Beers with pop top (pry off) bottles

[Beezy]

I don't see how Guiness is the easiest when you have to pry out the ball. If you oxy your bottles there isn't a label out there that is hard to clean off. I like Guiness in the can anyway.

 

[MikeinCT]

I love the Sams variety pack. They always have crown caps. The labels are the easiest to remove. They have a great web site. They are American. I could go on. (To be honest though - I don't love the cherry wheat variety)

 

[jsweet]

I almost think a more useful list would be "craft/microbrews that are NOT pop-top". (A list of commercial brews/imports that are would also be handy, which seems to be what the OP was shooting for?)

I always just assume that, with the exception of "lawnmower" beers, all of the beers I buy will be pop-top, and it's always a surprise when they aren't. One example I just encountered last night was Peak Organic IPA. Very tasty IPA, but I'd already rinsed out and stored 4 of the bottles before I noticed they were twisties. D'oh!

 

[BigB]

Shock top raspberry wheat is NOT pry off, it twists off.... Looking at one now.

You do realize that the quote you are referring to is 1.5 years old, don't you? Back then, they were all pry off. AB, like many companies, changes how they do things. EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure the Shock Top raspberry wheat was even available then.

 

[unionrdr]

As of now,all the shock tops are twist offs. The Michelob amber bock's are pry off. I use them,& they work fine. And the Franziskaner weissbier is pry off too,with that amber/green glass. Paulaner bottles work great,& are amber as well. The Sierra Nevada stubbies are pry off now. I think they're reminiscent of the Belgian bottles.

 

[Stevo2569]

You do realize that the quote you are referring to is 1.5 years old, don't you? Back then, they were all pry off. AB, like many companies, changes how they do things. EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure the Shock Top raspberry wheat was even available then.

Yeh, like Michelob Amber Bock and Killians both were pop offs and now twisters.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeh, like Michelob Amber Bock and Killians both were pop offs and now twisters.

I just bought some of the amber bock last month,& they were pry offs. I have several of them. Smithwick's are pry offs,but the labels are stubborn. Maybe you have to buy the amber bock in a separate pack from those sampler packs to get the pry offs I have??

 

[rico567]

I don't see how Guiness is the easiest when you have to pry out the ball. If you oxy your bottles there isn't a label out there that is hard to clean off. I like Guiness in the can anyway.

I've done lots of bottles, and Guinness are easiest. 5 seconds to slice off the label, 15 seconds to pull out the plastic "torpedo," and you're good to go. That means 20 min. for a batch of 54 bottles. I never, ever cleaned off a batch of bottles in anything close to that.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Usually, if it's a craft beer or an import, it's very likely to be a pop top. If it's a domestic standard or light lager, it's probably a screw top. If's it's a faux craft beer from one of the big two (InBev/MillerCoors), then it's hit and miss.

 

[Valcarde]

I've noticed some pry top bottles don't work with my "wing" capper. They're mostly Belgian imports that have a really tall and shallow crown. It just won't quite go all the way because the mouth of the jaws, which should sit below the shoulder of the crown, actually sit on the bottom of the crown and can't quite fully close.

They may work fine with a bench capper, but I have to check twice.

Hobgoblin bottles have the same problem, due to the bulb underneath the crown.

 

[Zixxer10R]

I looked at quite a few in the liquor store and couldn't see anything under the cap or any kind of twist off indicator. Maybe they where all pry off tops. I didn't want to spend $10.00 on a six pack and get the wrong bottles.

It would be a safe bet that a $10 six pack is gonna be pry-off. I've yet to find a craft beer with twisties besides SN for that year mentioned above you. That's assuming commercial beers don't start charging out the yin-yang for their stuff though. If that happens then price point won't be a good factor to judge by.

 

[nefarious_1_]

Every twist top I've encountered is indicated as such on the top. If it says nothing, it's a pop-top.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Hobgoblin bottles have the same problem, due to the bulb underneath the crown.

If it's a Red Barron/Emily capper, switching the metal inserts that hold on to the bottle neck from the 26 mm side to the 29 mm side might help.

 

[nefarious_1_]

Hobgoblin bottles have the same problem, due to the bulb underneath the crown.

I run into this problem with Fuller's bottles. The Hobgoblin's work for me though, with a little coaxing.

 

[jsweet]

It would be a safe bet that a $10 six pack is gonna be pry-off. I've yet to find a craft beer with twisties besides SN for that year mentioned above you. That's assuming commercial beers don't start charging out the yin-yang for their stuff though. If that happens then price point won't be a good factor to judge by.

As I just said, Peak Organic IPA.

 

[Valcarde]

If it's a Red Barron/Emily capper, switching the metal inserts that hold on to the bottle neck from the 26 mm side to the 29 mm side might help.

I'm going to check if I can do this when I get home from work. If so, all those hobgoblin bottles I have storing until I get a bench capper won't be sitting idle any longer!

 

[klyph]

Anyone else starting to drink a lot more Red Hook now that the bottles don't have any stampings in the glass? I'm stocking up, I really like the new bottle design.

