Swing Top Bottles

[Majikcook]

Ok, so bottling in 12 ounce and capping is a hassle, and I don't have the equip for a keg. What's the story with the Grolsch or similar swing top 22 or 16 ounce bottles? How often do you change the gasket. At $6.00 for 100, I would think a new gasket with every brew. Anybody with experience out there?

 

[NUCC98]

Ok, so bottling in 12 ounce and capping is a hassle, and I don't have the equip for a keg. What's the story with the Grolsch or similar swing top 22 or 16 ounce bottles? How often do you change the gasket. At $6.00 for 100, I would think a new gasket with every brew. Anybody with experience out there?

I read on another site that on the average, this one user gets about 4 or 5 uses out of them before having to replace them. Do you think the green grolsch bottles would be as good to use as the brown ones?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Look at color this way: anything is better than clear.

Anyway, where are you storing these cases? In full sun or in your basement/garage?

When to change the gasket? Simple question and even a simple answer...when you open the bottle and DO NOT get a good POP then it is probably time to change them. Other than that I use the gaskets until they get a deep groove in them.

You are right though...they are so cheap so why take a chance?

 

[Tophe]

I have a similar question.....I have a couple of the 2L Growlers with the swing tops......Can I bottle in those, just as I would a regular bottle with a cap? Im assuming I can, and don't see why not.....Probably a stupid question, but I'd rather be safe than sorry..

 

[rightwingnut]

I bottled some of my last batch in growlers. I think maybe the only problem would be loss of carbonation if you don't drink the whole thing in one sitting, but that's easily solved...

 

[NUCC98]

I bottled some of my last batch in growlers. I think maybe the only problem would be loss of carbonation if you don't drink the whole thing in one sitting, but that's easily solved...

I've got a couple 64oz. growlers from a microbrew from CT that I plan to use for my Imperial Stout. I figure I'd keep brews in there that aren't typically highly carbonated. The only problem is that they're screw-caps. My girlfriend's father uses those for wine, but I can't imagine they'd be too re-usable for beer. I was thinking of picking up some gum stoppers for them maybe.

 

[Janx]

Grolsch bottles used to be like gold to us when we bottled. They're so much easier to deal with. We changed the gaskets...hmm...oh...never...yeah, I think never. At least very very rarely. They last a good long time.

As far as color, green bottles suck, brown bottles suck, clear bottles REALLY suck. But the cool thing is that as homebrewers, we can control where our beer is stored. So keep it in the dark and don't let it get too hot and you can put your beer in whatever you want. Fact is, without proper storage, brown bottles don't really offer much protection against the harmful parts of light. Proper storage is the name of the game, and that's the part that commercial breweries have trouble controlling.

 

[jhudson]

I've used swing top bottles for about five years now and only just recently changed the gaskets. The only reason why I changed them was because I thought to myself, "Maybe its time to change the gaskets?". Other than that, I never had any problems with the gaskets. They are perfect for bottling.

 

[Hatzie]

I use swing tops all the time, I have not had any problems with them at all. I also have 2 growlers sitting in my cellar filled with a Belgian that I made, bottled right to them. I also keg, but I find with the swing tops it is easier for me to handle bottles.