Does the bottle make a difference?

[fozzie14]

I'm going to use brown bottles from beer I purchased, such as Sam Adams, Founders, etc. All are 12 oz bottles. Some are tall, others are short. Is there a difference in the quality of the bottles between beer brands? Are some made of stronger or weaker glass, and more/less prone to exploding or breaking during capping? Does the shape of the bottle affect the way the beer will turn out, or is it OK to use assorted shapes of bottle, as long as all are 12 oz??

 

[thood6]

It's ok to pretty much use ANY brown pop top bottle, Regardless of size. Any commercial bottle can handle normal levels of carbonation reasonably well. Al large portion of my bottles are Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada bottles.

 

[schooner427]

There may be a glass quality issue but I've never encountered it. Some bottles just look better, I've saved certain bottles just for a particular brew cause I liked the bottle. If they are 12 oz and that's what you want to use go for it. Its your brew have fun with it, 16 oz if you like it, The bottle won't make it taste different( unless its not clean lol), its all presentation and looking better sometimes adds to the enjoyment. Although when I give beer to someone else they never even see the bottle, its just for me to enjoy..

 

[cooldood]

I also use Corona bottles since there are no labels to remove and they are more rugged. My beer never sees the light of day until I drink them so the clear glass is not an issue for me.

 

[whoaru99]

Does the shape of the bottle affect the way the beer will turn out, or is it OK to use assorted shapes of bottle, as long as all are 12 oz??

If you are priming in the bucket I think it makes little, if any, overall difference what the size the bottle is, or shape for that matter.

I've used 12oz long necks and 12oz stubbies, 22oz bombers, and 1L flip-tops all on the same batch. They all worked fine.

 

[mojo_wire]

The shape of the lip does make a difference. This might not matter with a bench capper, but with a wing capper the most common bottle style (Sam Adams), where below the mouth there will be a section of glass that falls away diagonally, works best.

Some producers, New Belgium comes to mind, use bottles with a second round lip below the mouth. Caps won't go on those very tightly.

 

[unionrdr]

I've found that my wing capper hangs up on those type of bottles. The taller stubbies from Sapporo & Smithwick's to name two. The shape of the lip underneith drops off sharply & the neck grabber part catches the cap on one side. Gave those away & replaced them. Sam Adams,Paulaner,some Michelob,craft beers like Great Lales,DFH,etc have standard brown pop tops that all work well.

 

[whoaru99]

The shape of the lip does make a difference.

Yes, of course, the shape of the lip can make a difference although I haven't personally run into that trouble, yet anyway.

 

[fozzie14]

Any tips on using a wing capper? Years ago, I used a bench capper, but my new one is a wing.

 

[unionrdr]

See my post #7 above. Also,don't gorilla the capper. Just pull the handles down with even pressure on both sides till they feel tight & don't want to move anymore. I try to do this so all the caps have an even crimp on them.
And I just dunk the o2 barrier caps in starsan real quick rather than soak them. Then tip the bottles upside down once to make sure the barrier part under the plastic seal is activated properly. I keep my caps in a sealed plastic bag,& count out how many I'll need on average for the batch size being bottled.

 

[fozzie14]

Thanks for the tips. After reading all the posts, as a test, I chose three different bottles, each with a slightly different lip under the opening. I was able to cap all three, and they all held water.

 

[bni]

Hell sometimes I like to bottle Porters. In 12oz. clear glass Coca Cola bottles.