For those that bottle:

[slym2none]

What is your preferred size bottle, and why?

I like 12oz'ers. Maybe it's just because of tradition, IDK really. I have bottled a couple 500mL and a few bombers, but ended up either giving those away or just drinking them & tossing the bottles into the recycle bin. I am stuck on 12s.

Just curious, there are no wrong answers as long as we keep it on topic.

 

[joshesmusica]

I prefer half-liter bottles. It makes bottling go quicker, and all my glasses are half-liter.
My brew partner likes 1-liter bottles from ikea. They are the grolsch style, so it makes bottling go even quicker. Those are clear though, so I don't prefer those.

 

[Stillraining]

I'm in the 12oz camp for now..just like them better all round. Seems larger bottles have more varied shapes and I like things more uniform. And 12oz'ers come with these Handy dandy reusable carrying devices..
And then sometimes I just don't feel like drinking another 22oz of beer.

 

[hanuswalrus]

12 oz is my favorite. Long necks, preferably. My wing capper tends to get a little stuck on the stubbies. I have a nice collection of 12 oz, 500 mL flip tops and 22 oz bombers. I like to bottle about 90% of each batch in 12 oz bottles then the rest I'll put in bombers/flip-tops. The bombers/flip-tops are mostly for bringing into club meetings to share.

 

[Psylocide]

Depends.

I bottle off the keg, mainly for sending them out. So, if I think the person can 'handle' a bomber, that's what I'll use.

Otherwise, for personal use... it's usually 12 oz.

I have something like 300 empty bottles right now, so I've just been tossing the commercial 12 ozers lately, but always save the bombers.

 

[agrazela]

I mostly use the 12oz bottles. Only the tall-form, I've also had problems capping stubbies. 35 fit into a standard milk crate in 5 staggered 7-bottle rows, very easy to store.

I do keep some 22oz bombers around though. When I fill a crate of 12's I put the remainder in bombers and set those aside to "rediscover" weeks or months later to see how they've aged. I call that my "beer library."

I also do giveaways in 22oz bombers, specifically the thin-necked ones that Hop Stoopid comes in. We buy quite a bit of that because that's the only commercial IPA in a bomber that's even close to worth what they freakin' charge for it.

 

[TimH]

I do 12oz bottles because I saved bottles from beer I bought plus that's the size glasses I have. Would rather have 16oz bottles but then I would have to spend more money so I am content on 12oz

 

[MHBeer]

Grolsh 450ml bottles are great! reusable flip top, works on a bottle cleaners, look cool, replaceable seals, 42/batch (ish)

Cons: Color... The color is cool and what not, but not great for light. I usually cover them up or put them in a cooler for conditioning.

Just getting parts together for kegging. I acquired 6 cornys in good shape, 20lb CO2 tank, dual regulators and about 10 sets of pin lock connectors for $50... No brainer.

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

I use a mix - probably 75% of my volume goes into bombers, the rest into 12's, with a 500ml mixed in here and there. It's purely a matter of convenience - Even after I took a long hiatus after my first brew, I kept hoarding commercial bottles after I drank them, so I have a mix on-hand.

General rule of thumb is that anything under 7.5% goes into bombers so bottling goes faster, while the strong stuff goes into 12's so I don't kill myself.

Only problem is that I salvaged some file cabinets for storage that are great for 12's (each drawer holds 8 six packs), but the bombers are too tall.

 

[ChelisHubby]

it is the same work for a 7 ounce bottle as it is for a22 ounce bottle. I give away my beer in 12 ouncers but for myself I want 22s or some of the 32s. I am lazy and cheap.

 

[blizz81]

I prefer 22oz as generally me and my lady are drinking the majority of our homebrew, and we're usually bomber-sharing as we do it.


I did consider using the empty shell of a 6L swingtop Samichlaus bottle we had for pouring at a local fest once. Didn't follow through with it. Would have been fun for wow factor, not so much for lifting / controlling for each small pour.

 

[Nico93]

I use mostly 11 oz bottle but I'd like to use smaller bottle! Like 5 oz because I'd like to drink a beer at any time and I can't be drunk!

