Used beer bottle

Forums › Home brewing (beer, wine, spirits) › Used beer bottle - reusing

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#284260 10-Apr-2021 10:43

Hi has anyone tried reusing screw cap bottles eg Spates 330ml?

I used them for ginger beer and my first brew of stout, but some did not seal. I screwed them up by hand, but perhaps they need to be forced more with grips.

Anyone?

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#2690442 10-Apr-2021 11:06

I'd personally advise against it. The glass in the bottles is a lot thinner than in the reusable 750 ml glass bottles, and you'll have a hard time getting the tops on tight enough to be sealed.
And don't even try using a capper to put normal crown caps on - the thinner glass can't reliably handle the force and shatters into many, many tiny shards. A helluva mess.

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robjg63

4091 posts

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#2690552 10-Apr-2021 11:57

You are creating potential bombs by using those bottles!
Have you ever seen the results of exploding home-brew glass bottles?
You will be cleaning up slivers of glass for a very long time, and i can tell you that a box of glass bottles exploding will go off like a machine gun.
Plastic bottles can still burst when things go horribly wrong and are messy to clean up - but at least no needle shards of glass.

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panther2

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690553 10-Apr-2021 12:01

have used a lot of them and they have worked in the past

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690554 10-Apr-2021 12:02

Points taken and thanks, no more used Spates. I also noticed when doing a test run with my capper that the neck was tapered which differs from the good old 750ml Lion bottles, and not compatible with my hand bottler (not the lever action type)

Change this thread henceforth into what you find the best containers for bottling in

eg price per bottle and ease of use etc.

??????????????

Thanks, Al.

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690565 10-Apr-2021 12:41

I predominantly keg but when I bottle I use glass 500ml crown cap bottles. I bought about 12 dozen many moons ago and have hardly lost any. They work best for me as I have a dozen or so 560ml English style pint glasses.

Last year I needed a couple pf plastic bottles to enter a brew into a competition. I ended up buying a couple of dozen 500ml PET bottles online for that purpose, most of which I still have unused.

Those bottles (which I got through a third party home brew store) came from AC Plastics so in November last year I contacted AC Plastics direct to see if they sold direct to the public. They said they did and the costs were as follows;

Price per box of 24 bottles with lids is $12.06c . Prices exclude GST. Freight varies . Single box (Couriered) would be around $11.50 each and 10 boxes (on a pallet) would be $35.00.

That's a pretty good price and worth buying a pallet in my opinion. Easy to buy a big bag of new caps so these PET bottles are reusable. The e-mail address for AC Plastics is ac.plastics@xtra.co.nz.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690577 10-Apr-2021 13:23

//Price per box of 24 bottles with lids is $12.06c . Prices exclude GST. Freight varies . Single box (Couriered) would be around $11.50 each and 10 boxes (on a pallet) would be $35.00.

A good option. BTW have you tried a compare of same beer bottled in glass vs PET?

panther2

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690580 10-Apr-2021 13:29

Use only 750 glass bottles found it easy to get swapped crates on trademe for around 5 $ for 12 bottles plus crate

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tim0001

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690619 10-Apr-2021 15:07

I've been thinking about having a go at making beer, but collecting all the bottles has deterred me. So this thread is good.

Can you use screw cap wine bottles, or are they too thin?

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690633 10-Apr-2021 16:04

I haven't bottled for years so no comparison between the glass and the plastic. Heaps of people use the plastic and have no issues though. I prefer glass but just because that's what I've always had.

I wouldn't use screw top wine bottles. You should be able to buy crates of empties from your local bottle store for about $5. Crown caps are cheaper than screw caps, just get a capper.

I started making the tin kits in a plastic fermenter with no temperature control and have amassed a lot more gear since then to be doing fully temperature controlled all grain brewing in stainless now and dispensing from a kegerator.

So yeah, beware, if you get into it you're going to end up spending some money.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690642 10-Apr-2021 16:26

//So yeah, beware, if you get into it you're going to end up spending some money.

Sure, but if you consider the cost of materials vs 24 - pack beer eg Steinies around $30 you easily recoup over a year or shorter.

(Im sitting here drinking some newish, but nice, Coopers Stout beer kit and it cost me about $20 for 18L)

The pleasure is partly in the drinking, partly in being able to give your mates (hopefully) a nice brew which is usually stronger than commercial, and the pleasure of making it with a resulting reward at the end if it turns out nice.

However, I recall years ago one brew I made was so bad we gave it to the pig. Made the pig taste nice tho a while later ;-)

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690644 10-Apr-2021 16:35

tim0001:

I've been thinking about having a go at making beer, but collecting all the bottles has deterred me. So this thread is good.

Those 1.25L used water bottles are OK if you ensure to clean after each brew, and keep out of sunlight. If you dont have any, its not too hard to find folks who do; a neighbor just dropped some more PET bottles off here in perfect condition.

If you want to start brewing, there are some pretty good pointers within this forum, and youtube can help too.

Loismustdye

925 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2690655 10-Apr-2021 17:18

Crudely speaking most beer bottles that need a bottle opener could be used, but Ive only done this with craft beer bottles to do this as they are generally thicker and heavier bottles.

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690663 10-Apr-2021 17:41

ageorge:
//So yeah, beware, if you get into it you're going to end up spending some money.

Sure, but if you consider the cost of materials vs 24 - pack beer eg Steinies around $30 you easily recoup over a year or shorter.

(Im sitting here drinking some newish, but nice, Coopers Stout beer kit and it cost me about $20 for 18L)

Materials for a brew cost me between $65 and $100 for a 19 litre batch.

When I'm buying beer I'm paying a minimum of $20 for a 6 pack, unless I can find an exceptional special.

Hops can be expensive when you're adding 300g or more per batch.

kiwiace

54 posts

Master Geek

#2690679 10-Apr-2021 18:44

I happily bottle (with a bench capper) into whatever beer bottles I can find (often the neighbours recycling).

They won't explode in my experience as long as your brew is fermented out when you bottle it and you use a appropriate amount of priming sugar.

The plastic pet bottles work fine too (and I imagine plastic coke bottles etc would also be fine). When you reuse them though, be careful to make sure you are getting the lids tight.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2690680 10-Apr-2021 18:45

//Materials for a brew cost me between $65 and $100 for a 19 litre batch.

Ouch, that is extreme, do you mean the stainless brewing vessels and so on are part of that formula?

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