Bottles- Please Help

[cglkaptc]

Hello All,

I am a new brewer, and my first batch I put in Growlers, which a lot of people said would break. Well its been a week and they havn't broke yet. Havn't tasted them yet, so they may not be good.

Anyway, my next batch I want to properly bottle. I've read threads that say the best way to go about this is to buy cases (I'm doing 5 gallons so I think I need about 3) of non twist off bottles and drink them and save the bottles. This poses a problem to me because all the non twist off beers are out of my budget (I am a college student). Can anyone suggest cheap beer that is non twist off?

If not, can anyone guide me to a site that has empty bottles and shipping for relativly cheap.

Thanks in advance.

 

[c.n.budz]

Ask friends to start collecting bottles for you and go to your local recycling center and see if they'll sell you empties for the price of the deposit. Also, 5 gallons will give you about 2 cases and a six pack

 

[Guigsy]

Hello All,

I am a new brewer, and my first batch I put in Growlers, which a lot of people said would break. Well its been a week and they havn't broke yet. Havn't tasted them yet, so they may not be good.

Anyway, my next batch I want to properly bottle. I've read threads that say the best way to go about this is to buy cases (I'm doing 5 gallons so I think I need about 3) of non twist off bottles and drink them and save the bottles. This poses a problem to me because all the non twist off beers are out of my budget (I am a college student). Can anyone suggest cheap beer that is non twist off?

If not, can anyone guide me to a site that has empty bottles and shipping for relativly cheap.

Thanks in advance.

Ebay or craigslist...

If you know a bartender, he/she may be able to set some a side, that's what I did...

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Where do you live? If you have a good liquor store nearby, and live in a place full of people who drink a lot (Wisconsin) you can buy old school returnable bottled beer. (I prefer Point Special Bottles) You can buy the empty cases of returned bottles for $1.20 a case. The labels come off easy and they are normally pretty clean. As an added bonus, they come in a very nice, heavy-duty cardboard case.

Cheers

 

[DUCCCC]

Find the frat row on/near campus and go dumpster diving on Friday and Saturday mornings.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

check with your local lhbs. swmbo and i have picked up delabeled and clean bottles at one of ours for a couple of bucks a case.

 

[malkore]

also, call the local bottling/distributors. you can sometimes score old pop-top budweiser bottles for the nickel deposit, and usually you get the original cardboard cases too.
the most I've had to pay was 10 cents a bottle, so only $2.40 a case, vs something like $12 a case for new LHBS bottles.

and of course, tell all your friends to save pop-top bottles, even the green and clear ones (just keep those dark once filled with precious homebrew)

 

[navysnail]

i hear you on the college student budget. i just asked my family to save all the bottles they had.

 

[Surly]

When I was in college a group of us had a party. We invited a bunch of people to come to our house. They were asked to bring beer. Many came with lots of bottles of beer.

We called that event a, "beer party". We had a great time and some people even got druck.

Others began to have that type of party as well. In fact, I heard the idea moved out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin to include Madison and Menomonie. It soon jumped the border into Minnesota and who knows how many places now have, "beer parties".

You might want to host such an event.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

When I was in college a group of us had a party. We invited a bunch of people to come to our house. They were asked to bring beer. Many came with lots of bottles of beer.

We called that event a, "beer party". We had a great time and some people even got druck.

Others began to have that type of party as well. In fact, I heard the idea moved out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin to include Madison and Menomonie. It soon jumped the border into Minnesota and who knows how many places now have, "beer parties".

You might want to host such an event.

Wow a beer party sounds like a great idea!

 

[abracadabra]

Plastic soda pop bottles work well the tops are reuseable 3-4 times. Just wash them out good and keep the bottles out of exposure to light. Cardboard boxes or paper bags work well for minimizing exposure to light.

As for cheap beer with pop off tops some package stores around the Atlanta, Ga. area sell Sam Adams 12 packs for $10.99 also Spaten german beer 12 packs go for $11

I have a buddy that reuses twist off bottles and tops simply by twisting the tops back on. It's also possible to use pop off tops on twist off bottles but you really need a bench capper as the wing cappers have a tendency to break the bottles.

Post the city you live near I've seen many people on this site do that and people have offered free bottles if you'll just pick them up.