I place my bottles in a bucket of starsan for 30-45 seconds then dump out and place back in box and cove with plastic wrap. The idea of a no rinse solution is that you do not have to rinse. I can't bring my self to place bottles on a tree because i can't bring myself to insert anything into...
I'm still new to this hobby, but do want to say the you should not let ABV% determine weither you ever dump a batch. I too struggles with hitting my intneded OG and FG on my first 3-4 batches, as i think may people do, and the ABV came out considerably lower then intneded. Howevery, the beer...
Were do you shop..... I have been looking for months to find any sort of 1gal glass jug in my local grocery stores, no such luck. Seems to be the age of plastic.
FWIW and since i have not seen this posted in this thread, I will be doing my first AG batch soon. I have to say that i feel relatively comfortable. I have been doing partial mashes for my last 4 brews. Now someone correct me if i am wrong but the process is quite similar. You get to work...