 

[m00ps]

If I had all the resources, i'd go with those 500ml european ones that are nice and heavy. I save those and the 330ml ones for my sours and wild beers.

Mostly I use 12oz ones, save the painted ones from stone for IPAs and short ones for stouts/porters to make them easily identifiable. I tend to avoid 22oz ones since every random bottle ive had explode has been a 22oz one. I think its cause the is greater hoop and radial stress since it seems the glass isnt any thicker than a 12oz. Like, the average 12oz bottle is around 205g. The average 22oz bottle is only 330g.

 

[Kharnynb]

I've got a decent amount of brown 500ml brown flip-top bottles from german beers i used to drink, those are mostly used for my "quickly-ready" smashes and pale ales.

Then I have finnish 330ml stubbies that I use for beers I age or want to give some away, they are small, go in stackable crates and can be capped better than flip-tops.

most right one, with some other more common long-necks to compare.

 

[slym2none]

Sierra Nevada-style stubbies (and even Green Flash) I have no problems with using my wing-capper. But Red Oak (a local brewery) uses a style of stubbie that my capper can't get a grip on, so they are useless. A shame, too, because my brew-bro had been saving those up to bottle his home-brew in. We actually tested one right before bottling his first batch and found they didn't work. Luckily, he had enough "regular" empties that we could wash out & fill laying around.

 

[slym2none]

Just getting parts together for kegging. I acquired 6 cornys in good shape, 20lb CO2 tank, dual regulators and about 10 sets of pin lock connectors for $50... No brainer.

Just HAD to put some kegging crap in here...

 

[ruger988]

When I bottle, I usually fill a variety of bottles. From the handful of little 8oz bottles I have up to 750s. Different situations call for different bottles, I like to be prepared.

 

[MHBeer]

Just HAD to put some kegging crap in here...

would it be complete with-out?

 

[iijakii]

I did a mix of 12s and 22s, heavily favored towards 12s. I frequently wasn't in the mood for 22s of some beers, especially sours and stouts.

 

[m00ps]

@Kharnynb

I shed a tear when I started thinking about how much you had to pay for that Red Stripe and Bud

 

[slym2none]

would it be complete with-out?

Yes, yes it would have been.

*SIGH*

 

[Johow]

I prefer 12 oz stub bites because I have a bunch and they fit best in my fridge. I'd try some sort of tap system but I'm afraid it would make drinking too convenient.....

 

[sablesurfer]

12 oz is my favorite. Long necks, preferably. My wing capper tends to get a little stuck on the stubbies. I have a nice collection of 12 oz, 500 mL flip tops and 22 oz bombers. I like to bottle about 90% of each batch in 12 oz bottles then the rest I'll put in bombers/flip-tops. The bombers/flip-tops are mostly for bringing into club meetings to share.

12oz here with bombers as a back up because my rotating supply of 12's is not up to my brewing rotation yet.

I specifically love the stubbies because they have style to me. But I understand the frustrations of capping them. There are two main styles of stubbies out there. One is just a pain in the ass. The others are just fine

The nasty ones are a thinner, less brown glass. The lip on the top is somehow smaller and the capper really wants to slip of those. (Ended up with these because Peace Tree, my bottle supplier switched without my realizing it so I kept holding those.)

The better ones are heavy bottles, good and dark brown. The lip is thicker in depth and so the capper grabs those. I have only this kind left after recycling all the others.

 

[TonyKZ1]

I prefer 1 Liter plastic bottles (Mr. Beer and BrewDemon) for 2G+ recipes as that makes for a quicker bottling time, although with my 1G batches I've been using the 12oz bottles. Lately I've been getting quite a few 12oz glass bottles from my boss so I'll start using those for my bigger batches too.

