What size bottles do you use exclusively?

[Cardog]

I have all of these bottles saved up but was really wondering if 12oz bottles are even worth having anymore. Sure, they're great for handing out samples to friends but just not sure if I want to stock and bottle the 12 ouncers anymore. What are everyone's thoughts and what do you do?

 

[masonsjax]

I keg everything, never did the bottling thing. Sometimes I'll fill growlers, 12, 16, or 22 oz bottles from the tap to bring places though. I keep a few of each on hand.

 

[Craftfan]

I have all of these bottles saved up but was really wondering if 12oz bottles are even worth having anymore. Sure, they're great for handing out samples to friends but just not sure if I want to stock and bottle the 12 ouncers anymore. What are everyone's thoughts and what do you do?

I use both 12 and 22. It depends on the type of beer I am bottling. Big stout/IIPA goes majority in 12s and other smaller beers go in 22s. I usually do some of each size for an average ABV beer, that way I can decide what serving size I want when I'm browsing the fridge.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

12 is a good size for beer staying cold while drinking it. I use both 12s and 22s. 22s are for sharing, or being thirsty

 

[Gnomebrewer]

If I bottle from keg (with a gun) I use 12oz (so I can drink straight from the bottle).
Bottling from fermenter (bottle/natural carbonating) I use mostly 24oz.

 

[secondbase]

I use 12oz for regular beers, but use 16oz Belgian Bottles and champagne bottles for saisons, Belgians, brett beers and sours.

 

[fuelish]

I use 12 ozers exclusively - anymore, I'm making meads, so .... one 12 oz bottle makes for 2 glasses of goodness...one for me and one for my ladylove....or a full glass for me, but mead can catch up with ya quick....used to use a fair number of 22 ozers when I brewed, but gave 'em away to a friend who was getting into making his own beer.

 

[Cardog]

I guess I am trying to cut down on the storage of bottles. Which is why I was trying to get peoples consensus.

I was think about getting rid of all of my 12 oz. bottles and sticking with the 22 oz bombers. I also have growlettes and a stainless steel growlers (that looks like a keg) too.

I figured with a 22 oz I can alway put one of those bottle stoppers on and save till the next day if I don't feel like drinking the whole thing. And yes, the carbonation does last til the next day properly covered.

 

[bendog15]

12s exclusively for everything. They're easy to get my hands on, easy to give away, and easy to drink. 22s are just too big for me. I feel guilty about wasting beer. Where I live I can get my hands on an unlimited supply of 12 oz bottles so it's all good.

 

[BrewSavage]

Any bottle; any size can work for me

Swing tops (grolsch style) of any size are best. But I don't have enough for all my needs. I have around 150 different swing tops of various sizes, many of them given to me by friends.

When it comes to capping:
I do mostly 12 oz for big beers because 12oz is usually enough. I have around 100 bottles this size.
22 oz are good, simply to make the process go faster, but I only have a few dozen.
I have 1/2 liter and english pint size bottles (Fullers and Smith's) that I usually reserve for english ales.

I almost always do at least a 6-pack of 12oz with every batch for give-away situations where getting the bottle back is unlikely.

 

[DromJohn]

450ml and 16oz with occasional others.

 

[m00ps]

I may be a bit overdoing it, but I use anything I can cap. 12oz, 22oz, 350ml, 500ml, 32oz grolsch style, etc

And even with the 12oz ones, I weigh each of them to determine whether they are "heavy" or "normal". I've found most 12oz longnecks/stubbys are between 195g and 205g. Some breweries use 12oz bottles that are about 230g. I keep these separate, along with any heavy european style bottles, for highly carbed belgians and wild/sour beers. I don't really need to weigh them anymore since after a while you can tell from holding them if they are heavy or not

I would note that out of the few bottles I've had randomly explode (each from a different batch) every single one of them is a 22oz bomber. I think they arent nearly as able to withstand as much pressure per oz due to hoop stress

 

[unionrdr]

I like the 12oz or 11.2 German size bottles. The German ones usually have a slightly better lip design, in my opinion. Besides the cool designs cast into the bottles, or their shape.

 

[slym2none]

I use 12oz long-necks almost exclusively.

 

[max384]

I mostly keg, but when I do bottle, I use 450 ml Grolsch bottles exclusively. I use them because I like the simple flip top caps.

 

[Pkrd]

When I bottled I initially collected a lot of 500ml bottles but once I got a nice wide pipeline the smaller bottles were great for variety and freshness.

Now I keg and I'm stuck with either this or that, or this then that, or this, then a bit of that, then some more of this, then hows abouts we trys mixing this and that together, then some more of that, then why the hell did I put twp 8% beers on tap at the same time? ... etc until I get a bigger kegerator.

 

[bendog15]

I used to be a snob and only keep long neck 12 ozers. They fit a case perfectly in a plastic milk crates. Now I keg too and it's just whatever is lying around gets used. No preference to size shape or whatever. I've put beer in plastic bottles, growlers, anything.

 

[MaxStout]

Initially I amassed a huge number of bottles of all sizes--12 oz long necks and stubbies, 500ml Euro, 22 oz bombers, stubby Belgians, etc. I had more bottles than I could possibly use, so I gave a bunch of them to friends who were starting out in brewing, and kept only the 12 oz. long necks.

 

[Singletrack]

Edit: Nothing nice to say.