Which brand comes in good bottles.

[lapaglia]

Which brands of beer make the good bottles to save for recapping? Who makes cheap bottles not worth reusing? I know not to use twist off bottles but whats the best ones to save if I can find them?

 

[McKBrew]

Honestly they are all similar, with the exception that some are hard to get glue off from. I like Redhook and Widmer bottles because the labels fall off easy, but I've re-used several different brands with no problems.

 

[M@!]

I like kiran bottles, labels come off easy and the bottle are completely smooth. No labeling in the actual glass.

 

[billtzk]

Fuller's ESB, both in the 11 oz and the pint size are super sturdy. Same for Fuller's 1845. A number of British import bottles, most of which are pints, are quite rugged. The 12 oz Youngs, and Samuel Smith are sturdy, but avoid the clear ones.

Stone IPA comes in a heavier than average bottle, but it has a painted label. Seems like most brands use a similar fairly lightweight bottle that is nevertheless serviceable. Sam Adams and Victory are typical. I don't like the Widmer bottles. They seem lighter than most, but they also have a funky shape. The DogFishHead brews and Spanish Peaks (e.g., Black Dog) seem a tad heavier. The Breckenridge Brewery bottles seem a bit heavier too. If you like the shape, SNPA is good. And one of the heaviest is Duvel, but it's a pretty short and weird looking bottle. And besides, Duvel is an expensive beer!

Just go to the store and buy six packs or cases of whatever you like to drink, so long as they are not twist off bottles, and you'll probably be fine.

Edit: Definitely avoid Bass Ale, as it has a top that some cappers don't handle well. Avoid anything with a nitrogen gas widget inside.

Edit: Avoid green bottles and clear bottles.

Edit: Some the absolute best ever are the old Budweiser returnables. They had a real nice longneck shape that is a bit different from today's longneck. Some bars still get them, I've heard, but I haven't seen any in a really long time. I used to buy cases of them at a time in the early '80s, but I wasn't a homebrewer back then, so I always returned them for the deposit.

 

[blk94f150]

I liked Sam Adams bottles the best. The only ones I really didn't like were Harp bottles. Where the cap grips is really large, so I was never confident in a good seal.

Mike

 

[eriktlupus]

fischer's from france is a brown glass flip top if you can find 'em

arcadia brewin here is nice labels come off in hot water
bell's suck balls don't come off for shiite in water/oxy mix (still hafta scrape glue)

 

[BlindLemonLars]

For 12oz bottles, it's hard to beat Sierra Nevada. It's easy to find, reasonably priced, the bottles are simple and unmarked (good for competition) and the beer is great. You do have to clean them very thoroughly as there is often tightly packed yeast sediment. The labels soak off easily with oxyclean.

For pint bottles (which I strongly prefer) my favorite is Fuller's. I love their ESB too, so collecting the bottles is no burden.

I don't worry about clear and green bottles...I'll take all the Newcastle and Grolsch bottles I can find. I don't know about you, but I don't store my beer in well lit places, so skunking is a non-issue. In fact, I always use at least a few clear bottles with each batch, so I can more easily observe how they are clearing and conditioning.

 

[Bopper]

Guinness bottles are the best, IMHO - The lables are not stickers but plastic that you can slice off with a knife. Only problem is getting the widget out of the bottle but I'd rather do that than deal with glue.

 

[jcarson83]

The labels slide right off of Two Hearted after a 24-hour soak.

 

[bsay]

I've used Sam Adams and O'Dell bottles. Simple soak in hot oxyclean solution for 30 minutes and they'll come right off. It's important to remove the labels while the water is still hot (glue = soft).

 

[abracadabra]

Pete's as in Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blond is good, JB's from trader joe's

I agree with Blindlemon about the green and clear bottles, get a cases and save the card board boxes or store in a closet and you won't have anything to worry about

I disagree with billtzk about the widgets:

There's no problem with the widgets in Guinness bottles simply turn the bottle upside down and grab the widget with a pair of needle nose piers & pull, they come right out.