 

[madscientist451]

I use 22oz for most cider and perry Grolsch flip tops for stouts and porters, regular 12 oz for everything else except I bottle lagers in the slightly shorter sierra nevada/woodchuck size or stubbys. the slightly smaller size for the lagers makes it a little easier to fit more in the fridge for extended lagering.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've got a variety. A few cases of 12 stubbies, a lot of 12 oz longnecks, a bunch of bombers, a bunch of half liters (mostly cap, some swing top), and quite a few Belgian bottles, mostly 750s, some 375s. They all have their purposes. The Belgians get anything highly carbed (ie sours and other misc Belgians). I tend to do my session English beers in half liter when not on cask since they fit so nicely (with head) into an Imperial nonic pint. Most everything else tends to get spit half between bombers and half between 12 oz (stubby or long neck doesn't matter, whichever is easiest to grab at the moment).

 

[DromJohn]

450 ml Grolsch
Because I like fliptops, and 450 ml is short of a pint, which cuts a token off my drinking.
And because the fit my shelves better.

 

[Firewalker11]

500ml swing tops when they come to Aldi. Bombers for the beer library in the wine rack. 12oz long necks for everything else.

 

[obie]

22oz, cuz aint nobody got time for 12oz......if im extremely lazy I just bust out the kegs

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I've been using bombers as bottling goes faster. This last batch I did bottle up 4 12oz bottles so I could taste test the beers progress without committing to a whole bomber.

I may bottle more 12oz this time as those are easier to share beer when people want to taste it. I had so much yeast in the bottom of my bombers with this batch (Saison yeast and bad process) that it was hard to avoid disturbing the yeast unless I poured the entire bottle in one go. My biggest challenge is space, so bombers are still easier to store.

-- Nathan

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

About 30% is in 22oz bottles and the rest in long neck 12oz. The 22oz bottles are for personal enjoyment and bringing to homebrew club meetings. 12oz are for testing carbonation early and then later for competition and again personal enjoyment.

 

[schatzke]

12 bombers, 5 of which get put away for our "brewfest" my brother and I do 3-4 times a year and the rest into 12's.
Between the 2 of us we have over a dozen varieties at our brewfests

 

[TxBigHops]

Mostly 12s because that's generally the amount of beer I want to drink. A few 22s to take to club meetings and parties. And I'm beginning to get a collection of Grolsh flip tops. I buy a couple of four packs a year and bottle some of my lower gravity beers in them. I also have a few 7 oz clear corona bottles cause I like to see what's going on during bottle conditioning. They're also good for high gravity imperial stouts, as long as I keep them away from the light.

Most of my 12s are long necks, and I only keep the ones with the thicker top lip. I trash the thinner lipped ones. Only exception to long necks is Green Flash bottles. Don't know why, but I really like the shape of them. Unfortunately the newer ones aren't as thick of glass as the older ones.

 

[Sailingeric]

22 oz bottles, 5 gallon batch is 27-28 bottles, makes bottling go quicker

 

[Kharnynb]

@Kharnynb

I shed a tear when I started thinking about how much you had to pay for that Red Stripe and Bud

luckily it was just a picture i found on the net

I've had bud before on worktrips to the US, wouldn't pay for it, after the first 2 times, i switched to drinking cola in places where they had only bud on tap.

 

[iijakii]

I loved the stubbies. Drank a lot of Session, even though it's just OK to me (not dry enough for a lager), for the bottles.

 

[Cyclman]

If I had to pick one, 750ml champagne. Enough for a few beers out of one bottle, but not so much you can't finish a high gravity beer. And they're pretty.

I am a bottle hoarder, I probably have a thousand 12s and bombers, plus a hundred or two of wine bottles. But, champagne, them bombers, then 12s is my preference. I like my beer relatively warm, so no need to keep it cold / fresh out of the beer fridge.

Ironically, I drink 2-3 "standard" beers a night, so a bomber a night does it if it's a higher gravity brew.

 

[Singletrack]

Bombers plus a few babies (12 oz), carefully calculated to minimize wastage. Then, I drink the 1 or 2 oz of wastage to eliminate all wastage, because I hate wastage.

I'm surprised how many bottle in babies. I would never drink just one baby and then stop.

 

[JLeuck64]

Just bottle in 2 of the Party Pigs plus maybe 3 - 6 more 12's. Bottling day is wicked fast!!!

So is consumption ( ; LOL

 

[slym2none]

Sorry, I don't consider a Party Pig as a bottle. So, I will mark you down as a 12-ouncer.