What is the deal with new bottle prices?

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Indyking

Indyking

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I don't get it. Places like AHS, Midwest HS, etc sell a case of 24 12oz empty bottles for anything between $12.95-14.99 a piece, not including shipping and taxes where it applies!

So, are those bottles any different from the standard bud, coors, or miller we buy in the grocery store? I can almost always find a case of 24 from those domestic beers for roughly the same price as the empty bottles where I live. There is always one grocery store that is running a sale on those beers. So what is the deal with the empty bottle prices in the home brewing shops???? :(:(:(

Makes me wanna do this: buy a case of bud, give it to a friend and say: "hey buddy this is a gift for you, just make me a favor, don't throw the bottles away when you finished because I want to recycle them". This would make me very popular among my friends, specially now during football season! :tank::tank::tank:
 
I'd prolly skip the BMC bottles. Most of them are twist-off. At least around here they are. Now, if you're thinking Sam Adams, yes, those will work. Just a little elbow work to get the labels off. Cheers!!!
 
hamiltont said:
I'd prolly skip the BMC bottles. Most of them are twist-off. At least around here they are. Now, if you're thinking Sam Adams, yes, those will work. Just a little elbow work to get the labels off. Cheers!!!
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BMC meaning Bud Millers Coors?

Even with the Samuel Adams, which is an drinkable beer compared to BMC... a 24 case on sale will cost only 3-5 bucks more than the empty ones! So, that’s an idea for a good gift for a guy just before a game... case of Samuel Adams and ask for the bottles back for recycling... the benefits would be:
- Priceless gift... seriously
- Final cost of the case would be just 3-5 bucks considering the price of empty bottles
- My buddy would find me very cool because I’m going green with recycling ideas!
 
Yah, but it's much easier to not have to de-label and clean 50-60 beer bottles... so there's a convenience to factor in there. Plus factor in that they have to absorb freight costs from their suppliers, handling, etc. etc., so their costs add up to near what the costs would be to buy beer pretty quickly. Factor all that in, and $13-14/case of clean, de-labeled bottles isn't really all that unreasonable IMO.

Also, a large portion of the commercially available beers out there - and about 100% of the beers made and distributed by BMC - are twist off tops that don't work so well for home brewing.

If you want cheap bottles, just look at craigslist, there's pretty regularly postings (at least here in Chicago) for free bottles.
 
Several of the local restaurants told me I could have all their empties I wanted... Might wanna check around and ask.. at least you could go trough and pick out the craft beer bottles by the label and use those! That's what I was planning on doing before I started kegging...

maybe I need to anyway and start selling them :)
 
Do yourself a favor and buy some cases of good beer. You will enjoy the beer and get the bottles. I buy 12 packs of various Sierra Nevada because they're $14... for $0.50 more a bottle I get them filled with an excellent beer. My bottle collection is big enough for four full batches so I've backed off the commercial purchases a bit.

The fact is these breweries are buying bottles for pennies on the dollar compared to our prices due to their volume.
 
Easiest thing to do is check craigslist or buy SA or SN at the grocery store. Drink up and save them. All my bottles I used to use came from drinking the beer.
 
Also realize that when you're buying beer at the store, the packaging typically costs the company about a dollar a beer (for the smaller guys) and the beer inside is mere pennies. Beer is cheap to make, expensive to package and distribute.

You're buying heavy glass at a marked up retail price. It totally makes sense that it costs that much.
 
NorCalAngler said:
Do yourself a favor and buy some cases of good beer. You will enjoy the beer and get the bottles. I buy 12 packs of various Sierra Nevada because they're $14... for $0.50 more a bottle I get them filled with an excellent beer. My bottle collection is big enough for four full batches so I've backed off the commercial purchases a bit.

The fact is these breweries are buying
capper-red-baron.jpg
bottles for pennies on the dollar compared to our prices due to their volume.
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I have the baron red capper...
I was told Sierra Nevada bottles do not like them! Is it true???
 
IrregularPulse said:
Ditto. I actually use all SN bottles if I'm bottling until I run out and HAVE to use others just because they look so cool. Never had a problem with that same capper.
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Pilgarlic said:
I have the same capper and have no problem with SN bottles.
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Thanks guys. I guess I was misinformed before... SN bottles are cool and I will start using them!

I think that's the best idea... i.e. to buy a good beer, enjoy it, and reuse the bottles. Way better than just buy empty ones because for a little more, you get more bang for the buck!

There are some grocery stores in my area that carry some uncommon and nice 22oz beers sold individually... those are also good options, but more expensive than SN on sale!
 
Sam adams boston lager is a nice beer, and the bottles are perfect for the recapping. I have the same capper. I've only bought them in 6 packs for like 8 bucks plus bottle deposit, but thats because I walk and can't carry cases on foot. (thats one of the reasons I started brewing).
Oh, and the sam adams labels come right off in a short warm water soak. With oxiclean they practically jump right off in a few minutes.

I do like the EZ cap 16 ounce bottles though from the brew store. I've used one case twice already and the gaskets are still fine. It's also a nice amount per bottle and they carb up quick.
 
I never understood why people buy empty bottles. Go to the beer store and get some with beer in them, dump out the beer, and save the bottles. And make sure they are not twist offs. I don;t really care about labels staying on but there are ways to get them off without too much scrubbing.



Oh and just kidding about the dumping the beer part. Drink of course!
 
Drinking good beer and saving the bottles is definitely the way to go, I have at least a dozen cases of em at the house and I have thrown tons more in the recycling. They aren't hard to clean either, an hour soak in hot water and unscented Oxyclean and the labels peel right off generally. I actually kinda enjoy delabeling and washing bottles though I may change my mind when I start getting up into the thousands over time. More importantly though your bottles will be reusable and second time around no labels to deal with.
 
