Bottles - Plastic or Glass?

[Dronnybrewer]

For my brew I used the standard plastic bottles you get with the pack but I have been saving my glass beer bottles and plan to get a bottle capper and use them for my 2nd brew. Is there any difference? Is it difficult to use the bottle capper? Should I stick with the plastic bottles this early?

 

[GHW]

You hear all sorts from experts about pet bottles leaking co2 but that seems unlikely to me seeing as every fizzy drink under the sun is sold in them.

That said, personally I like a nice brown glass beer bottle to pour my (nearly a) pint from. Adds a bit of class!

Crown cappers are easy enough to use; my advice is get a metal handled one not the plastic type. I've tried both and plastic ones feel like they're about to snap. My current metal one is a boots the chemist one I nabbed from my dad, he bought it in the 70s (as the packaging bears evidence too) and it's still going strong.

 

[PWFBrew]

Get yourself a bench type capper. It will be quicker and easier to use. The two handled capper can make the bottles go sideways when you put the caps on.:drunk:

 

[Fil]

glass bottles especially those recycled can be weaker and more susceptible to overpriming/bottling early, as they wont hold the same degree of pressure that a pet bottle does.

but just lay to condition in a plastic box with a towel over the top and any bottle bombs will be just a minor rinsing hassle.. and checking the FG has been reached and priming carefully should avoid the issue.

some bottles Wytchwood iirc have a neck shape which isnt compatible with the lever cappers but the bench cappers cap anything

 

[Dronnybrewer]

Thanks all, think I will try a mix of both for my 2nd brew, need to find a bench capper then, how much are they?

 

[DoctorMick]

The beauty of glass bottles is they're free if you recycle from shop bought beers or get your local to donate a load.

Capping is fairly easy but be prepared for the odd bottle to smash.

 

[Mark1964]

I use a mixture of glass and 2 litre pop bottles the pet bottles are ok hold pressure well too. Just means you have to drink 2 litres at a time

 

[ian808]

I use a mixture of glass and 2 litre pop bottles the pet bottles are ok hold pressure well too. Just means you have to drink 2 litres at a time

I'm the same 2L bottles are so much quicker and easier but I like to have glass ones as sometimes 2L is too much or in most cases not enough and you need more :lol: I also have a few 5L mini kegs which again is quick and easy to fill and last maybe two days after opening

 

[Just]

I use brown cider bottles because they're just that bit more classy than plastic. I also use a bench capper and they're a doddle to use. I've collected a large set of Rekorderlig cider bottles so all of my brews are in the same style of bottle (I right on the caps to know what's what).

 

[Brewtus]

It is probably worth mentioning that there is quite a list of bottles that don't seem to work with most cappers. Ones I've found so far include:

Badger
Koppaberg
Wells

And many 330ml lager bottles.

Sods law says you'll have a ton of them!

 

[Brewski]

I posted a thread about capper/bottle compatibility recently which might be of some use (despite early problems with one type of bottle, I managed to get it working with all the bottle types I had collected):

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51476

 

[Ale]

I use plastic cos Im lazy. I can just chuck them in the bath when I wash them, make sure they are full of water and mix them around a bit and they come out fine every time. Far easier than glass bottles.

 

[BruinTuns]

I also use a mixture of 2l plastic and 500ml glass empties. I don't understand why people say that you have to drink the whole 2 litres in one evening. I just screw the cap back on and put the bottle back in the fridge. It's always fine the next day.

 

[MyQul]

I've come to the conclusion that PET bottles are crap for long term conditioning.

I made an oatmeal stout at the end of November but for some reason I cant work out it had an astringency to it (there seems to be a number of reasons for astringency and I couldnt pin it down),- fortunately I only made 5L. So I just tucked them away in my bottle storage area to hopefully condition out the astringency. This actually worked for the most part, however all the beer in the coopers PET bottles I used had oxidised.

Now there can only be two reasons for this i) I didn't screw the caps down tight enough - but the carbonation seemed fine for the amount of priming solution I added ii) Cooper Oxy-bar PET bottles aren't as oxygen barring as you'd want.

I also filled 3 swing top bottles too. I've just opened one of them. Definately not the best beer in the world, although the astringency has decreased significantly but no oxidisation.

Fortunately I'm in the process of replacing all 200 of my coopers PET bottles for glass

 

[Hopping_Mad]

Every batch I make, I use around 20 brown glass bottles (nicer if gifting), about 20 double skinned PET bottles (can't remember the brand - but they are definitely two layers of PET) and two clear glass bottles (Newkie Brown, Bishops Finger etc.).

I have no trouble with the double skin PET bottles and oxidisation and I have some that have had beer in over 6 months! I keep them in boxes in the garage so they are cool and in the dark. They are also good for checking the progress of the carbonation as they get harder as the beer gets carbonated.

The two clear ones are for checking how clear the beer is and how the yeast is settling.

I have both the local cricket club and local rugby club saving me empties (in return for a few freebies for the bar manager in each) so I have a 365 supply of empties! I can chuck the Wytchwood ones that are harder to cap - I can afford to be picky!

My plastic lever capper I got with my starter kit lasted 6 batches before malfunction (the lever joints stretch). My metal lever capper is 30 batches old and as good as new.

Bottling sorted!