unorthodox bottling methods

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Ninjaneer

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I've just added homebrewing to my ever-growing list of hobbies... but this means I've got a few tricks...

for example... I'm working on some alternative bottling solutions:
Bottlemaker_by_ScaryPotter.jpg


which will soon be fired and slip-cast into set molds of 6, then I'll add pivots for Grolsch-type flip top stoppers.

Also:
Teardrop_Jug_by_ScaryPotter.jpg


which I'll also slipcast in plaster set molds of 4. They'll be corked-and-wired shut. Probably will end up custom-glazing all of them.

Does anyone know if clay or porcelain will negatively effect beer flavor?

I'll post some pictures when I get done with the molds and get some of these bad boys glazed.

Alternately... if anyone's in the market for a hand thrown ceramic tap tower? ... I could use the $$ to get started on my steampunk kegerator. :)

cheers.
 
first of all, thumbs up for your creativity and originality!!!

(disclaimer: talking out of logic, not experience)

Now, I never used clay... but I do know a thing or two about it since my neighbor is a potter.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that clay is porous. it evaporates liquid that defuses through the surface, hence I imagine its no the best sanitary solution. Another point is that clay should be very hard to sanitize, plus it can absorb your sanitation solution. It will be a shame to use your great artwork for only a single batch, and not being able to refill.

that being said, if you'll do an internal glazing, you should on the safe side. porcelain should be a good solution as well
 
first of all, thumbs up for your creativity and originality!!!

(disclaimer: talking out of logic, not experience)

Now, I never used clay... but I do know a thing or two about it since my neighbor is a potter.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that clay is porous. it evaporates liquid that defuses through the surface, hence I imagine its no the best sanitary solution. Another point is that clay should be very hard to sanitize, plus it can absorb your sanitation solution. It will be a shame to use your great artwork for only a single batch, and not being able to refill.

that being said, if you'll do an internal glazing, you should on the safe side. porcelain should be a good solution as well

I'm no expert, but I'm assuming that they are going to glaze and fire these so make them smooth, shiney, and non-porous before actually filling them with beer.

I'd probably not spend a ton of money on them, but they would be cool to show off on those special occassions. Maybe if you were doing ren faires or period re-enactments or something too. :rockin:
 
Very nice. Let us know if they work. I would defiantly pressure test them in a safe environment first though.
 
Yes I would agree and 3rd the pressure test. Also how are you going to glaze the inside? I would imagine the rough clay surface would not be good for sanitizing as mentioned.

But VERY NICE work!'If not for bottling you could alwasy use them for serving?
 
Yes I would agree and 3rd the pressure test. Also how are you going to glaze the inside? I would imagine the rough clay surface would not be good for sanitizing as mentioned.

But VERY NICE work!'If not for bottling you could alwasy use them for serving?



A loooong time ago I used to make japanese Shakuhachi bamboo flutes, one way to glaze the inside of a vessel (or tube) is to fill it with glaze, let it sit for a bit, then swirl it around to coat, then pour out...I imagine that that would work here as well.

(kinda like sanitizing a carboy)

I really hope they hold up to the pressure test..they're bitchin'

Even if they can't hold beer pressure, could you imagine bottling you apfelwein or mead in those bad-boys?
 
:mug: Wow, I must say I'm envious of your talent! Truly bitchin' pieces of artwork. Imagine pouring something (I'm thinking cider/apfelwein) out of one of these for someone! I think it adds to the presentation, thus enhancing the product within. You may end up with a bunch of homebrewers ordering pieces from you! Congrats!
 
Very nice job. Hope your idea works out.
Are you perhaps the hand model for the movie Ghost? :D
 
That is awesome. I have always wanted to learn how to do that. How cool would it be to give a gift of homebrew inside of one of your home made clay bottles. Keep us posted.
 
They look cool!!!! How are you going to pressure test them? It'd be a shame if they became home-made bottle bombs...

True enough. I believe they'll certainly hold pressure -- additionally, by letting the slip (liquid clay) sit in the molds longer I can vary the thickness of my bottles. I fully anticipate that these will in fact be sturdier than glass... that is If I make them in Porcelain.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that clay is porous. it evaporates liquid that defuses through the surface, hence I imagine its no the best sanitary solution. Another point is that clay should be very hard to sanitize, plus it can absorb your sanitation solution. It will be a shame to use your great artwork for only a single batch, and not being able to refill.

that being said, if you'll do an internal glazing, you should on the safe side. porcelain should be a good solution as well

Absolutely -- this ain't the first set of pottery I've made, not by a long shot. Mud is porous, stoneware less so, and porcelain hardly at all (looking at 20%, 5% and 0%, water absorbtion, respectively). I plan on at the /very/ least glazing the insides with some thick high gloss. The outsides will then vary in style.
 
Very nice job. Hope your idea works out.
Are you perhaps the hand model for the movie Ghost?

Demi Moore was the potter in that movie. Patrick Swayze just 'helped.' I didn't hand model for Ghost... but that thing that happened in the movie? ...pretty common event. :mug:

I would be up for [a custom tap tower], especially if you're able to inlay the graphic in my avatar.

Nothing could be simpler than an Inlay. It's as easy as printing the graphic off, stick it to a wet pot, let it dry, then scratch out the lines. I'll try throwing some towers the next chance I get.

I'd probably not spend a ton of money on them, but they would be cool to show off on those special occassions. Maybe if you were doing ren faires or period re-enactments or something too.

Slip is pretty cheap. Once I get the molds done I could probably make these for $1 or less in materials and heat. *shrug*

And as for the ren faire? Totally would do it. In Monk garb.

reminiscent of the little brown jug! dont forget the XXX on the side.;)

That's the plan!