But I agree that the duvel bottles seem strong

Here lately I've been collecting Mississippi Mud bottles, they look like jugs are 32 oz and have screw off (not twist off) reuseable caps they are brown bottles wrapped in plastic that makes them look like jugs, I also get them from trader joe's

I also have a buddy that reuses the twist off bottles and caps by simply twisting them back on. He says the caps are good for 5-6 times at least.

If you're a newby the plastic Miller Lite 16 oz bottles are great you can reuse the caps 4-6 times and the plastic bottles virtually eliminate the danger from bottle bombs

 

[zoebisch01]

The best way to find out is buy some mixed sixer's if you can and then weigh them. There is (although it's not a perfect one) a correlation between the weight of the bottle and its durability and ability to remain intact under pressure. I seem to recall the Weihenstephaner bottles to be quite robust. Fransizkhaner USED to have much heavier bottles. I am fortunate to have picked up a few cases prior to their switch.

What I am getting at here is that in this day and age of "Engineering Efficiency" is that the sooner you get bottles the better because as time goes by they seem to get thinner and thinner. And yes there are advances in Materials, but a good deal of what happens is "Hey we can make this bottle x-grams lighter and we'll save y-dollars in both manufacturing and shipping costs, even though we have a z-percentage of increased breakage probability." As long as the bottle doesn't break for it's one intended use that is all that matters. After that they are legally free. But as homebrewers we use and reuse and reuse our bottles, so the more portly the bottle the better!

The other part of searching out good bottles is to make sure the labels ARE NOT that weird rubbery adhesive, etc. You want them to fall right off, which almost every German import I have bought (and many American brews) seem to do. Even in just water.

 

[kram]

I've used all sorts of (brown) bottles and I think my favorites have become guinness.

no labels come off easier, just a slice with the razer knife. pulling the widget with needle nose (or a hemostat/clamp) is not a problem at all. Good heavy glass with a distinctive shape

The only possible drawbacks are that they are not quite 12oz, but that just means you can drink an extra one. and the bottle shape makes labeling messy.

 

[Homercidal]

I like the guinness bottles with the plastic labels, and I've also had good luck with bass. However, although I've never broken one, you can tell they are thinner than most others, and some people have reported breaking them with a wing capper.

Some breweries have some pretty serious glue. Some come right off. As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather not deal with the tough ones.

 

[Special Hops]

BAss Ale labels come off real easy. that was always my choice back when I was bottling.

 

[zachatola]

Widmer bro, redhook, deschutes, sam adams, saint pauli girl (for my apfelwein) friend loves that beer. I have used some Heineken bottles but man do there labels suck to take off (basically a sticker) they work well for apfelwein too. New Belgium bottles, i kinda just grab what i can get. LOL all seem to bottle easy enough, though im using a bench caper and most have little designs on the outside which may or may not be a issue for you.

 

[joejoe1881]

Anyone here try using San Pellegrino water bottles? I have 1L glass bottles that can be capped and a Tripel I want to bottle but don't know if the bottle can take the pressure.

 

[Ecnerwal]

For the best quality VERY sturdy big bottles, American pattern champagne (uses standard size crown cap, even though it ships with a mushroom cork) is the bee's knees. Green but plenty dark to keep your precious hops safe. French bottles use a different size (bigger) cap that's harder to come by here, not worth the hassle.

One notch down is Martinelli's sparking cider bottles. Again, green, but plenty dark.

All the 22 oz beer bottles I've seen are wimps by comparison. Additionally, the above two types are deposit-free here, so they don't cost a nickel.

Clear bottles are actually fine if you store them in the dark, or bottle non-hopped products in them such as mead, cider, etc.

 

[malkore]

get a good bench capper for $35 and you can use any beer bottle, even twist-tops.

wing cappers can't always get a grip on the bottle to pull the cap down. a bench capper pushes the cap down so it needs no lip to grab liek a wing capper.

 

[Dpostman]

+1 on the bench capper. I was wondering why I seen a lot of people dissing the twist off bottles. I've been bottling with twist offs for 20 years and only recall once opening a flat beer. I also don't sterilize my bottle caps. I just open the bag and cap away.

