Mother Cartons

[damnyankee]

Hi All,

Do you use mother cartons for your bottled beer? If so, are you aware of a place where I can purchase a few? I'll be bottling my first batch in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance,

DY

 

[IrregularPulse]

Mother Cartons?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Never heard of "mother cartons." What are they?

 

[damnyankee]

Never heard of "mother cartons." What are they?

Mother cartons are the actual name for the cardboard case boxes which hold 24 bottles of beer.

 

[Strangebird]

Your lhbs should sell them. Alternatively, you can try local liquor stores. They often cut the tops off so those wouldn't be good. But if they just pull the tops open, you could snag some. Businesses have to pay to recycle their cardboard so they're often happy to give boxes away.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I agree with local liquor stores or even gas stations that sell beer. Just go in and ask. Don't pay for stuff that gets' thrown away daily I did a google image search for "mothers carton" and got nothing about these. Are you sure it's the "real name"?

 

[nutty_gnome]

I go to my local liquor store, get a 6'er of something then ask as I'm paying cash to grab a few boxes from the pile they always have in the back of the store. I have more than I need at this point.

If you want clean, logo-free ones, you can ask your LBHS to get them from Carlson and there are some vendors here that sell them.

 

[damnyankee]

I agree with local liquor stores or even gas stations that sell beer. Just go in and ask. Don't pay for stuff that gets' thrown away daily I did a google image search for "mothers carton" and got nothing about these. Are you sure it's the "real name"?

I'm pretty sure; maybe it's an old term as it's what my dad called them years ago.

http://www.probrewer.com/resources/distribution/glossary.php
http://www.heymabelblacklabel.com/id38.htm
http://www.brownsbrewing.com/gallery/show/2
http://www.duffyshanley.com/pride_narragansett.html
http://www.nicholaspattison.com/notes
http://www.favico.net/087692001041
http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-8932.html

DY

 

[Strangebird]

Are you sure it wasn't slang because your mom liked to toss back a few of his beers at the end of the day?

 

[billf2112]

Just go to a local bar, they go through cases of beer daily and most do not reuse the cases.

I was a bartended for a while and filled my car with them daily. Used them for moving once, the new neighbors gave us some funny looks moving in, we had about 150 "cases of beer" with us when we moved in.

 

[Revvy]

I stopped using them years ago, a milk crate can hold the same amount of 12 ounce bottles (24) in half the space. Plus they stack nicely.

 

[Zamial]

I use these milk crates/file crates from Walmart. They are plastic, have round holes in them and hold 24-30 bottles of beer nicely. They can be found in the file cabinet area by the stationary. They range in price from $2-7 depending on the time of year (back to school is the cheapest time). I can stack them 4-5 high with no issues.

The advantage to these vs. "mother crates" is I assume these "mother crates" are card board. Wet cardboard is bad news. Wet plastic air dries just fine.

 

[devilishprune]

My only issue with those "back to school" crates as opposed to the traditional milk crate is the thickness of them. I use both, and while the back to school ones hold about 6 more beers, they are MUCH more flimsy. But, they are easier to legitimately obtain than the other kind as well.

Either way, milk crates are a better option because you can stack them up when they're filled with 12 oz bottles. 22 oz bottles pose a problem because they are about 1-2 inches too tall to allow the crates to stack properly.

 

[Zamial]

My only issue with those "back to school" crates as opposed to the traditional milk crate is the thickness of them. I use both, and while the back to school ones hold about 6 more beers, they are MUCH more flimsy. But, they are easier to legitimately obtain than the other kind as well.

Either way, milk crates are a better option because you can stack them up when they're filled with 12 oz bottles. 22 oz bottles pose a problem because they are about 1-2 inches too tall to allow the crates to stack properly.

This is all true. I do notice the crates bottoms "sag" a bit when under full load. I am not worried about that at all. They do tend to have bottles fall over when moving them when they are not full, fortunately I do not store bottles in these inside a fridge so it is a moot point as they need chilled anyways.

 

[dotnetdotcom]

Plastic milk crates will hold 25 long necks quite nicely, but those stubby SN bottles are a fly in the ointment.

 

[damnyankee]

I stopped using them years ago, a milk crate can hold the same amount of 12 ounce bottles (24) in half the space. Plus they stack nicely.

Ya know, I never thought about milk crates *DUH!!!*.

I like the thought of the 6 gallon/24 quart which will hold a case but online they run over $20 - and that doesn't include shipping...Hmmm...

 

[eibbor]

Ive been looking at the Walmart milk crates for a while. I think that the ones with the round holes in the bottom would make a nice makeshift "bottle tree" for my clean bottles to dry...

 

[Skaggz]

Slightly off topic

That picture made me laugh out loud. A mother buying cartons. A mother who may or may not be pregnant.

 

[mc_eric]

I have a few old Blatz cases that I use. They cost a bit less than 20 bucks a piece, and came pre-filled with beer! Though the milk crate idea sounds like a good one.

Ive been looking at the Walmart milk crates for a while. I think that the ones with the round holes in the bottom would make a nice makeshift "bottle tree" for my clean bottles to dry...

That's not a bad idea either.

 

[jmendez29]

Hi All,

Do you use mother cartons for your bottled beer? If so, are you aware of a place where I can purchase a few? I'll be bottling my first batch in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance,

DY

I don't know where in MI you are, but I always just went to the store (Meijer, Family Fare, etc.) and picked the 6 pack holders out of the bin by the recycle center. I have enough to hold all of my bottles now, so I just look for "interesting" holders now. Something to replace the BMC holders. Just seems kind of crude to have homebrew in a Budweiser holder. Although I do have a few Corona cases around. They are actually made of some pretty sturdy cardboard.