Bottling in "Big 20" Coke bottles.

[jim4065]

I bottled a couple of my first batch in small plastic Coke bottles. One in a 20 oz and one in a 16 oz. That was on 11/18/09. Popped the 20 oz about an hour ago - perfect. I'll wait awhile before opening the 16, but my question is - What's wrong with it? As long as the cap is screwed down TIGHT it seems to work just fine. It even has the "raised bottom" that Williams Brewing says acts to trap the yeast.

 

[Barc]

I see no problem with is so long as you can get all the residual coke flavor and smell out. I've used them to do tests with and not seen any differences. The only thing I can think of is the fact they're clear.

 

[jcobbs]

My family likes Dr. Pepper in 12oz bottles. I save them for my brews. So far I've done a carbed apfelwein, a couple of batches of graff, and a couple of batches of beer in them with no ill effects. Never had a problem or a bottle bomb. It's nice to be able to monitor the carbing process just by squeezing the bottles. Like you said, just crank the lids down tight. Right now I only use them once or twice, just so the threads don't get weak from recapping and repressurizing. But I've never had a problem. Unlike Coke, the Dr. P bottles have a very generic shape with straight smooth sides, so if you decided to dress them up with some labels and give them away, you could make them look pretty nice.

 

[iron_city_ap]

MANY years ago, some friends and I decided to try brewing. We pretty much had no clue what we were doing. When bottling our first batch, we ran out of empty beer bottles and started using anything we could find. We even had a few 3 liter bottles of beer around the house. Granted, the beer itself was one of the worst things I've ever tasted, but it carbonated just fine in the soda bottles.

 

[LakeErieBrew]

There's nothing wrong with this. I do it all the time too. I use 2 liter bottles.

 

[slakwhere]

lakeeriebrew: how long do you get from serving your first out of a 2L bottle to it going dead? once you open that bottle it's basically like a growler, right?

 

[iron_city_ap]

I don't think it lasts very long from what I remember.

 

[LakeErieBrew]

It's usually gone in a night. That's how we do it at my place, haha.

If it takes more than a day, just think of it like a cask-conditioned "Real Ale". The oxidation will lend a new character to the beer. It will lose a bit of carbonation too, but it's kind of nice in a way.