Beer Bottles

[newbiewinemaker]

Hey Everyone.

Just getting started making beer and was wondering if I could re-use my twist top bottles such as bud light etc. I know pry top bottles work good but I am unsure if I should waste my time cleaning my empties when it comes to twist offs.


Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[RM-MN]

This is just my opinion and as such it may not be worth much but I think that buying new bottles is a better investment. Unless you break them, they are infinitely reusable so your cost over time approaches zero. I've also read that the twist off bottles don't cap well and may leak out the CO2 that you want for heading. It won't take many bottles of flat beer before the cost of new pry off bottles seems like a reasonable investment.

 

[NTXBrauer]

You risk breaking the bottles when capping if using twist off longnecks from bud, miller or coors. The glass is too thin in the neck. Search the forum in this topic, as I have heard of others using twist off bottles of a higher quality.

I would swing by your LHBS and buy a couple cases of bottles you can properly cap. Or even better, buy some good craft beer and reuse the bottles. I actually have not had to buy any bottles, as all the ones I have are from beer consumed.

 

[kh54s10]

Some people have had success with twist offs. Usually using a bench capper that does not have to grab the neck. Reusing twist off caps is just asking for problems.

You can reuse commercial pry off bottles. Go to a recycling center or ask your friends to drink better beer and save them for you.

For me I would not consider twist offs. It is not worth the risk that they will not seal properly.

 

[Hello]

Twist off bottles can be re-capped using a bench capper, not a wing capper. Although to echo above statements, the glass is a bit thinner and it is worth investing in a few cases of good bottles. I say buy two cases just to get you started then start drinking decent craft brew as "research" for your next brew.

 

[Yambor44]

How many you need to start? I have some clean ones I'll send you if you want. They still have the old original labels on them that you could soak off or leave as is. You would need to order some caps though. I may even have a hand capper you could have.

Shoot me a PM with your shipping address and tell me here how many you need and I'll see what I can do.

Rob

 

[Yambor44]

How many you need to start? I have some clean ones I'll send you if you want. They still have the old original labels on them that you could soak off or leave as is. You would need to order some caps though. I may even have a hand capper you could have.

Shoot me a PM with your shipping address and tell me here how many you need and I'll see what I can do.

Rob

 

[WaltG]

Some people frown on this but I put an ad on Craigslist for bottles. Guy sold me 4 cases of Sierra Nevada bottles for $10. Soaked in uber hot water, like hot water + a pan of boiling water to the mix, with oxyclean for an hour. Scrubbed with bottle brush, think i'm good to do.

Also one of my customers brought be a case of 24oz bottles.

I know brew shop here sells for like $15/case. For that spend the extra $10 for a case of beer.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Wow! I did not expect this many replies with in the hour! Thanks guys! I think I will just go invest in some new ones then! Yambor44 - Thanks for your offer though! Much appreciated! I had some given to me by a friend that had pry tops on them and got my first 5 gallons of AG bottled. I had the local bar save there bottles for me but now I think I may just toss those! Thanks again everyone!!

 

[JimRausch]

Back before I noticed, I did do some bottling in twistoffs. They did work, but I did have several chipped rims(where did those glass fragments go?) and a couple of sheared-off necks. Now I avoid twistoffs.
Early on when I was short of useable bottles, I shot an email to friends asking for empties. It worked. It's amazing how many friends are willing to trade empties for fulls. The only bottles I would pay for are full ones of varieties I want to try.

 

[WaltG]

Also, it's on sale usually for holidays. Martinelli sparking cider bottles work. 25oz bottle with pry off top.

 

[skitter]

Don't re-use Fat tire bottles. Just bottled in a handful of these bottles for the 2nd time and got sheared necks on almost every one. This is following washing and sanitization in the dish washer, possible the heat caused the issue but havnt had a problem with others.

Wouldn't mind any bottles people are offering to send, SWMBO is getting tired of me buying the more expensive beer for the bottles when I have beer on hand

 

[Wynne-R]

I accidentally used a twist top and took it on a 1 hour car trip. I held the bottle up to the light and was going on about something. I pointed at the bottle and when the tip of my little finger touched the cap it flew off. We all laughed for like ten minutes.

Something I’ve noticed at competitions, bottles that are flat are usually the type with small collars, more like a ring. The collar is the feature on the neck below the lip. Wing cappers use that to pull the cap on. With a small collar it doesn’t pull tight enough, and you gradually lose carbonation.

 

[skitter]

I'm starting to like the short fat bottles, like my fav commercial beer: Firestone's Double Barrel Aged. Bad thing is not having a box to keep them in while conditioning

 

[C-Rider]

This is just my opinion and as such it may not be worth much but I think that buying new bottles is a better investment. Unless you break them, they are infinitely reusable so your cost over time approaches zero. I've also read that the twist off bottles don't cap well and may leak out the CO2 that you want for heading. It won't take many bottles of flat beer before the cost of new pry off bottles seems like a reasonable investment.

I never buy "empty" bottles. Rather I buy full ones, drink the beer and then re-use the bottles.

I can buy a case of SN for only $5 more than an empty case of new bottles from my LHBS. It's a no brainer for me.

 

[jtratcliff]

I've never bought a bottle that didn't already have beer in it.

You can think of it as buying beer and getting free bottles or buying bottles and getting free beer. Either way is better than buying empty bottles

I find Sam Adams bottles to be pretty good.

 

[FatDragon]

Don't re-use Fat tire bottles. Just bottled in a handful of these bottles for the 2nd time and got sheared necks on almost every one. This is following washing and sanitization in the dish washer, possible the heat caused the issue but havnt had a problem with others.

Wouldn't mind any bottles people are offering to send, SWMBO is getting tired of me buying the more expensive beer for the bottles when I have beer on hand

Funny, the first bottle of homebrew I ever drank was out of a New Belgium bottle.

Here in China, most commercial brews reuse their half-liter glass bottles, and the same is true of 250 mL sodas (which come in super-thick bottles that weigh twice as much as my US 12 ouncers). I walk into the local village, find a shop that's got a few crates of empties, and give them the deposit value of $3 for either a dozen beer bottles or two dozen soda bottles (six liters either way). If I find imperfections like nicked lips or bases, I put them in a crate to return later on. They don't care about the condition since they can get the deposit money back from the distributor either way as long as the bottles aren't clearly broken.

If I were to buy beer for the bottles, I'd be screwing myself in the end: the more I buy, the less I get to brew...

 

[skitter]

Maybe I just got a bad batch, only bought 1 6-pack before I gave it up. I was doing good on bottles until I gave away a dozen at a company party, now barely have enough to do a full batch ><

 

[smileyak87]

I have a buddy who throws a bonfire paety every weekend and tells everyone to bring their own beer. Well thankfully most bring alaskan brewing beer so I usually end up with at least 2-3 cases of bottles a month.

I prefer the alaskan brewing bottles cause they are identical to sierra nevada bottles and the labels just slide right off in a bath of oxyclean and water