Priming in screw top vodka and wine bottles

[Dex Pistol]

Howdy. I have a bunch of screw top Stoli bottles, as well as a screw top wine bottle. Assuming I screw the top tightly after bottling, would there be any issues with carbing in these bottles?

 

[marc1]

Howdy. I have a bunch of screw top Stoli bottles, as well as a screw top wine bottle. Assuming I screw the top tightly after bottling, would there be any issues with carbing in these bottles?

If the bottles are not designed to hold pressure, like beer or champagne bottles, then they can explode from the pressure. Or, the caps might not actually seal well enough to pressurize the bottle for carbonation, which might save you some injury but still won't result in carbonated beverage.

 

[bracconiere]

well for an unorthodox thing like this....buy a 2 liter of soda pop, fill a cheap vodka bottle with the carbonated beverage, screw the cap down, then shake it? the wine bottle, not so much. but they are pretty thick so 'should' just fizz out the cap? otherwise...

 

[sibelman]

Um, if you undertake the test that @bracconiere proposes (jokingly, right bracco?) wear protective clothing and goggles. Better still, use soda (or beer!) bottles for beer, and recycle the empty bottles that aren't built to hold pressure.

 

[DuncB]

Danger springs to mind.
Recycle them and ask at a bar / neighbours for beer bottles.

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

2 litre PET water bottles ?

 

[bracconiere]

jokingly, right bracco?

i so wanted to find the glass carboy 'mishap' thread with pictures of stitches! but i do figure the vodka bottle could handle it? not sure if the cap would seal good enough though?

edit: for the record i've tried using cheap little flimsy dasani water bottles to hold beer, it didn't blow up, but the cap wouldn't hold pressure....

edit2: i'm assuming the vodka bottle is PETE plastic right?

 

[mashpaddled]

Looking at the spirit bottles in my house, the screwtop lids don't seem especially well constructed with much of a gasket to maintain pressure. Seems like you have a good chance the lids leak out CO2 or the plastic bottles might split at the seams if the lids hold pressure. Soda bottles would be a cheap but superior option if you don't want to bottle in glass beer bottles.

 

[kartracer2]

I tried a 1.75 liter PET vodka bottle once. It had the indented areas where it's formed for a better grip. I filled it with primed beer, screwed the cap on and waited. I stopped the experiment when I noticed the grip area started to blow outward. The beer had started to carb but I didn't want to wait any longer. It must have sealed up to that point but I was in no mood to see if it would go the distance. I definitely wouldn't want to try it with glass bottles that weren't designed to retain carbonation pressure.
I have used the 500ml & 2 L soda bottles without issue, it's nice to use the 500ml's to monitor the carb level with out having to open one.
As always, YMMV.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[Drewch]

I have carbed successfully in liter-sized or half-liter-sized plastic water bottles.

Edit: they're pretty thin; so I expect the oxygen permeability to be pretty high. So I wouldn't recommend it for long-term aging.

 

[Broken Crow]

Honestly... Buy once, cry once.. Noticed it said you're in TO. Try here first:
https://torontobrewing.ca/collections/bottles-and-growlers
or here: https://www.kijiji.ca/b-city-of-tor...83184&address=Toronto,+ON&radius=35.0&dc=true

 

[DuncB]

edit2: i'm assuming the vodka bottle is PETE plastic right?

I was assuming they were glass stoli bottles.

 

[Zambezi Special]

I was assuming they were glass stoli bottles.

Me too

 

[brewingupastorm]

Liquor bottles will definitely explode and cause severe injury or death to anyone close by. I've had regular beer bottles explode from overpricing once upon a time and the glass embedded 2 inches into the wood cupboard tells me that is enough to kill someone. Liquor bottles are not designed for pressure.

Easy test, if the bottle came pressurized it can handle some pressure. Soda bottles made of P.ET plastic can be primed just fine and hold probably 5 volumes co2, so I will do heavily carbed beers in them if I'm aiming for 3 vol or 3.5 vol and don't have belgian bottles on hand.

Regular beer bottles hold 2.5 vol safely. Always check for cracks or chips and discard those. For the plastic bottles, they can be weakened with uv light but so far I have not had issues with them. Worse case for those being a little overprimed is they gush or the lid seal fails, they do not generally explode outward.

If you are unsure how many volumes you will end up with, store bottles in a box or crate inside a shed away from humans. Wait 3 or 4 weeks. If they haven't exploded, stick em in the fridge.

 

[bwible]

Bought a bottle of this Voga Prosecco to have in the hot tub while we were just on vacation. This sparkling wine comes in a really nice cut glass designed bottle that in addition to taking a cork looks like it will also take a crown cap. The small label peeled off almost effortlessly. I kept this bottle and I have a feeling I’m going to be buying a few more.

https://www.totalwine.com/wine/cham.../voga-prosecco/p/219688750?s=101&igrules=true

 

[bwible]

Martinelli Sparkling Apple Cider bottles are also heavy and will also take a crown cap. That is non alcoholic cider which is available in many supermarkets. Not that expensive either.

 

[DuncB]

I crown cap champagne and sparkling wine bottles. Used them for elderflower fizz, saison and wine.
You need larger caps and a different bell on the capper.
Just keep any beer in clear bottles away from the light.

 

[Drewch]

Martinelli Sparkling Apple Cider bottles are also heavy and will also take a crown cap. That is non alcoholic cider which is available in many supermarkets. Not that expensive either.

I use these quite a lot, too. And you get sparkling cider as a bonus for not much more than you'd pay per bottle anyway for empties.

 

[DuncB]

@Drewch

I get the empties for free, so that is cheap cider!