Great Find Today

[telemaster]

So, over the holidays I acquired a home brew equipment and red ale ingredient kits. I have been reading and learning about the brewing process ever since. I know I need to gather the remaining pieces of equipment; bottles and brewpot.

This morning I went to a recycling center and looked in the brown glass container. There it sat, a beginning brewers dream come true, about 10 grocery bags filled with nothing but imports along with a boat load of Sam Adams of all varieties.

All-and-all I was able to collect ~190 bottles today. I soaked them in a bleach solution then scrubbed them with my bottle brush and they will soak overnight in oxyclean to get the labels off.

Next on this list is a brewpot. I checked Wal-Mart and they have 22qt pot for $50, but experience tells me I can find something less expensive at next weekends Saturday market.

Can't wait to fill all these bottles with delicious homebrew! :rockin:

Let the Cleaning Begin

Phew! Done at last...

Did I really clean them all today?

 

[HIT_MAN]

Sweet. You should be set for a while man.

 

[Chello]

You'll be glad you got a bunch of Sam Adams bottles if you plan on removing the labels. I found they were by far the easiest to remove.

 

[Joe_Stout]

Not sure if you have an Old Time Pottery near you but you can sometimes find great deals on 5 gallon glass carboys ($13 When they have them.) and like the 20qt brew pot they have now for $6. I bought a 20qt at my LHBS for more than double that.

Welcome to Old Time Pottery! Your Home Dcor Superstore!

 

[reim0027]

Wow - nice find! What are the odds of that?

 

[telemaster]

I was pleasantly surprised for sure! On the way home I stopped by a bottle shop and they gave me 5 empty cases... now I have storage and everything! :rockin:


Joe Stout:
Unfortunately I do not have an Old Time Pottery near me. I'm going to check the Univ. surplus at Penn State this week. Maybe they have some old carboys from a lab that I could clean and use? ...worth a look. Either way I'll check out the second hand stores for a brewpot and carboy.

 

[frolickingmonkey]

Try to get the biggest boil kettle you can... I started with a 16qt stainless pot, and within a few months I was ready for a bigger one when I started doing full boil extract batches, partial mashes, and eventually all grain. I would try to get at least a 30qt if you can.

 

[KUbrew]

telemaster-

Look online for a restaurant supply store near you. I bought my 20qt pot at my LBS for more than I paid for the 40qt pot I bought at a restaurant supply store when I went to all grain.

 

[telemaster]

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll try and find the largest brewpot I can; and I'll see if there are any restaurant supply stores in the area.

I have a pretty crappy electric coil range and I'm not sure if it produces the heat needed to do full 5 gallon boils. I can always make an insulating wrap for the kettle like I've seen on this forum. I'll have to wait and see what kind of kettle I get to see what the plan boils down to. (yes, pun intended)

Cheers

 

[JMSetzler]

HERE is a stainless steel 20qt stock pot from amazon.com that would be effective for partial boils on the stove top...

 

[Dougan]

That's a good find. I've managed to get myself set on bottles by now but when I started I was at the level of taking them out of recycling bins.

Now I just get them from local bars. Got a brewery here with $.05 returnable bottles so I just give the deposit to whatever bar I'm at and grab them. It's nice because it also means all of my bottles are the same size and I get thick cardboard returnable bottle boxes to store and transport the beer in.

 

[telemaster]

JMSetzler
Thanks for the link. If I can't find anything local, I'll definitely jump on that deal.

Dougan,
Yeah, I've talked to the beer distributor in town and he has some deposits he'll give me for his cost ($2.50/case)... 16oz Straub bottles. Problem is they weren't coming in fast enough!

 

[nebben]

Great score!

I am somewhat spoiled with our recycling system in our town. Since glass isn't picked up curbside, those that do recycle take their bottles to a central dumpster up by a dog park. At the dumpster, there are not many folks around so I don't get as many stares when I'm picking for bottles. Usually, I can take a bin of junkers (screw top beer/wine bottles) for disposal, and within 15 minutes have a full bin of about 120 smooth lipped matching bottles. So far I've got a ton of the short-and-fat ones, normal ones, and just now the Anchor Brewing style.

I've also picked a few European styles while there...I forget the capacity, but several Lev types and Belgian styles in the 16-22oz range.

Dumpster diving is best done quickly I've found, and one needs to be cheerful and friendly to anyone that strolls by to bring their bottles.

 

[telemaster]

I just realized I should have posted this on the Bottling/Kegging board... bad forum etiquette... my apologies.

nebben
Thanks! I would say that 90% of the bottles I nabbed were of uniform size and shape. I do have a few Sierra Nevada, Modelo *****, Anchor, and one 22oz import.

I didn't run into anyone at the dumpster, but being friendly is always a good place to start when meeting anyone!

Cheers

 

[jharres]

If you are a member of a Sam's Club, they have really good prices on aluminum stock pots.

 

[Beernip]

Nice fine, just don't get caught. Most towns have ordinances about salvaging from recycling centers. A $250 fine if you are caught. I have not been caught.