Thank you all for your replies :). I feel very welcome here.
 
Ninjaneer glad you came back today to get the props you deserve!!! We all agree that they are awesome to behold! Hopefully you will have no problems.

:mug:

Thank ye kindly, rev. I've been eying your kegerator... I must say props to you as well! :mug:

Thanks for making me feel so welcome!
 
Hey Ninjaneer, I have always wanted some of these to cork + store some brew in. If they end up working out, I would definitely support your projects (love clay stuff).
 
Dry ice would actually be MORE dangerous than simply bottling some beer in them. The yeast give off a certain amount of CO2, wheras dry ice will sublimate completely and ultimately cause an explosion.

Nice jugs! I wish I could make something like that, but for now I'm content to just ogle yours.
 
so how exactly would you "safely" pressure test this? dry ice possibly?

Nah. Best way IMHO is to get a nice little airtight plug in one of those babies as a "test vessel" that you accept is going to die. Mount your CO2 hose in the airtight plug, and put the jug into a metal box or very *stout* wood that you know could handle shrapnel, or whatever it takes (though I'd imagine a metal trashcan/paint bucket would do fine).

You *SLOWLY* start to add pressure. Stop if you get to what, 30 PSI or whatever the pressure in your bottles would be. If they explode before then, you know how much pressure your design can take.

Also, even if they don't take a lot of bottle pressure, filling one up from a keg tap and then serving (or drinking) out of it would be farkin' groovin'. I'd be down for one of those just to drink out of while I blacksmith:

p1154463667jj0.jpg


How much would you charge for a good porcelain jug? Both one that could stopper up and one that couldn't? I might have business for you. Private message me if you want to talk off list.
 
so how exactly would you "safely" pressure test this? dry ice possibly?

hah... I was thinking air compressor + pressure gauge + safety goggles + lab coat... Put the pot in a cardboard box and find the 'blow up' pressure, then just assume that everything 10 or 20psi under that is about safe.
 
Nah. Best way IMHO is to get a nice little airtight plug in one of those babies as a "test vessel" that you accept is going to die. Mount your CO2 hose in the airtight plug, and put the jug into a metal box or very *stout* wood that you know could handle shrapnel, or whatever it takes (though I'd imagine a metal trashcan/paint bucket would do fine).

You *SLOWLY* start to add pressure. Stop if you get to what, 30 PSI or whatever the pressure in your bottles would be. If they explode before then, you know how much pressure your design can take.
...
How much would you charge for a good porcelain jug? Both one that could stopper up and one that couldn't? I might have business for you. Private message me if you want to talk off list.

Hey, didn't see this one -- but yeah, exactly my plan. Sacrifice one for the good of the swarm. I imagine they'll be able to take quite a bit of pressure. Porcelain is hard schtuff.

cool picture.

I've never really sold stuff before so I'll have to just keep track of costs and decide what's fair for labor. I'll PM you after work today (which I'm late to :ban:).

You might wanna just drink out of a mug -- or stein though, right? is that what you meant by 'one that couldn't be stoppered?'
 
Oh no I meant one of those kickass jugs. I have access to corks, and I'd just grab one. Not everything I drink is carbonated. I already have a 2 pint hardwood mug that has gotten me into so much drunk I can't begin to describe it, I'd love something a little more bombastic like the jug.
 
I'm going home the first weekend of August to finish some pottery. I'll try and pour the moulds and then give you a quote on what the materials'll cost once I have a better idea of how inexpensively I can produce.

And I'd of course part with the original jug for a song more than the duplicates. :)
 
Sorta...
fill it with water, plug it and attach air or CO2 line.
submerge it in a tub of water and pressurize.
when it finally breaks, you'll just get a couple broken pieces drifting to the bottom of the tub of water.
No explosion, no shrapnel.



Nah. Best way IMHO is to get a nice little airtight plug in one of those babies as a "test vessel" that you accept is going to die. Mount your CO2 hose in the airtight plug, and put the jug into a metal box or very *stout* wood that you know could handle shrapnel, or whatever it takes (though I'd imagine a metal trashcan/paint bucket would do fine).

You *SLOWLY* start to add pressure. Stop if you get to what, 30 PSI or whatever the pressure in your bottles would be. If they explode before then, you know how much pressure your design can take.
 
Sorta...
fill it with water, plug it and attach air or CO2 line.
submerge it in a tub of water and pressurize.
when it finally breaks, you'll just get a couple broken pieces drifting to the bottom of the tub of water.
No explosion, no shrapnel.


good idea! far less excitement that way... and also less potential to get a pointy piece of clay in your eye.
 
Rogue Brewing in Oregon has a couple of H.G beers that are released in limited numbers in similiar type bottles, although I believe they had flip tops. Cool idea!
 
Rogue Brewing in Oregon has a couple of H.G beers that are released in limited numbers in similiar type bottles, although I believe they had flip tops. Cool idea!


no difference then -- I fully intend these to have a flip top.

In other news, my RIS has grown into a beautiful beer... It turns out it wasn't spoiled at all -- it just needed some time to mellow.
 
so whats the status? any preasure testing done yet? IM really looking forward to hearing how this works because clay aged beer seems like a cool idea.
 
The bottles are fired, I've got to make the casts...


the bottle seen in the pictures holds a little less than 16oz due to shrinkage -- which is a shame, and the jugs all hold near half gallons to near gallons (it's tough getting the volumes dead on) Pressure testing should come soon, but I gotta make the casts first, I'm currently moving back to school and I'm working on getting some kegging equipment together for one of my beers so I'ven't had much time to play with clay. :/ I'll keep this thread updated though -- no worries.
 
Yeah, I was wondering that too...or some old style Tankards?
 
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