Bottles for bottling

[Brewsinn]

What kind of bottles are good for bottling?
And are any of these bottles any good?
Thanks =].

 

[LaurieGator]

I usually use either amber or brown bottles that I get at the local recycling center. I soak them overnight in oxyclean, use the brush, rinse well and bottle the beer.

I have never tried the amber PET bottles. I would not go with any of the clear ones, they will allow the wavelengths of light to get in and skunk your beer. I think these are rated to take the pressure of the CO2 but I have no experience with it.

 

[Marko73]

I grab a lot of bottles from friends and family as well as my own leftovers. As long as they are not screw off, you will be good to go.

I bought a case of 22oz bottles from my LHBS and have loved those ever since. Less time bottling, perfect amount of homebrew on a worknight, etc. Small investment that goes a long long way.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

Yeah, anything non-twist off works well. You could have a microbrew party, tell your friends to bring aomse 6 packs or cases of microbrew, drink like a fish, then keep all the bottles. I've done that and have plenty of bottles now.

 

[hoppheadIPA]

I use 12 and 22 oz bottles. I don't collect from friends, buy them, or get them at a recycling place. I think half the fun of collecting bottles is drinking the beer that comes out of them 1st. I use mostly anchor steam, sierra nevada, standard longnecks, and have a case worth of 22's and also have some special belgium bottles. I ussually soak them in soap HOT water for 30 minutes then take the labels off. Any residual glue, I use steel wool to get off. Then I shake soapy water inside of them and rinse. I only use a brush if they're heavely soiled. Then they're ready for sanatization.

 

[Philsc]

What about those glass bottles with with the twist of metal lids that have ice tea in or snapple?

I've been using clear PET bottles. I put them in a cardboard box and hide them away for 3 weeks.

 

[COLObrewer]

How bout beer bottles? Are they really that hard to find?

 

[alexavery]

I'm with hopphead. I use the ones I drank. Now I have a fairly decent supply built up that I can use from batch to batch.

Here's the wiki of bottles with pry tops you can use.

Pry off bottles - Home Brewing Wiki

 

[Hang Glider]

Not clear. If you use clear, keep them out of the light until the instant you drink...
Light will skunk the hops.
The Iced Tea glass (like snapple) I don't think are rated for pressure...(and they're clear!)

+1 on pry-off BEER bottles! save 'em, buy 'em - whatever!

 

[boydak]

Why would you want to use the plastic ones again?

 

[llazy_llama]

Why would you want to use the plastic ones again?

They're reusable without the need to purchase new caps.

They can be taken to the lake, pool, pond, and other places where glass bottles might not be allowed.

You can drop them without worrying about them breaking.

If you're ordering them online, shipping prices are much lower as plastic is cheaper than glass.

If you need them last minute, you can run to the 7-11 and pick up some soda bottles that can be dumped and ready to use in minutes.

They tend to come in much larger sizes than glass bottles. (1-2-3 liters)

You don't have to own a capper to seal them.

If you get bottle bombs with them, shards of flying glass aren't a concern.

You can give them a good squeeze during bottle conditioning. If they're rock hard, they're probably carbonated.


I could go on, but I already covered it here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/vs-pro-con-analysis-109318/

 

[COLObrewer]

My only concern with reusing plastic is the rumor of it causing cancer.

 

[celestialparsnip]

Rumours, eh?

FAQs: The Safety of Plastic Beverage Bottles

 

[COLObrewer]

Rumours, eh?

FAQs: The Safety of Plastic Beverage Bottles

FDA? I feel safer already.

 

[celestialparsnip]

Yeah well, would you rather not have them at all?

I don't understand the mindset of worrying about every little infinitesimal particle that may or may not enter the food and drink we consume, and may or may not be ingested into our systems and may or may not cause problems at an indeterminate point in the future.

Cancer is a serious topic, but there are a myriad other sources of carcinogens out there. A beer which sits in a plastic bottle for about a month before being indiscrimately guzzled doesn't seem to me to be too high up the list of potential dangers.

Hey, I'm not an expert. Just throwing in my two cents. RDWHAHB and whatnot. We all have to die of something, and if you work hard enough, you can do it by liver failure before that pesky cancer even sets in.

 

[COLObrewer]

Yes,
Me niether,
Yes,
Me niether, am working hard as I can.

 

[celestialparsnip]

Me too. Eat, drink and be happy.

Oh, and to the original poster: Sorry to get off topic with this, but in answer to your question, plastic soda bottles should do the job ok, as long as you keep them out of the light (if they're clear). I quite like the satisfying heft of a proper glass beer bottle, though.

 

[camiller]

How bout beer bottles? Are they really that hard to find?

Well I don't know where Brewsinn is but since he posted a website in South Africa, maybe they are that hard to find.

At any rate, Amber/brown bottles are preferred rather than clear or green. If you have a capper you can reuse glass commercial bottles, preferably those that are not twist offs. If all you can get are glass twist offs then a wing capper won't work and you will need a bench capper.

And back to the original question, yes the amber PET bottles on the page you linked will be fine.

 

[Spludge]

I've never bought bottles that were not full of beer.
I now have a nice collection of 12's 22's and the quart bottles that come full of cheap mexican beer such as Tecate.

 

[944play]

I could go on, but I already covered it here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/vs-pro-con-analysis-109318/

Mr. Llama, sir, I would like to add to your list that PET bottles are better for shipping because they are lighter than glass bottles (and require less packing material).

 

[bluehouse]

Well, one thing if you use the plastic bottles, you need the ones soda comes in not juice. Because of the flat bottoms on juice bottles the pressure from the carbonation will warp the plastic. I personally bottle at least one 6 pack with plastic in every batch. They are good for seeing when you have reached carb levels (it gets hard when fully carbed). They are good for giving away to people who won't return your bottles & also everything Llama said about going out to the beach ect. I also use screw top bottles if I need to, I know that's blasphamy to you guys but I have an ancient bench capper & it works fine with the screw tops & I can get all the bottles I need when I am running low on the pop top ones.

 

[khiddy]

I really kinda like the idea of using amber PET bottles for all of the reasons listed: easy & light to ship, can tell when they're carbonated, easy to cap. Plus, they're relatively inexpensive.

Of course, I keg my beer...

 

[TheRelic]

was thinking of using 2 liter plastic coke bottles should these be ok for a first timer

 

[bluehouse]

Can u drink 2 liters rather quickly? Once u open a 2 liter it will start 2 lose carbination after about 2 days.

 

[944play]

Ooo, I thought of another plus for PET: you can squeeze the air out of the headspace!

 

[llazy_llama]

Mr. Llama, sir, I would like to add to your list that PET bottles are better for shipping because they are lighter than glass bottles (and require less packing material).

Good point. Consider that added to my next update, which will also cover the use of these bad boys,

Different burners, propane/electric/natural gas, and a few other things I'm still too lazy to write out.

 

[BonnieJ]

Ooo, I thought of another plus for PET: you can squeeze the air out of the headspace!

Wouldn't that cause a vacuum, though, and tend to make it decarbonate (or, rather, not carbonate to begin with)?

 

[unionrdr]

I have a ton of glass bottles from around the world,& 45 cooper's PET bottles. They work great,& hold a tad over 25oz. Plus,they're amber colored,& have a uv/o2 barrier coating on the inside,according the cooper's brew tech I talk to now & then.