But, for me, that will be a thing of the past, am picking up a turn-key kegorator and complete system next week. Which is good cause I have 2 double batches in primaries as we speak and I would have to cap about 280 bottles in a week or 2. Instead I'm going to fill 6 kegs

dp

 

[Duckfoot]

I was thinking about using the 7oz Corona bottles for SWMBO's Hard Strawberry Lemonade... She is a d*mned lightweight... :rockin:

Anyone have opinion?

 

[lapaglia]

Thanks everyone for the opinions. I have a son that is on a Sam Adams kick at the moment and he committed to getting me 4 cases of their bottles. As a service to his father, of course. He is such a good son.

 

[Ecnerwal]

I was thinking about using the 7oz Corona bottles Anyone have opinion?

Buy more caps - that's the only issue (other than someone having to drink Corona in the first place), at least using a good bench capper. I use some 8oz bottles to keep from having too much that doesn't fit into bottles properly at the tail end, which work fine.

 

[Duckfoot]

I have like 200 caps from assorted kits since I got all my kegging gear set up...

Thanks.

 

[fratermus]

For the best quality VERY sturdy big bottles, American pattern champagne (uses standard size crown cap, even though it ships with a mushroom cork) is the bee's knees. Green but plenty dark to keep your precious hops safe.

Yes, American bubbly bottles are very heavy and useful. I have a few.

I think the very best beer bottles are the half-liter German bottle:

* they are well made, as they are designed for long-term reuse/refill
* they are straight-sided and thus store efficiently (tightly)
* they are .5L instead of .33L so bottling is faster
* the labels FALL OFF after a short rest in tap water

I have also used twistoffs with a benchcapper and have had no failures.

 

[fratermus]

Anyone here try using San Pellegrino water bottles? I have 1L glass bottles that can be capped and a Tripel I want to bottle but don't know if the bottle can take the pressure.

I have 2 of them in my bottle stash but haven't tried them yet. The San Pellegrino is carbed but the glass seems somewhat thin.

I tried to do some early morning Googling about the pressure that water and soft drinks are carbonated to, but only came up with two numbers: one gave a value for "soda" at 3.0 volumes, and Coke was 3.7 volumes.

If that is the case then I think that the SP bottle should work for beer carbonated to normal beer pressures. Let us know if you do try it. I will do the same.

 

[jmo88]

I know many will say clear bottles are a no-no, but I like Newcastle. One, the labels full off effortlessly. Two, it is nice to see your beer's color and clarity as it is stored (assuming you store it in an unlit area while conditioning.) And three, it's damn good tasting, easy drinking beer. I have no problem polishing off several of these if I am in a pinch for bottles. I couldn't say the same for a bolder beer.

Cheers

 

[CBBaron]

I love the shape of Red Stripe bottles and they seem heavier than standard.
Duvel and most of the good Belgium beers have unique bottle shapes and are usually considerably heavier than the generic long neck.
American sparkling wine (champagne) bottles are super tough and take standard caps. However I had trouble with a wing capper on them. A bench capper works great. They are however clear or green an so must be stored in the dark.
French and European sparkling wine bottles are also excellent bottles but use a different cap. You can purchase the caps and replacement bell for some cappers from several online HBSes.
Most English and German beers seem to come in bottles that are heavier than average. I especially like the Brown .5l Hobgoblin bottles I just got.
I have a bench capper and for beer I use any dark pop top bottle. For meads I use the clear and green pop top bottles first then use my beer bottles.


Craig

 

[pjj2ba]

As far as I know, Brand only comes in one kind of bottle.

 

[menschmaschine]

I think the very best beer bottles are the half-liter German bottle:

* they are well made, as they are designed for long-term reuse/refill
* they are straight-sided and thus store efficiently (tightly)
* they are .5L instead of .33L so bottling is faster
* the labels FALL OFF after a short rest in tap water

+1. Ayinger and Weihenstephaner have great bottles.