them clean, but they will last for some time.

As for other differences... they are a HECK of a lot easier to use than a regular bottle with a cap. Just flip to close, and flip to open. These are the cadillacs of homebrew bottles, my friend.

-walker

Thanks,
Someone gave me a couple dozen, he didnt home brew, he just collected them because he liked the bottles. I guess I'll bring him a few full one to say thanks
FFF

Mark79 said:

I guess I'll bring him a few full one to say thanks
FFF

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Just make sure he gives them back to you in the end! Those things are great.

You can buy 'generic' grolsch-style bottles at any homebrew shop. The catch is that they cost $20 or more for 12 of them! If I could buy Grolsch in the stores around here, I probably would JUST to get the bottles. If you have enough of these, you never have to buy caps again!

One more thing about the seals... when they eventually DO wear out, you can buy new seals from a homebrew store or online site.

enjoy those bottles!

-walker

Considering that Grolsch costs about $28 - $30 a case (24) in these parts, the beer is a bargain.

To echo Walker, they do wear out.

Eventually they'll get a permanent ring embedded in it. After that they're pretty much gone.

You may want to consider boiling older ones in water for about 5 minutes. You'll be surprised at the gunk that comes off of them and floats to the top of the water. You want to make sure they're clean.

Walker said:

You can buy 'generic' grolsch-style bottles at any homebrew shop. The catch is that they cost $20 or more for 12 of them! If I could buy Grolsch in the stores around here, I probably would JUST to get the bottles. If you have enough of these, you never have to buy caps again!

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Just FYI guys, you can use the reg. bottle caps over and over again - if you remove them with say a lighter or soemthing else that pries it off instead of bending it off like most do. I bottle very little ill admit (thats what the keg's r for), but i have yet to ever *buy* bottle caps - i just take off normal caps a little more gently than the next guy, toss em in sanitizer when bottling day comes along and thats that.
hadn't seen it mentioned around the site yet so i just figured i'd offer that up to those interested

that's a little more frugal than I care to be. seems too risky, but more power to you for pulling it off.

-walker

picture the scene.
a crowded backyard bbq.
cases of homebrew.
fun
frolics
a bit of banter
and everyone gently prising the caps off their beer...
I could possible see it happening for the first few arrivals. thats about it though

With the advent of ABV's up to 15% in NC I'm seeing lots of fliptops at the finer purveyors of beer and I've just been grabbing one or two a week, "emptying" the contents, and then using the bottles for homebrews. I've got 24 grolschies already, but I'm augmenting them now with 1/2L and 1L fliptops.

BeeGee said:

With the advent of ABV's up to 15% in NC I'm seeing lots of fliptops at the finer purveyors of beer.

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I'll have to keep my eyes open. I have noticed a dramatic increase in the variety of beers, but I wasn't paying particula attention to bottles.... until now.

-walker

Walker said:

I'll have to keep my eyes open. I have noticed a dramatic increase in the variety of beers, but I wasn't paying particula attention to bottles.... until now.

-walker

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Don't know where your exact location is, but the Whole Foods on Wade Ave. has a very nice selection now. The Rogue Imperials come in nice ceramic fliptops and are fantastic beers, to boot. Peace St. Market on drumroll Peace St. also has a good selection. Perhaps some of the wine stores will add high abv beers to the aisles.

BeeGee said:

Don't know where your exact location is, but the Whole Foods on Wade Ave. has a very nice selection now. The Rogue Imperials come in nice ceramic fliptops and are fantastic beers, to boot. Peace St. Market on drumroll Peace St. also has a good selection. Perhaps some of the wine stores will add high abv beers to the aisles.

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I live up near 540/Falls of Neuse. My sister-in-law works right next to the Peace St Market, and I always make her fetch my beers for me. I'll have her take a look-see today before she comes home.

As for the ceramic bottles... don't those things sponge up the liquid a little? (ie; next to impossible to really get clean?)

-walker

Walker said:

As for the ceramic bottles... don't those things sponge up the liquid a little? (ie; next to impossible to really get clean?)

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Beats me. I have one I've used 2-3 times without incident. The outside surface seems to be lightly glazed, but I'm not sure about the inside. All of my 1L are glass which is my ultimate destination (all 1L fliptops or kegging).

Something else to keep an eye on are Fischer Amber bottles. Surprisingly, the local Vons still carries it despite ditching the entire line of Grolsch.

Just throwin in my 2 cents - I'm down with the Fischer's bottles - they're slightly larger than grolsch's

I use grolsch quite a bit and a couple fischer bottles.
If you use flip top lids, I remove the lid and soak them in sanitizer before bottling. Thats cause I use my dishwasher for santizing my bottles. The dishwasher would harm the lids.

xpoc454 said:

The dishwasher would harm the lids.

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How so? Mine are fine, and I always put them in the dishwasher.

-walker

Walker said:

How so? Mine are fine, and I always put them in the dishwasher.

-walker

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Me, too. No problems yet. I remove the rubber seals, though.

I remove the rubber seals every once in a while (every three uses, or when they look really nasty) and boil them, but for the most part I just leave them on the caps and run'em through the dishwasher.

-walker

I'm concerned about the dry/wet/heat cycle drying out the rubber, but it may not be an issue. Hmmm...I wonder if something like 303 protectant could be used to extend the life of the gaskets...

now you have me worried about my seals, BeeGee.

crap... bottling day is going to suck even MORE now.

-walker

Just getting you back for that bottling bucket valve...

Actually, I've never had any issues with the flip-top gaskets.

Do you guys use a cleaning cycle with no soap, than a heated dry and a heated santize cycle?

The heated dry and santize cycles are the ones that concern me on damaging the lids and the rubber seals.

yeah, that's what I do.. and now I am worried, too.

I gotta stop reading this message board. I'm becoming more paranoid about everything now, even though I've been homebrewing for a while.

-walker

xpoc454 said:

Do you guys use a cleaning cycle with no soap, than a heated dry and a heated santize cycle?

The heated dry and santize cycles are the ones that concern me on damaging the lids and the rubber seals.

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Yes, that's it, except as mentioned I remove the rubber seals first. I generally sanitize them in sanitizing solution since I have plenty of it during bottling and I try to avoid heating the seals. I can't see heat hurting the flip-tops themselves, although depending on how you packed the washer they could get chipped by other lids/bottles.

Maybe I will stop removing the lids and just remove the rubber seals. I was always told the heat in the dishwasher will slowly wear it out and make them brittle.

I suppose it could...just hasn't happened to me, though.