First Brew Bottling Size?

[Kzang]

I was going to use my old beer bottles to bottle my first homebrew, but I read about mold in bottles. I never did rinse them out and dry them properly. (I didn't even think about brewing my own when I was saving them really)

Anyway, I'm not going to go through cleaning them. I am going to buy new fresh bottles for my hopefully delicious liquid.

What is the best size? I'm debating on 12 oz, 16 oz, and 22 oz. Maybe one or two 32 oz.

Any ideas? I am going to be bucket priming them, and not bottle priming so it shouldn't be too much of an issue with the bigger sized bottles to get the carbination right.

I am thinking at least 16 oz or 22 oz size, since 12 oz is a lot more bottles, and I usually would drink at least 16 or 22 oz with a meal.

 

[flars]

I use 12 ounce bottles for anything over 7% ABV. Session beers go into 22 ounce or 1 liter. Around 6% to 7% ABV in 16 ounce. Bottle size for me is based on how many ounces I usually have for the style and ABV.

 

[J187]

This is only for you to answer. You could bottle in 750ml bottles if you wanted. Growlers, bombers, pints, 12oz... or a mixture of all. As long as you calculate out what your brew will fill, go for it. I prefer to use 12oz, sometimes I feel like having a single beer, sometimes I feel like having a bomber - using the 12oz allows me flexibility to do both... I don't like the idea of opening a 750ml and finding that I don't want as much beer as I thought I did.

I even bottle my applewine in 12oz bottles - I LOVE being able to open what equates to a single large glass of wine in one bottle and not have to waste or try to save.

 

[Kzang]

I use 12 ounce bottles for anything over 7% ABV. Session beers go into 22 ounce or 1 liter. Around 6% to 7% ABV in 16 ounce. Bottle size for me is based on how many ounces I usually have for the style and ABV.

If everything goes as planned, it should be around 4%-5% ABV.

 

[Kzang]

This may sound a little stupid, but it is worth asking.

If I buy whatever size, say 12 oz, does the whole bottle old 12 oz, or does it hold 12 oz with enough room in the neck for carbination/etc?

I'm assuming a 12 oz bottle would hold more than 12 oz of liquid.

 

[kh54s10]

You are not really concerned with the amount the bottle holds. If you use a bottling wand and fill to the top, when you remove the wand you should have about one inch of headspace in the bottle. This space is necessary for the bottle to carbonate properly.

Clean your bottles.... Soak overnight in an Oxyclean solution and rinse, inspect for any crud stuck inside and use a bottle brush if necessary. I keg now but I have about 400 bottles, all but the first 50 are ones I have been given or have saved. A lot of then had growing crud in them. I have only had one bottle that may have had an infection.

Free is good!!!

Added: Oh, and make sure they are not twist offs.

 

[Kzang]

I am concerned with the amount the bottles will hold. I will have approximately 5 gallons of beer, approximately 640 oz, which I need 53.3 bottles at 12 oz each to fill them all. Now if a 12 oz bottle only holds 10-11 oz, then I would need more than 53.3 bottles.

I need to buy said bottles and make sure I have enough clean and ready.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Most of the home brewers go to the liquor store when we need bottles and do research which is buy different beers that we might want to make or try different styles. We also try to buy our research in the size of bottle we need. We also try to have a few extra empty bottles when it is bottling time.

 

[kh54s10]

I am concerned with the amount the bottles will hold. I will have approximately 5 gallons of beer, approximately 640 oz, which I need 53.3 bottles at 12 oz each to fill them all. Now if a 12 oz bottle only holds 10-11 oz, then I would need more than 53.3 bottles.

I need to buy said bottles and make sure I have enough clean and ready.

My average 5 gallon batch is about 53 bottles my high was 57. You should be getting enough for 3-4 batches in a bottle at a time.

Again, why buy bottles? I did, because I didn't have any at all collected when I started.

If you must, buy two cases -48 bottles then go get a sixer of something you might want to brew. Call it "research".

 

[kh54s10]

Or throw a party, Have the guests bring their own beer, make sure to tell them no twist offs. You should end up with plenty.

I asked friends for empties, I had to tell them - No More!!!

 

[MindenMan]

I use 12 oz bottles almost always, but I will fill a bomber or two if it's something I want to hold onto to see how it ages. Usually one of my "special" porters or stouts get at least one.