Cheap bottles?

[BrewingTravisty]

Does anyone have any ideas on where or how to get cheaper bottles? I have 60 some odd bottles already, just from saving up from buying beer but most are being used for the current batch that's conditioning and I have 10 gallons to bottle in about a week. So I need probably over 100 more bottles, and at $12-15 per 24 that's a steep price for that many bottles.

If it helps I live roughly 30 minutes south of Atlanta, GA.

 

[Mismost]

I found a bunch on Craiglist...12's and 24's, cleaned, de-labeled, and boxed for 6 bucks a case...which I thought was worth it! Love the 24's.

Before I had an ole gal save me bottles from the local beer joint...that worked, but was actually more of a hassle for everyone.

 

[mauer_62]

ask your friends/co workers/craft beer drinkers to save their commercial beer bottles. clean them out and remove the labels(which is a PITA). just hang the carrot of "free homebrew" in front of their noses and they will help you out.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

ask your friends/co workers/craft beer drinkers to save their commercial beer bottles. clean them out and remove the labels(which is a PITA). just hang the carrot of "free homebrew" in front of their noses and they will help you out.

the problem there is the lack of friends in the area that are craft beer drinkers lol Me and my brother in law are really the only ones. I move a lot, so it's rare for me to have a lot of friends where I live lol I've checked craigslist and found a few decent looking deals, but nothing outstanding. I wish I lived somewhere where they recycled bottles for like $.05 a bottle, I would hang out around one of the bottle recyclers and pay people $.10 a bottle lol

 

[Aristotelian]

Got a neighborhood bar? I am sure they will give you some. Just go during a not-busy time of day and leave a nice tip.

 

[PaintedRat]

I agree with Aristotelian. Ask the local bar. If you're moving a lot anyway, maybe look into kegging. No bottling, no glass to break.

 

[Clearbeer1]

http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item/B905

You might want to look at these. They are a quart so once opened you only have 2 pints to pour between you and your brother -in-law so they won't go flat quickly. They are also reasonable and you can order as many as you need/afford at a time. They also make bottling quick and easy. I have been using PET bottles for many years now and never have had a problem.

Clearbeer1

 

[beergolf]

Look here. There may be someone willing to give some away near you.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=157575

The tip of going to a bar is a good one. if you live in a state with deposit you may be able to get some for the cost of the deposit. Get creative.

 

[TandemTails]

This might verge on dumpster diving, but every few weeks I drop my recycling off at some big recycling dumpsters around town and just today I grabbed several bottles out of the glass recycling bin. I just look to make sure that they're not twisties and that they aren't cracked. If the bin is on the full side, the bottles just kinda slide out of peoples bags/buckets into the bin so the chances of breaking are pretty slim.

In just a few minutes I left with about 2 dozen free bottles that I'm getting ready to clean/delabel

 

[Paps]

Most bars i've been to are pretty *****y about saving bottles.
Find the cheapest beer that you like drinking with the pry off caps and buy those until you feel you have enough bottles.

Hell....if you lived by me i'd let you grab em out of my stash of not yet cleaned/de-labeled pile.

 

[z-bob]

Put a "WANTED: Empty brown beer bottles" ad in your local Freecycle group. I'm thinking about do that for Newcastle bottles to use for cider...

You can also use 1L plastic pop bottles (like tonic and seltzer and club soda come in.)

 

[ACSlater]

If you lived near southern ME I'd give you a couple cases in need of cleaning/delabeling for nothing.

 

[TxBigHops]

the problem there is the lack of friends in the area that are craft beer drinkers lol Me and my brother in law are really the only ones. I move a lot, so it's rare for me to have a lot of friends where I live lol I've checked craigslist and found a few decent looking deals, but nothing outstanding. I wish I lived somewhere where they recycled bottles for like $.05 a bottle, I would hang out around one of the bottle recyclers and pay people $.10 a bottle lol

You don't say where you live, but unless it's in the middle of bumf@$k nowhere, look for a nearby home brew club. Those guys will usually help a brotha out. I just cleaned out my garage - I had been saving for 9 years. Kept the ones I wanted, gave three cases to a guy in my brew club, and tossed another three cases in the recycle bin.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

You don't say where you live, but unless it's in the middle of bumf@$k nowhere, look for a nearby home brew club. Those guys will usually help a brotha out. I just cleaned out my garage - I had been saving for 9 years. Kept the ones I wanted, gave three cases to a guy in my brew club, and tossed another three cases in the recycle bin.

That's a good idea, I know my LHBS has a club that I've been thinking of joining but I also have no transportation right now, transmission went out on my last car and a car isn't a necessity right now for me, so I don't wanna spend the money on it haha

 

[BrewingTravisty]

If you lived near southern ME I'd give you a couple cases in need of cleaning/delabeling for nothing.

I wish I did lol I'm living near atlanta georgia at the moment. Sadly not in Atlanta or I'm pretty sure I could manage to get some bottles easier.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Put a "WANTED: Empty brown beer bottles" ad in your local Freecycle group. I'm thinking about do that for Newcastle bottles to use for cider...

You can also use 1L plastic pop bottles (like tonic and seltzer and club soda come in.)

That's a pretty good idea. I might look into doing that. And will the pop bottles hold a good enough seal?

 

[z-bob]

The pop bottles hold extremely well. I'm using them more and more -- haven't tried 2L's yet.

Plastic won't protect against oxidation as well as glass, so I wouldn't use them for beer that you're going to put up for a year.

 

[Paps]

will the pop bottles hold a good enough seal?

When i first started homebrewing , i used old 2 litre soda bottles to make some cider and fruit punch (Tampico mango) wines. Drank about half the mango while it was still and placed it in the fridge...Many months later I re-opened it and found it highly carbed.

So to answer your question....yes, they will work fine provided you tighten the hell out of it.

 

[Daijoubu]

I found used bottles at my lhbs for 20 cents a bottle. Picked up 24 craft brew bottles (650 ml) for less than $5.