Favorite Bottles

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beala

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This might be a weird question, but I don't think I'm the only brewer who has developed some sort of bottle fetish. I think it's something about spending so much time de-labeling, washing, and sanitizing them that's caused me to develop an aesthetic taste for certain bottle shapes. I've decided I like short fat bottles the most. Anyway, without further ado, what's your favorite bottle? Post pics!



The Sam Adams is just there for comparison (who hasn't seen a sam adams bottle, right?). The Anchor Steam has a very pleasing curvy short shape to it. It doesn't have "shoulders" like most bottles where it gets suddenly thinner up to the neck. As far as the Murphy's, I just thought the neck shape was interesting. It has shoulders, but then the neck suddenly gets fat again. Thought it looked unique.
 
The downfall of the Sam Adams though is the raised lettering.

Big Sky Brewery bottles are my favorite. Just your standard brown longneck but the lables come off without any water or effort and leave very little glue behind
 
Guinness bottles have a sexy curve to them. They fit good in the hand, but they are smaller then a regular bottle, I think they are only around 11 oz.


Loop
 
I like the Guinness bottles too, easy to cut the labels off.

I'm a big fan of free bottles too, I got these from a friend who really likes PBR
DSC00319.jpg
 
I like the St. Arnold's style bottles. They're short and fat but look like "normal" bottles

NF_StArnold.JPG


I also like the Full Sail Session Lager bottles, not really the beer though...

SessionBTL.jpg
 
I love the Samuel Smith's bottles...I don't know what it is, but they are just a little taller and straighter than a normal bottle and really comfortable/comforting to hold.
Not to mention they make awesome beer and the labels come off easier than any other beer out there. The foil is a bit of a PITA, but.....

If only I could afford to buy nothing else.......

eng-samuel-smith-winter-welcome-ale.jpg
 
Some of my favorites. These aren't my images, so I'll include the links.
EDIT: I'm sorry, I thought the images would actually show up. I'll work on that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/claypole/451049077/
Gotta' love the St. Peter's bottles. They remind me of the small antique novelty bottles that I would find around my grandma's house.

193674824

http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraspecial/193674824/
Hoegaarten has a nice bottle and the beer is rather tasty.

330464308

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincephoto/330464308/
The surprise of the bunch is the Guinness bottle. Sleek and smooth shape. As a bonus, the labels are plastic, so no soaking required!
 
maltMonkey said:
I love the Samuel Smith's bottles...I don't know what it is, but they are just a little taller and straighter than a normal bottle and really comfortable/comforting to hold.
Not to mention they make awesome beer and the labels come off easier than any other beer out there. The foil is a bit of a PITA, but.....

If only I could afford to buy nothing else.......

eng-samuel-smith-winter-welcome-ale.jpg


!!!!!!!
I haven't seen a Winter Welcome in years! I assumed Samuel Smith's stopped making them. Liquid cocaine. My mouth is watering.
 
i've got two cases (minus 2--clumsy roommate) of the old budweiser bottles which are taller, thicker and sturdier than most bottles made currently. they look just the same but they feel bulletproof and i love having em because i know they won't break under pressure.

i've also got a soft spot for these guys:

http://www.answers.com/topic/highlifepony-jpg-1

which provided me my first taste of beer at the ripe old age of 5. thx grandpa.
 
HBDrinker008 said:
The downfall of the Sam Adams though is the raised lettering.

Not all Sams bottles have the raised lettering. Redhook does the same thing, so does New Belgium. From all three companies, it appears that they recycle bottles just like us, and only SOME of the bottles have the lettering.
 
Makita said:
!!!!!!!
I haven't seen a Winter Welcome in years! I assumed Samuel Smith's stopped making them. Liquid cocaine. My mouth is watering.

Liquid cocaine is right! They still make it, but it's a winter only release so you have to know when to look for it. I had it about a month ago and I think it's probably my favorite beer by Samuel Smith, and close to my favorite beer of all time.
 
I prefer the Guinness Draught bottles because the labels have no glue and come right off. The widget is really easy to pull out with needle-nose pliers too. The bottle looks nice too.
 
I am perfering Sam Adams, New Belgium, and Widmer Bros right now, because cases are only $20 at sams right now :)
 
I'm a big fan of Orval bottles.

orval-33.jpg

They're shaped like little bowling pins. The glass is also thicker so they'll hold the pressure for bottle conditioning Belgian Style Beers.

I recently came across 10 cases of old Olympia and Rainier stubbies which are a lot of fun. I used them for my Berliner Weisse.

Berliner Weisse 006.jpg
Olympia on the left, Rainier on the right.
 
:off:

Hey Dude, is St. Peter's any good? I've seen them around but shyed away due to the clear (looks clear) bottles.
 
Brewtopia said:
I'm a big fan of Orval bottles.

View attachment 4384

They're shaped like little bowling pins. The glass is also thicker so they'll hold the pressure for bottle conditioning Belgian Style Beers.

Those are cool bottles, and Orval is great stuff.....but at $5-$6 a bottle (that's what I have to pay around here, anyway) a case can be quite an investment :(
 
I am actually kind of suprised to see how many of you enjoy the clear bottles. I personally like the plain 1/2 liter bottles the best, but they are sort of hard to come by in the states. So now I just buy all of my bottles from the Bell's general store. They are the same ones that their beers come in but with no labels, they charge like $3.89 for a case.
 
(criminally/seriously/etc.) bad elf:
BadElf.jpg


the labels are a PITA to get off, but the bottles are big & hefty, nice curves. I also like hobgoblin bottles -- a little taller body & shorter neck than most american bottles. they're also much heavier & sturdier than most american bottles... even without the labels I can tell which ones are hobgoblins when I pick them up while bottling.
 
I'm a big fan of the Belgian 330ml bottles..

(the short one on the left)
dubbles.JPG
 
I've never used a stubby bottle for brewing. Does it have any effect on how much beer needs to be left in the bottle to avoid pouring the yeast? I can convince myself both ways.




Alamo_Beer said:
:off:

Hey Dude, is St. Peter's any good? I've seen them around but shyed away due to the clear (looks clear) bottles.
Yeah, St. Peter's actually is good. I was reluctant to get one at first because I thought it was probably a gimmick beer. It may be overpriced, but it is good.

As far as the glass, I've had 3 or so varieties and never noticed any skunkiness.
 
loopmd said:
Guinness bottles have a sexy curve to them. They fit good in the hand, but they are smaller then a regular bottle, I think they are only around 11 oz.


Loop

I was curious about this a while back so I took a beer that I had bottled in a Guiness bottle and poured it into a two cup measure. It read twelve ounces on the nose. I think the 11.5 ounce claim on the bottle label is accounting for the space taken up by the widget.
 
About half of the bottles I use are Sams. The other half plain, longneck browns that Bells/Upland (small indiana brewery) and others use. IMO, the best bottle is the one that yields its label the easiest. The raised lettering on the sams don't bother me too much -- nobody notices them after they've tasted my beer!

In terms of style, nothing beats a Rochefort or Westmalle. Simple, tall, smooth shoulders. Brilliant.
 
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