Aluminum bottles and air-locks

[Manus_Dei]

Two questions for the pros.

1) My beer is in week #2 of fermenting, hiding behind a pile of stuff (my impromptu barricade) in the basement. My nephew (19 months) was sneaky and got past the barricade and ripped the air-lock out of the stopper for about 3-4 minutes before my brother-in-law caught him and replaced it. Is there any reason think the batch might be ruined?

2) Glass bottles are expensive if purchased empty, exactly $1/each bomber at the homebrew place by my house, but the local grocery store has 16oz aluminum bottles, full of beer, for $1. How well do these work for storing beer? Has anyone had issues with filling and capping them? Are they solid enough for reuse? I'd sure like to get some product with my money if at all possible.

Any input is always appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

 

[twistr25]

Two questions for the pros.

1) My beer is in week #2 of fermenting, hiding behind a pile of stuff (my impromptu barricade) in the basement. My nephew (19 months) was sneaky and got past the barricade and ripped the air-lock out of the stopper for about 3-4 minutes before my brother-in-law caught him and replaced it. Is there any reason think the batch might be ruined?

2) Glass bottles are expensive if purchased empty, exactly $1/each bomber at the homebrew place by my house, but the local grocery store has 16oz aluminum bottles, full of beer, for $1. How well do these work for storing beer? Has anyone had issues with filling and capping them? Are they solid enough for reuse? I'd sure like to get some product with my money if at all possible.

Any input is always appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

For 1) your beer should be fine.

For 2) I can't say I have used aluminum yet, but I think there has been a lot of movement towards aluminum cans for packaging for craft beers. I don't see why it could not be done, but I'm not exactly sure how cleaning/sanitizing of those would work.

 

[prpromin]

Fellow GR brewer, here.

I didn't have time to do a search, but I think there are problems with sealing the aluminum bottles - also, they are twist offs, right? A capper might have difficulty with those.

Why bombers? Buy a case of inexpensive beer and drink it. Clean and sanitize the bottles and you're all set for half your batch. If you keep saving bottles, pretty soon you have hundreds (I do, at least). Plus, you know, beer.

 

[prpromin]

I was wrong. Folks have used those with mixed results. Sorry about that. This is probably worth a read to see what people have run into:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/aluminum-bottles-376313/

 

[reverendj1]

Haha. Another GR brewer here.

1) Your beer is ruined. Please give to me for proper disposal. Just kidding. It will be fine as long as he didn't spit in it or something. Your beer should have a nice layer of CO2 in it to keep out any nasties.

2) If you are talking about the Bud/Bud Light aluminum bottles with crown caps, you will need a bench capper to cap them. They do not have a lip on them, like glass bottles. I have heard of people doing this, and I'm actually going to be testing this week, since I just got my bench capper. I'm also trying to figure out how to get the paint off. At any rate, like prpromin said, just buy beer and re-use the bottles. You can buy Sierra Nevada and Bell's by the case (24x12 oz) at Costco for $1 a bottle, and they come with beer in them! I don't think (in Michigan at least) that you need to be a member to buy beer/alcohol at Costco. Something about the liquor laws.

 

[Manus_Dei]

Thanks for the heads up everyone! I'm glad my beer is not donzo and I'm also glad to know you can get Bells in cases. Been buying Oberon/Two Hearted for some time now and only ever seen 6s and 12s. Looks like I will be going to Costo this week! Will also be searching for a bench capper now that I bought a dozen of those aluminum bottles :/

 

[Cyclman]

Bench cappers make bottling much easier. Beg your neighbors / friends. I offer them 2 filled homebrews for every six empties (non-twist-off) they give me. Now I had to cancel my offer, I probably have hundreds of bottles.

Also, befriend a local bartender. Give them a six pack, they'll let you raid their empties.

 

[planecrazy29]

FYI if you ever get to Kalamazoo, Bell's General Store has the best prices on bottles around. $7 a case for 12oz amber. Other sizes are lower than the local HBS also.

 

[bleme]

I talked to the owner at a local sushi restaurant and they started setting aside bottles for me. I only pick up Fridays and Saturdays bottles and get 5 bags a week.

 

[grem135]

I have always bought my bottles from the grocery or liquor store by the 12 pack or so. they end up costing about the same as the LHBS ones but they come with free beer!

 

[beergolf]

Since you live in Michigan, just go to a place that sells beer and ask to buy the empties. They get a 10 cent deposit on them. Offer them the 10 cents or even 15 cents a bottle and they will be glad to give them to you.