How many times can a bottle be reused?

[DannyG]

What's the prevailing wisdom on how many times any one 12 oz bottle can be washed out, sanitized, and re-used before there's a risk of it weakening enough to cause bottle bombs? Is there any such limit?

 

[smiths9312]

I've only had one to break. I lose most of my bottles to gunk I can't get off the bottom, not to structural breakage.

 

[JNye]

i use mine till i drop them.

 

[beninan]

with the proper care and cleaning, I would think forever

 

[Dogphish]

i have heard that if you clean your bottles in the dishwasher, and you have your hot water heater turned up really high, it can cause the bottles to break along the seams and bends (from uneven heat expansion)... but it takes dozens of cleanings to cause that.

 

[lumpher]

the main reason bottles die is excessive application to the homebrewer, not of homebrew. excessive consumption=oops. reuse = eventual death to the bottle due to hands not working right. if you sanitize instead of dishwasher them, they'll last

 

[sudbuster]

Sh!t, dudes, I boil my bottles. Some of them are close to my age. Heat's not the problem, clumsiness is the hazard. Always been me that broke 'em, not the cleaning process.

 

[ultravista]

Amen sudbuster!

 

[bob1852]

Sh!t, dudes, I boil my bottles. Some of them are close to my age. Heat's not the problem, clumsiness is the hazard. Always been me that broke 'em, not the cleaning process.

I didn't realize that the process for making glass was that old

 

[lumpher]

well, they did have glass in ancient egypt