Bottling in unconventional vessels

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bgrubb7

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I've got 2 batches that should be ready for bottling in about 2-3 weeks. I was thinking of trying a few unconventional type of bottles for a small portion of each batch, and wandered what other people have tried or used.

Mug handle type mason jars. Thought this would be a cool idea for a "hillbilly stout" and use for holiday gifts.

Short Snapple type bottle, with twist off lids - for that big mouth Micky's effect (bottle, not the beer)

Even Twist off or champaign style corked wine bottles, could be cool.

I figure if its sanitized and airtight, it should work, right?

Just wanting to try something different, and though I'd check and see if anyone had tried anything similar.
 
The mason jars won't work, sorry the caps are designed to seal with a vaccuum not hold in pressure. The snapple bottles use the same idea suction, to hold the lids on, that is why you hear it pop when you open it, you might be able to get it to work if you find the right kinds of lids, but not very likely. The champagne bottles will work but you need to buy corks cages and a champagne corker, the corker is a little expensive if you don't already have it.
 
i'd stick to flip tops if you want something a little different. If you feel like corking that would be kinda neat too. You'll need to cage the corks though cause the pressure can push them out.
 
I'm also fairly certain you need a special corker to install the corks. Long/short: get some fliptop growlers unless you want to drop extra $$ on a corker and the corks and the cages.
 
Donasay said:
The mason jars won't work, sorry the caps are designed to seal with a vaccuum not hold in pressure. The snapple bottles use the same idea suction, to hold the lids on, that is why you hear it pop when you open it, you might be able to get it to work if you find the right kinds of lids, but not very likely. The champagne bottles will work but you need to buy corks cages and a champagne corker, the corker is a little expensive if you don't already have it.

My thinking is that if it is airtight and will hold pressure, it would work. I could care less about the vacuum "pop"

I have no interest in getting a wine corker, but I have seen twist off wine bottle and caps in homebrew stores, and was thinking about those.

I will probably try a few oddball bottles just for the hell of it and let you all know how it turns out. I've heard of people who claimed to use 2 liter bottles and twist on caps before with success (although I've never seen it personally), so its worth a shot. Worst case is I waste a couple bottles of brew. Just looking for a little off-the-wall novelty effect.
 
Plastic soda bottles will work. Anything that can hold pressure will work. That's why most people use beer bottles or soda bottles- they are designed to hold pressure. Champagne bottles with corks and cages would work, too.

Unfortunately, wine bottles are not designed to hold pressure and may blow up. Wine is not carbonated, so the glass is not designed to hold pressure. The same is true with mason jars- they don't hold pressure, they hold a vacuum as has been previously mentioned. Which means if pressure builds up, they might blow up. I know you said you don't care about a vacuum sound- that was NOT Donasay's point. The point is that they won't hold pressure.

If you decide to do this, keep your items in a big rubbermaid container, so when they blow up you don't get glass shrapnel all over and get hurt.
 
bgrubb7 said:
My thinking is that if it is airtight and will hold pressure, it would work. I could care less about the vacuum "pop"

No. You missed the point. Mason jars are designed to hold pressure- NEGATIVE pressure!!! Put it under positive pressure and there won't be a seal like you're looking for... because the lids are designed to be airtight under suction, not positive pressure.

I have no interest in getting a wine corker, but I have seen twist off wine bottle and caps in homebrew stores, and was thinking about those.

I've never heard of anyone bottling beer with twist off wine bottles, but I suppose that could work. Again though, wine isn't pressurized. Properly carbed beer is up around 15psi and could be two or three times higher or more if improperly carbed. Make sure the bottles are up for holding that kind of pressure. Bottle bombs of any size are not fun.

I will probably try a few oddball bottles just for the hell of it and let you all know how it turns out. I've heard of people who claimed to use 2 liter bottles and twist on caps before with success (although I've never seen it personally), so its worth a shot. Worst case is I waste a couple bottles of brew. Just looking for a little off-the-wall novelty effect.

The thing with 2-liter bottles is that they need to be poured out all at once or else the constant pouring/sloshing will rouse the yeast and may cause gastro-intestinal events. Ditto with Snapple bottles or anything else from which you intend to drink directly.
 
I can attest to the mason jars. I ran out of bottle caps and I gave a sample to a friend just to take home and try, and by the time he got home (a couple hours later) the part of the lid(with the seal on it) had already started blowing outward and leaving off pressure and beer from the jar. When i got it back it was visible deformed, almost looked like it was bent in half. So it would not be good for longterm storage.
 
YooperBrew said:
Unfortunately, wine bottles are not designed to hold pressure and may blow up. Wine is not carbonated, so the glass is not designed to hold pressure. The same is true with mason jars- they don't hold pressure, they hold a vacuum as has been previously mentioned. Which means if pressure builds up, they might blow up. I know you said you don't care about a vacuum sound- that was NOT Donasay's point. The point is that they won't hold pressure.

If you decide to do this, keep your items in a big rubbermaid container, so when they blow up you don't get glass shrapnel all over and get hurt.

OK, I get it. I wasn't thinking about the actual jar becoming a shrapnel bomb. I see now.

Mr. Obvious moment. I guess I didn't make the connection ;)
 
jcb317 said:
I can attest to the mason jars. I ran out of bottle caps and I gave a sample to a friend just to take home and try, and by the time he got home (a couple hours later) the part of the lid(with the seal on it) had already started blowing outward and leaving off pressure and beer from the jar. When i got it back it was visible deformed, almost looked like it was bent in half. So it would not be good for longterm storage.

That sucks, the thought of homebrew in mason jars just sounded cool.
 
I've used the screw top Lambrusco bottles with great success... since Lambrusco is a carbonated red wine, the bottles are designed to hold pressure, and DANG they can hold a lot of brew.

doesn't work for the hillbilly effect, tho.
 
I used a half-gallon glass jug (like a juice jug) with a screw-on plastic lid once. The lid domed out slightly but it never exploded. I only used it because I ran out of bottles (doh!). I gave the jug to a friend and it seemed to have worked.
 
Well, if you want the hillbilly effect, you COULD always give people a gift set... you know, like the liquor stores sell at Christmas. It comes with a bottle and a couple of fancy glasses.

Do the same. Give folks a 22oz bottle of beer... and two mason jars for sipping.

And for the extra redneck touch, put a coon tail around the bottle. They can tie it to their antenna when they're done.
 
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