Easy way to stock up on bottles

[jwheelz]

I've been trying to find the best way to acquire a lot of bottles. I don't like spending $12/case at my LHBS for empty bottles, I'd rather have some with beer in them for that price!

After sampling many brands, I've settled on any of the brews made from "Red Hook" brewery. They come in a nice box with the protective dividers in between the bottles.

It's easy to restore empty bottles in the boxes, the labels peel right off with little to no work (soak mine for 30 min in a solution of TSP and one swipe with a green scrubby and they're good) no neck lable (wich can be a pain) and best of all, Red Hook has some pretty tasty craft brews.

I can get a 12 pack for $11.99 at Safeway. Half as many bottles as my LHBS for the same price, but then I get to drink some tasty brew along the way. Very much worth it for me!

Hope this helps anyone out there looking for an easy, tasty way for stocking up your bottle supply!

 

[Revvy]

If I purchase any bottles, they come with great beer in them. Any microbrew you can find, with few exceptions will be in capaable bottles, all you need to do is soak them in oxyclean and the labels will slip off.

Even some macro beers come in crown rather than twist off bottles. One of my favorite is Bud American Ale bottles, they have a unique shape, the beer is not as nasty as their other products and it's cheaper than most micros.

But there are plenty of options for homebrewers that don't cost anything.

It seems at first that accumulating bottles is difficult but if you mention around to people that you brew and need crown bottles they will start showing up. There's also craigslist, and freecycle.org, hooking up with other homebrewers, recycling centers. Asking at beerstores that have a good selection of beer for their returnables. Some stores will let you have their empties for the price of the deposit. And some bars will give you all you can haul out if you ask.

Also if you want to bottle in champagne bottles, go to a hall that does weddings, heck even a moose or vfw hall, you might just have to dumpster dive at worst, or just pick cases of empty asti bottles by the back door.

It seems daunting but you'll get plenty really fast. But in reality when you annouce you are homerbewing, they do come flying at you. I even had my building sooper years ago just use his key and leave me some on the dinning room table. He knew he'd get beer from me on a regular basis, especially if he was gonna do some work in my place.