bottles from local bars

Hello All,

Brewed and bottled first two beer batches.
Just curious. Never would have guessed trying to 'harvest' amber beer bottles that were usable for 'pry off tops' would even be a consideration. Know two different local people that run small bars in this rural community and both have told me ALL of their bottles ends up being twist off caps. Just never thought of this being a factor until actually getting into brewing. Of course the killer is the shipping on purchasing bottles from an online brew supplier. The closest local brew supply house to us is almost 55 miles away. Hate to drive that far for to buy 2-4 cases of amber longneck 12 ounce bottles. Factoring the cost of bottles , plus shipping really bumps up the cost of brewing. Guess kegging is an option if you have a lot of friends congregating for a drink taste testing. Thanks.

I got all of my bottles from a local sushi place. All the asian beers are pry-offs.

I guess most if not all non-craft beer comes in twist offs now. I guess your friends' bars don't sell bottled craft beer. Any other bars in your area that do?

Buy craft beer and enjoy it, then clean and save the bottles.

Any other friends in your area that brew? Maybe they have extras. A brew club perhaps?
Look on Craigslist, I see curb alerts here or people selling them for $5 a case or less. Or place a "bottles wanted" ad in there? It's all free.

I've read someone saving the caps and twists them back on after refilling and claimed getting a good seal. I do think they are special caps.

You could use soda bottles, just keep em dark.

IF you have recycling in your municipality, you can take a walk with a bag and scalp bottles from the recycling bins. I have definitely done that, but if you're in a rural area... you'd be walking quite a while.

Start drinking Martinelli's cider from the grocery store.. it has a 26-mm crown cap and is 750-mL.

Also if you are in a state like ours where just about every mom an pop convenience store sells beer and there is a deposit, the shop owners may let you have the returnables for the deposit fee if you ask nicely.

This approach worked out well when I was gathering bottles when I first started.

Also there is a free bottle link in the classified section. Look and see if any member close to you is giving away bottles.

If you are in SE Michigan I can give you a few cases of bomber bottles

Where are you located? I know of a brewer about 70 miles from me that is moving and has about 5 cases of free bottles.....don't buy bottles, for a little more buy variety packs of beer you haven't tried and wash out the bottles. Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Angry Orchars, Wood Chuck and New Belgium labels come off pretty easy. If you get bottles from a bar carefully inspect them for chips around the cap opening from when they get tossed into the recycle bin and for cigarette buts or other nasty things dropped inside.

So, I should hold onto the ~10 cases of long necks (cleaned, sanitized, bagged, cased) I haven't given away yet in hopes of a huge value appreciation?

Cheers!

bucketnative said:

IF you have recycling in your municipality, you can take a walk with a bag and scalp bottles from the recycling bins. I have definitely done that, but if you're in a rural area... you'd be walking quite a while.

Start drinking Martinelli's cider from the grocery store.. it has a 26-mm crown cap and is 750-mL.

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Even better if you live in a neighborhood with a bunch of environmentally conscious hipsters. If you walked through my neighborhood on a Thursday night, you could collect several hundred bottles in less than 15 mins.

Friend of mine is a manager of a local Hooters. He's getting his girls to save bottles for me.

I buy my bottles filled then empty them. Luganitas labels come off the easiest. Consider the bottle as $0.50 plus shipping off each purchased full bottle. So $3+ off per six pack, craft brew cost about the same as crap brew looked at this way.

Also friends who drink craft brews are usually willing to save bottles for you, especially if you promise them some of your product.

A while back I talked with the bartender at a semi-local bar/restaurant that we were having supper at, about getting some of the pop-off bottles they were recycling, that I brewed my own beer, if it wasn't any problem. They said sure, and brought me a case of bottles when we were ready to leave. I thanked them and waited 'til I got home to start cleaning and checking them. Everyone of them was a screw off bottle. Since then I've cleaned and reused bottles of Sam Adams that I bought and my supervisor is also keeping me stocked up with bottles. So basically, just buy beer and reuse the bottles.