Green bottles really that bad?

[skimo281]

I just got my kit in today and planned on brewing tomorrow morning and just had a couple questions.

Are green bottles really that bad of a choice? I was going to just buy some brown bottles but a friend offered me 40+ Heineken bottles all washed, kinda hard to just turn down free stuff lol. If I let them condition in a dark place it shouldn't matter correct? Not sure where or how I'm going to do that but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Also do you guys have anything setup to keep all your equipment? I was going to go by the store and pick up a rubbermaid like container I could keep everything in so it doesn't get dirty and thought it would be good to also sanitize everything in. I'm not sure which size I should get though so I'm not to sure that's the most cost effective way to go about it, any ideas?

Hopefully everything runs smoothly tomorrow, it would be nice to open a fresh home brew for St Pattys and with an Irish stout I can't think of anything better

 

[dino821235]

Ya just keep them in a dark place or throw a blanket or something over them.

 

[E-Mursed]

Very rarely do I turn down free bottles.
Green are fine as long as you keep them out of direct sunlight.

 

[skimo281]

My initial plan was to make a tint like thing (two chairs with a blanket draped over) for the bottles but I'm thinking it might get to hot. We'll see, I have a little fan I can put under there to keep a breeze. People just keep telling me my beer will get skunky, which even with commercial beer I've only had skunky beer a couple times which has to get a lot more light than I plan to expose my bottles to.

 

[Ultrazord]

Brown bottles block more types of light, hence why they're the best. Keep them dark and green is fine. If you leave them on the kitchen table, you're F-D.

 

[wailingguitar]

Agreed 100% that you're fine as long as they stay in the dark... heck, I used to do a few clear bottles of every batch to watch the progress. Never had a skunk problem, but they were ALWAYS either in the closet or in the fridge

I have heard of some people having problems with their cappers not liking Heineken bottles. I would try it out on one before bottling day, just to be safe.

 

[DogTail]

brown, green, or clear does not matter as long as they stay out of the light. best bet is to bottle as normal and then put the bottles in a cardboard box/case/12pack designed for the bottles than in a closet anywhere in your house where the temp does not fluctuate too much... if you like the temp in your house your beer will too. after about a month in the bottle it should be carbbed nicely, then throw in a fiidge and enjoy once cold.
point is... take the free bottles.

 

[BlainD]

If your worried about light hitting your bottle get some old 24 long neck boxes (holds 4 x 6packs). I have about 6 of them. They are free from most places that sell beer, lets you perfectly stack bottles, and keeps light out.

 

[Calder]

As everyone says, green is fine if kept out of the light. I usually do a couple in clear bottles every batch with no problems.

But ..... you might want to try capping one of those bottles before you go ahead and use them. I think they might need a different cap, or may not work with all cappers. I may be wrong, but I think I tried one years ago and it didn't work. Can't hurt to check.

 

[wolfstar]

two words......Keg it

 

[passedpawn]

Green bottles are OK. Don't worry about it. And ignore all previous and future comments about kegging. Petit trolling is what that is, and it is as ubiquitous as the common housefly.

 

[brewtus_]

Green bottles are fine (I used Heineken bottles from 1989 through about 1994 when non-screwtop brown bottles weren't so common in the recycle bins). Again, keep them out of the light. If you're planning on entering a competition, stick with brown longnecks - most competitions actually have this as a requirement in their rules.

Nothing wrong with kegging either....

 

[passedpawn]

Nothing wrong with kegging either....

Agree, I keg. But that wasn't the topic, the OP is well aware, and no point in telling someone with Camry problems to buy a Mercedes.

 

[weirdboy]

I personally don't like using screw-cap bottles for homebrew, which I believe those Heineken bottles are. I have pretty much 100% success rate with carbonation when using non-screw-cap bottles. Using screw cap bottles (sometimes inadvertently) my success rate is more like 50-75%. Nothing like having to dump several bottles of beer to convince me it's a bad idea.

Other than that, keep them out of the light, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[JoshBlue74]

I store my bottles, old clear Corona bottles, in old heavy cardboard beer cases. Kept in my closet, they taste great every time.

 

[brewtus_]

I personally don't like using screw-cap bottles for homebrew, which I believe those Heineken bottles are. I have pretty much 100% success rate with carbonation when using non-screw-cap bottles. Using screw cap bottles (sometimes inadvertently) my success rate is more like 50-75%. Nothing like having to dump several bottles of beer to convince me it's a bad idea.

Other than that, keep them out of the light, yadda yadda yadda.

Back in the late 80's early 90's, Heineken bottles were not screw cap, that's why I used them (thought I made that clear in my post). It was hard back then to find non-screw cap brown bottles. Not sure what type of closure Heineken bottles have now, but I have a few hundred clean, green bottles that I have no use for.

 

[hwilshusen]

Around my neck of the woods Heineken are still non twist-off.

 

[AZOTH99]

I had a buddie that only liked green bottle beer. he wanted that skunky smell taste that green bottle beers have. If that's what you like who is anyone else to tell you otherwise.

I personally don't like 90% of green bottle beers though.

 

[Fizzycist]

I was considering buying bottles too, but I just called up a bar that specializes in bottled crafts and imports and asked if they had empties I could take. He said "Come by on Sunday, we recycle on Monday." Ended up with 5 cases of 12s and bombers, free. He said it's about that many every weekend. I'll never consider buying bottles again. You should do the same.

 

[skimo281]

Thanks for all the replies. I soaked about 56 Dos Equis bottles last night and threw out about 4 this morning because of stuff stuck in them I didn't want to mess with. They are now in a second soak to get the glue off, so I'm hoping from all this work my beer taste good lol. As for my general understanding though It's up the bottler to keep the beer fresh and not be careless...or at least that's what I took from the previous comments.

 

[DogTail]

Don't know if you're aware but oxi clean gets the glue off in a matter of minutes if its a hot water & oxi mix, a bit longer if it's a cold mix and if you leave the bottles in too long the oxi clean could eventually etch the bottles and leave them looking dirty... fyi

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

two words......Keg it

never fails, someone posts a bottling question and someone will always answer with 'keg it'. sure kegs are great, but not everyone's set up to keg. and besides, the thread isn't titled 'i only have green bottles, should i keg instead?'

Don't know if you're aware but oxi clean gets the glue off in a matter of minutes if its a hot water & oxi mix

yeah, about 15 mins in a hot water & oxy clean/one step will remove almost all the glue. just be sure to rinse very well and sanitize after the oxy soak.

 

[passedpawn]

If you have a local german restauraunt / bar, you can get a ton of great bottles. I'll bet I have close to 500 bottles (mostly wheat beer bottles) from there.

 

[skimo281]

I started with 56 and ended up with 48. After two soaks with water and bleach and a good scrub I finally got it all off. I would have went and got oxyclean but It's nasty outside so I worked with what I had. I think all the work will make me appreciate my beer that much more, I guess we'll see though.

 

[BetterSense]

I like green bottles better. It's easier to tell when they are clean, and what kind of beer is in them.