Can we use plastic bottles?

[Maylar]

How come nobody uses plastic soda bottles for cider or beer?

... Just wondering.

 

[TeeJo]

Who says nobody uses them?

A container is a container. As long as it will seal, and hold pressure (if carbonating) then it gets sanitized and used.

2 Liter pop bottles get a lot of action around here.

TeeJo

 

[phug]

When convincing others to share, depending on who your friends are, pouring out of plastic sometimes raises questions about quality, as many people have never had booze out of plastic and are weirded out.

That being said the stove top pasteurizing bunch usually does at least one plastic bottle.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[bernardsmith]

No problem with cider but I would think that light and hops don't mix and so a plastic beer bottle may be asking for trouble...

 

[CanAusBrewer]

Not at all. They make Brown plastic PET bottles specifically for home brewing to eliminate this issue with light. It's really no different than using glass except don't make the mistake of putting them through the dishwasher unless you want your bottles to shrink and deform.

 

[b-boy]

A&W root Beer comes in brown 2-liter bottles. I think those would work well for beer.

 

[Yooper]

A&W root Beer comes in brown 2-liter bottles. I think those would work well for beer.

No, not in my experience. Even with cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, the root beer smell stays and imparts a root beer flavor to beer (and water, when I've forced carbed water in that bottle to make homemade club soda). I can use the green 7 UP bottles, or other soda bottles, and the soda smell goes away- but never root beer.

 

[b-boy]

Hmm...Root beer stout. Sounds tasty!

 

[hunter_le five]

I have used plastic bottles many times, they work well. I've used them for cider, mead, wine, and beer. As has been mentioned though, you do have to be careful with light exposure for beer, unless you are using dark colored bottles.

 

[Maylar]

Interesting. I'm considering using green 16 oz gingerale bottles for my next cider batch. I could chill them in the fridge and carbonate them right in the bottle with a carbonator cap. Would eliminate losing CO2 from pouring into a glass bottle.

 

[gregbathurst]

If you use plastic bottles you have to drink the cider soonish. I used them but found after a few months the cider was starting to oxidise. I have tried the same with wine, a total disaster, after a year the wine was undrinkable from oxidation. I learnt my lesson, once you get enough glass bottles you can reuse them every year.

 

[Crysta Waston]

As per my opinion Beer in plastic can accumulate harmful products I’d rather buy beer in glass, not in plastic. Glass is more safe and gives better taste, I don’t want to take any risk.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I use one or two used plastic soda bottles every time I bottle-condition. It makes it easy to check carbonation levels.

 

[AkTom]

/\ this. Me too.

 

[kh54s10]

Pretty sure I saw them for sale on one of the online HBS sites.

 

[MarkKF]

Mr. Beer uses plastic bottles

 

[z-bob]

I use 1L plastic soda bottles for beer and cider all the time. Never had a problem. I use 2L bottles occasionally, but that's a lot of cider or 6% beer for one serving.

I also use 750ml fliptops (French sparkling lemonade) but I'm really careful about light exposure when I use one for beer. Wine always goes in glass bottles.

 

[ExperimentalBrewer]

1l seltzer bottles for my cider. Not good for long term storage, but for bottle carbing, they are very handy.