Get the SN bottles, the SA bottles have the logo cast into the glass, being semi OCD it does annoy me. But if you are cool with that go for the SA bottles as well.

EDIT: and the SN label come right off with a good soak in hot water, then use a sponge to take the glue off, just did a bunch this weekend, easy peasy.
 
Anchor and Guinness Foreign Extra bottles do not work well with my red capper. SN bottles are fine.
 
I just have my buddies save their brown, non twist off bottles for me. I have so many bottles its ridiculous. I'll have to tell them to start recycling them again soon cause I'm running out of room.
 
FYI, New Glarus bottles are my favorite to de-label. Soak them in warm water with a little Oxyclean and the labels simply fall off into the water. No glue residue or torn labels.
 
I've also found that Weiheistephaner Festbier, Boulder Beer Co., and Spaten labels, all fall off the bottle after soaking them for one night in water. It's sad, but when I'm in need of bottles, I will base my beer purchase on which labels come off easily.
 
steinsato said:
I've also found that Weiheistephaner Festbier, Boulder Beer Co., and Spaten labels, all fall off the bottle after soaking them for one night in water. It's sad, but when I'm in need of bottles, I will base my beer purchase on which labels come off easily.
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Great Divide and Boulder Beer both have easy label removal and they use somewhat heavier bottles that are a darker brown. I always save these bottles.

Victory has got to have the easiest to clean domestic bottles. Five minutes or so and the label practically slips right of. Most of the German bottles do that as well as noted.
 
I have never bought a single bottle. Not years ago when I tried brewing the first time, and not recently when I got back into it.

I actually like the eclectic mix I have - some New Belgium Fat Tire bottles, some Peroni ( Hey, I like green bottles ) lots of Sierra Nevada.I plan to do as I saw someone else her mention, and include a few clear Newcastle bottles in each batch, so I can take them out of the closet and monitor their progress. But the real prize -- at my local grocery lately they have been selling six 12 packs from different breweries - Harpoon, Sweet Water, Magic Hat, et all - and for an average price of $13.99 ! How in the heck can I pass up on a lot of samples that cheap - with free bottles at the end? :)


( Oh, and my sister and her hubby like Michelob Ultra - and around here they are pry off as well )

I have bottled up two batches, and literally have about 400 bottles, all washed and delabled, in storage.
 
steinsato said:
I just have my buddies save their brown, non twist off bottles for me. I have so many bottles its ridiculous. I'll have to tell them to start recycling them again soon cause I'm running out of room.
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Exactly. I have about 18-20 empty cases in my basement
 
steinsato said:
It's sad, but when I'm in need of bottles, I will base my beer purchase on which labels come off easily.
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I actually have a no twist off rule - if it only comes in a twist off, and I want some, I get cans. I'd rather recycle the aluminum with the local fire department than to toss a free glass bottle I cannot use into the glass bin.
 
944play said:
Anchor and Guinness Foreign Extra bottles do not work well with my red capper. SN bottles are fine.
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Also have guinness bottle problems with the black cheapo capper from Midwest, whatever 'model' it is. No problems with other bottles.
 
Thanks again for the feedback guys! Super!

I actually did buy 2 cases of 22 oz bottles because I like the larger size for some beers. My local grocery and liquor stores have some great individual 22 oz beers for sale but they cost $3 and up, there is even one that costs $10 a bottle! An empty 22 oz bottle cost only $1.10 to 1.24 in most places. ;)

As for the regular 12 oz bottles, those from SN or SA costs just a bit more than empty ones, so not worth buying empty bottles! :mug:
 
Are twist off bottles really a problem for most people, or has anyone tried them. All I have ever used is twist off BMC bottles and never had a problem. My dad brewed beer for ages the same way with the same capper, only I remove the labels. What problems do you guys run into with them?
 
I've heard that SN is actually doing a lot to make sure they aren't sending out bottles that will break on homebrewers. If true, that's very cool.
 
The Joy of Homebrewing (stealing words from Papazian) comes from drinking imports and other microbrews because of the pop tops. Why buy bottles when you can have fun drinking for the same price? :ban:

I am guilty of buying empty bottles but only as a last resort because I was short bottling THAT day.
 
BulldogBrewer said:
I've heard that SN is actually doing a lot to make sure they aren't sending out bottles that will break on homebrewers. If true, that's very cool.
Click to expand...

I don't know if they use them to help us homebrewers, but I can vouch their bottles are built like tanks. They're very thick and I like the stubby size because they fit standing up in the crisper in my fridge.
 
I have my buddies bring me bottles.. but sam adams costs about 12-13 bucks for a 12 pack here.. so it's not cheaper than buying new empties, when those are 12-13 for a case. a lot of bigger craft brewers have different bottles with their logo/name molded on to them (like SA and Widmer). I'm picky, I guess, and dont want the ones with a brewery name on it.. at least not for my self... those are the ones I give out to friends and family.

I have a local bar collect bottles for me, but the demand for craft beer in a bar is low, so I don't get much.
 
Bells bottles are really good, smithwick is really nice and thick and dark. A cheap option for poptops is michelob amber bock. Drinkable and only 5 something for a sixer, it does have michelob imprinted on the bottle though.
 
+1 to the amber bock mlyday! Michelob also makes Shock Top in the same bottles, its similar to Blue Moon only a little more orange flavor. Maybe somebody already said this but a 24 bottle case costs 12 bucks at my lhbs and a 12 pack of Sam Adams is about 15 bucks locally, so wouldnt buying the bottles with beer in them cost over twice as much? (not that I'm against that, I'm always ready for an excuse to drink beer and most of my bottles are reused commercial bottles).
 
Thats how I did it: buy some 22 ouncers and some ez cap. Any others I can scrounge from the grocery store.
 

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