Newbie and Grolsch Bottles

[idahobrew]

Hi all, put an add on Craiglist looking for Grolsch bottles. Well I had a guy get back to me and I picked up 125 / 16oz. green bottles for $50. He told me he used to brew his own beer. Well all the bottles still have the labels on them (so I thought that was kind of strange). The rubber seals all look good, not cracked or dry, bottles are all dusty and have a small bit of beer (maybe a teaspoon or so) left in them, when I opened a few they didn't smell bad or skunky. So a couple of questions. Should I just go ahead and buy new seals even though these look good to my untrained eye? They are definately not flat so should I just flip them around the other way after sanitizing or leave them the way they were if you know what I mean? I'm going to clean the bottles and washers up in the sink with some dishsoap and hot water (take the labels off) and rinse them out and put in the dishwasher without the washers (will just boil them after cleaning). So do I just run the dishwasher without soap? So after all this can I sanitize the bottles and cap them or should I wait to do this last step right before bottling, I've got a week, probably 2 before I'm ready to bottle as I'm on day 8 right now in the primary on my first brew (True Brew American Style Wheat). Hopefully someone will know what they're doing on this on this subject cause I really don't. I think I got a good deal on the bottles though as I live in Idaho and our bottles just go to the landfill instead of recycling so I can't get the 5 cent a bottle deal that I've seen from others that have recycle centers in their state. Well that's if for now and thanks.

 

[jmprdood]

125 for $50 is smokin' - they go for about $2 apiece. Soak them in the $$ store version of oxyclean and the labels will come right off, then clean the inside and wait 'til you're ready to bottle. If the seals aren't cracked and are still supple, they should be good to go. You can get 100 of the seals for about $10 on ebay.

Good find!

 

[Indytruks138]

125 for $50 is smokin' - they go for about $2 apiece. Soak them in the $$ store version of oxyclean and the labels will come right off, then clean the inside and wait 'til you're ready to bottle. If the seals aren't cracked and are still supple, they should be good to go. You can get 100 of the seals for about $10 on ebay.

Good find!

$2 a piece? That is highway robbery. I buy them from $2 a piece from the store and they come filled with beer. I've never seen them over $1 a piece, but that is the normal price I see, 125 for $50 is a great deal, my buddy and I just started drinking them normally to build up a stash for bottling.

 

[GrainWhisperer]

The swing-tops are great bottles. I was given a bunch of them.

Mine didn't have labels, but i did a hot water oxyclean bath (use a bottle brush on yours to get the inside since you have no idea if they were ever cleaned).

I picked up new gaskets for about $8 or $9 / 100 at my local brew store. I'd consider picking up new ones if the bottles or the seals look old at all, or just to be sure. Or wing it. I was worried about the gaskets being brittle b/c I knew my bottles were about 6 years old. You'd hate to have a bad seal there and mess up your carbing.

I recently started drinking my first batch, and the sound of a swing-top opening up on one of your perfectly carbed beers is pure joy.

 

[rhamilton]

Nice find! Those fliptops are not cheap. Invest in a bottle brush and put it to work. Right now just prep the bottles by cleaning, removing labels, and rinsing with a weak starsan solution. Take a long look at the seals; manipulate them a bit and see if they crack when bent. If so, replace them. Hang em upside down to dry.

I prefer to sanitize on the day of bottling.

 

[jmprdood]

$2 w/ shipping don't sell the beer where I live...

 

[Indytruks138]

$2 w/ shipping don't sell the beer where I live...

That's rough, I might have to just keep drinking these and start building up a collection to sell off. If I could get $2 a bottle that equals a lot of free beer haha.

 

[rhamilton]

That's rough, I might have to just keep drinking these and start building up a collection to sell off. If I could get $2 a bottle that equals a lot of free beer haha.

I almost started drinking it just for the bottles Then I bought kegs

 

[PIGMAN]

Nice deal. Make sure that once they're filled with beer, the green bottles are kept out of the light. I would also start fresh with new seals. Have fun.

 

[idahobrew]

Hey thanks guys, so definate oxyclean bath with bottle brush (have one) and rinse, wait no dishwasher? I thought that would be a good sanitzer before I use 1 step (don't have star san) just before bottling . I'll probably just get some new seals I don't want to screw up my first batch because of a bad seal on the bottles.

 

[DoubleAught]

I'd get new seals even if they look ok. I was given 50 Grolsch bottles that the seals looked fine on. After bottling a batch in them 15 - 20 bottles must have leaked and didn't carbonate. New seals are cheap, like a few bucks for 50.

 

[reibrew]

I just picked up 80 at $1.25 a pop, I'm Canadian so I don't think that's too bad a price .

Anyways I want to remove labels as well. My question is regarding the cage and soaking in oxyclean/starsan, will it be okay to soak with the cage on for an hour or so in either product?

 

[willy_mugobeer]

Anyways I want to remove labels as well. My question is regarding the cage and soaking in oxyclean/starsan, will it be okay to soak with the cage on for an hour or so in either product?

I'd say so. I've soaked lots of my grolsch bottles overnight in sanitizer (Carlson One-Step no-rinse), with zero ill effects on the cage. Probably, though, for your first use of these I would pull the cages off to sterilize them in the dishwasher (using the silverware baskets) separately. Once you get the hang of it they're not all that tough to get off.

 

[befus]

I got 42 for free the other day off Craig's List as well. Actually 36 Grolsch and six of the ones you buy at the brew store. Former brewer was moving and I just lucked in to them. Did as you are going to, soaked in oxyclean and washed them out and stored them. I took all my seals off just to be safe as I had new ones here already. Great deal you got as well.

 

[onipar]

Nice find! That's exactly what I did last year. Put an ad on Craigslist and got something like 80 bottles for $20.

When I got them, they not only had labels on them, but many had beer, mold, and even cigarette butts inside. (In fact, that's how I talked him down from $35 to $20.) :rockin:

Anywho, all I did was soak in oxyclean for a day, then scrubbed the hell out of them with a bottle brush. The gaskets on mine looked good too, so i just left them the way they were.

reibrew, to my recollection, some of my bottles sat in oxyclean for up to a week with no problems whatsoever, though I wouldn't suggest it.

I bottled a couple batches last fall and haven't had a single flat or infected bottle yet, so I guess it was all good.

Enjoy! The swing tops are fun!

 

[shelly_belly]

Does anyone ever see the Grolsch Amber beer for sale anymore? I actually liked that beer and it comes in brown bottles. It disappeared here around 4 or 5 years ago and I haven't seen it since.

 

[PIGMAN]

I just picked up 80 at $1.25 a pop, I'm Canadian so I don't think that's too bad a price .

Anyways I want to remove labels as well. My question is regarding the cage and soaking in oxyclean/starsan, will it be okay to soak with the cage on for an hour or so in either product?

From my experience, Oxy-Clean will remove some of the shine on the cage. The cage will still function fine, but not be as shiny.