Commercial bottles that have flip tops on twist bottles

[eujamfh]

I am going to start bottling for gifts and have been saving bottles the past couple months. I had a Starhill case of IPA that were pop-tops. I went and washed them, removed labels etc and looking at the bottles I see they are rifled for twist tops!

Has anyone else seen commercial beers that are not twist off but the bottle was designed for twist offs?

I am not sure what to do about these bottles…I guess I will toss them in the recycle bin but sorta ticked about the work I did for not!

 

[MaxStout]

There are some people here who say they can reuse twist-offs with no problem. OTOH, do you want to go to all the time, expense, etc. of making a batch and then take chances with bottles that may not seal well? And since you are giving it away to people, do you want them to open flat beer?

Get some real pry-off bottles and recycle the twist-offs.

 

[rdarr40]

There are some people here who say they can reuse twist-offs with no problem. OTOH, do you want to go to all the time, expense, etc. of making a batch and then take chances with bottles that may not seal well? And since you are giving it away to people, do you want them to open flat beer? Get some real pry-off bottles and recycle the twist-offs.

Agreed. Don't waste your time on twist off bottles.

 

[troy2000]

If by flip-top you mean they're swing-tops, it doesn't matter whether the bottles the tops are on are threaded or not.

 

[eujamfh]

Troy - not swing tops but tops that require an opener.

I put the case in the recycle bin. I was just really surprised that a commercial brewery used screw top bottles with pop off caps. I guess their equipment is so precise and mechanized that it can get a good seal with a pop cap and twist off bottle.

I keg because it is fast and easy (relatively) but since I have been brewing for about nine months now, I have realized that "loaning" growlers can get costly. I always get them back…but sometimes it takes a while and since they are $20 plus dollars each, I am going to start bottling for give aways and travel.

I am going to get the beer gun - I know biermunchers bottle filler would suffice for me…but the beer gun will be a Christmas gift and I simply like gadgets. Hoping to get free bottles from coworkers and off CL.

 

[troy2000]

One of life's frustrations is convincing yourself to pay craft prices for a six pack, with the excuse that "at least it'll give me some bottles for what I have in the fermenter," and discovering they're twist-offs.

Is the beer gun a Christmas gift from yourself, or have you convinced your significant other to sign off on it?

 

[MaxStout]

One of life's frustrations is convincing yourself to pay craft prices for a six pack, with the excuse that "at least it'll give me some bottles for what I have in the fermenter," and discovering they're twist-offs.

Yep, happened to me more than a few times. Sometimes I think that if a craft brewer uses twist-offs, they're just being cheap. But with bottling machines made for the purpose, I suppose they seal just as well. It still seems cheesy to me. One of our big craft brewers, Summit, used to use twisties, but changed to pop-tops a couple years ago. I think Boulevard went through a similar change in recent years.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy the beer and just toss the twist-offs in the recycle bin.

 

[eujamfh]

I was just really surprised…never would have thought they could save a bit by using those bottles…but I am sure there is a savings otherwise they would not do it.

As for the beer gun…its a Christmas gift from SWMBO…she told me to buy it a month ago because I have been bitching about giving growlers out and she wants to bring my brew to her Friday happy hours at the office which happen once month.

Funny thing is a couple months ago she mentioned getting the beer gun and I told her it was just too much of a luxury…course, I did not know she was looking for six packs to bring to her work once a month. Once I realized that…well, thats when the "to really use the beer gun you need…a new bow, another handgun, another freezer for lagering and yeast, , a couple more carboys etc…"

She did not bite one bit. But I am getting the beergun…so its still a win for me.

 

[troy2000]

I was just really surprised…never would have thought they could save a bit by using those bottles…but I am sure there is a savings otherwise they would not do it.

As for the beer gun…its a Christmas gift from SWMBO…she told me to buy it a month ago because I have been bitching about giving growlers out and she wants to bring my brew to her Friday happy hours at the office which happen once month.

Funny thing is a couple months ago she mentioned getting the beer gun and I told her it was just too much of a luxury…course, I did not know she was looking for six packs to bring to her work once a month. Once I realized that…well, thats when the "to really use the beer gun you need…a new bow, another handgun, another freezer for lagering and yeast, , a couple more carboys etc…"

She did not bite one bit. But I am getting the beergun…so its still a win for me.

Always worth a try; if she gives you an inch shoot for a mile.

 

[eujamfh]

yup. been married long enough to see an opening…at first she did not like me taking so much time brewing until she came to the conclusion that she likes the beer on tap better then ones she can get when she is on travel (we are always looking forward to tasting different beers).

After the last trip she claimed, "you ruined my travel for work. I used to look forward to tasting different beers but now all I do is compare it to what w have on tap…and they are not as good!"

That pretty much made my day…and it has ended all conversations about "brewing time" cutting into the other bits of our life...

 

[troy2000]

You know... after thinking about it, I'm not sure what you mean by pry-off crowns on twist-off bottles. It seems to me that breweries use the same sort of crown (cap) on both of them. It's just that on bottles with threads, they'll twist off off instead of having to be pried.

I think the main reason homebrewers don't use them is because the bottle tops are more fragile, especially if you go after them with a wing capper. And if you back off to keep from breaking the necks, you risk not getting a good seal.

With a good bench capper, I'm willing to bet you can get a good seal about as often as with the traditional bottles. But I'm not going to risk any of my own beer to find out, until I have a bit of inventory built up.

 

[bzwyatt]

I just watched Brewmasters on Netflix. It is about Sam Calagione (self-proclaimed brewmaster I guess) and Dogfish Head.

In one episode (there are 5 on Netflix, not sure how many were broadcast) the brewery got some screwtop bottles from a distributor, apparently by mistake. They bottled a pallet of beer, like 40 cases or something, before they noticed the bottles were screwtops. They tested to see if they were losing pressure, and they weren't. They apparently were just fine, even though they were screwtop bottles (and were supposed to be pry-offs, un-threaded), but they decided not to sell them. They gave them away to staff instead.

So, although I don't risk using screwtops - like others, I just recycle bottles if I don't feel very certain they'll cap correctly - if you had to for some reason, they'd probably hold pressure.

I've thought about making a thread about this, but since I'm posting here, I'll say it here - I think Sam Calagione sucks. His book sucks, his show sucked. Not sure about Dogfish Head beer, but he doesn't brew it anyway so who knows.