 

[unionrdr]

They kinda remind me of the stubbies of old. I saved up some of the SN stubbies for my wife's Belgian Wit. They rather loosely remind me of the style of bottles they use. But those Red Hooks have a lot of style to them,I dare say.

 

[Sacreddog717]

I feel the same way. I really like the new RedHook bottles. My buddies were laughing at me saying "You're the type of person that this marketing works on." I've always liked RedHook and it makes me lean toward buying it. So good for them and me.

 

[unionrdr]

Don't let them bother you. If/when they start home brewing,they'll start studying. Only then will they learn what we already know in here.:cross:

 

[Sacreddog717]

The funny thing is that I just started kegging a couple months ago and still dont want to give up my bottles. So I figured if I just started replacing them with cooler bottles then it wouldn't be a big deal. No wonder my SWMBO looks at me sideways as I'm rinsing new bottles out.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm like that too. I try to buy craft beers with cool bottle styles to put my beer in. Just looks classier. Like the German Paulaner bottles with the bearded monks around the shoulder of the bottle. And that amber with a hint of green color. Dito on the Franziskaner bottles,cool amber/green again. And the Michelob amber bock bottles that look like the old fused-neck style. And the Sam Adams bottles shape,& lighter brown color.

 

[rico567]

I use a bench capper, so every time I come across a bottle of a different height, I have to adjust. It's 9" longnecks all the way for me.....well, except for 25 or so flip-top pints, and they don't count. Stubbies don't interest me, or I'd have started collecting and using Sierra Nevada bottles a long time ago.

 

[Beezy]

I like the rauchbier bottles. Big thick glass sobs. Its too bad you cant drink a beer like that everyday. I only have 2.

 

[surtur]

I know its a no no but i use MGD clear bottles just keep them in a dark closet ...
Basically i just stock piled them when i first started doing Brew in a box home brew.
me and my roommates drank that stuff like water so i had a few hundred bottles.
slowly i will replace them with better bottles but it will be a slow process.

other then those i have some King hefe 1L swing tops that i use and will buy those one or two at a time every few weeks.

 

[stvo]

Anyone else starting to drink a lot more Red Hook now that the bottles don't have any stampings in the glass? I'm stocking up, I really like the new bottle design.

Oh man these are the best and cool looking... I knew I was going to host a half dozen family party's over the summer (new pool and in laws that like to drink but not bring beer) so when I saw these at my local super market at $10.97 a 12er I picked up 8 cases, labels come off easy in hot water too

 

[powderboards]

Goose island has pop tops

 

[jimbobbillyray]

New Castle are pop tops...

But, don't buy a sixer. They are a bit skunky. A 12 pack SHOULD be better, because they are better shielded from UV.

New Castle is pretty darn tasty out of the mini-keg, however

I thought I remember Shock Top being twist off....but that was last summer. Pretty sure they were twist offs in the store.

Is Michelob Amber Bock pop top? It is near half the price of all of the craft beers, and I am still building a homebrew supply...

Yes they're pry offs I have several of those I use often

Edit, also have some Shiner Bock bottles work very well also

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Goose island has pop tops

Haven't had their regular beers but a Bourbon County bottle cracked from the capper the last time I tried to use it.

 

[fuelish]

Sweetwater

 

[Kd0dfg]

I find Fat tire very easy bottles to prep, a quick soak in hot water they peel right off with a quick scrub of a brush gets any residue off

 

[GPP33]

I find just about all labels come off easy with a simple warm PBW soak. The ones that don't get recycled. I really like the ones with plastic labels that you can just peel right off. Don't remember any of the brands though.

BTW, super old thread....

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Not necessarily for Sierra Nevada... I have an empty 6 pack of SN pale ale... Twist off. there are two others however that I just thought of: Michelob craft beer series and Bells.

I've never seen Sierra Nevada with screw caps.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

For the record....Sierra Neveda went to twist off for about a year but then converted back to pop tops. Most micro and regionals will have pop tops while many commercial beers will have the twist offs. I did notice that locally Blue Point uses twist off.

That's because they are owned by AB InBev.

 

[Imacfrog]

Many of the hard ciders are also pry off tops.

 

[johnnydoggs]

So are twist tops no good for re-purposing then?

 

[Brownalemikie]

So are twist tops no good for re-purposing then?

I've heard of guys that save the screw off caps and re-use them on screw off bottles but it seems that using pop off caps is not a good idea.

 

[ronb454]

I searched for this and decided to start a thread to make it an easier search. I have compiled some beer and beer companies that use pop top bottles for those of us that like to buy beer and then use the bottles.

I myself can not tell if the bottle is a twist off or screw off with the cap on, so I would like everyone add to the list I have complied from searching through all these threads.

Here's what I have. Please correct me if I have any incorrect info.

Here goes:

Guiness
Sam Adams
Red Hook
Celis
Schalafly
Big Sky
Saranac
Warsteiner
Boulder beer
Sierra Nevada beer
New Belgium
Fat Tire

Good Ol Miller Fortune and Bud Black Crown