Could I use beer bottles?

[Intelekt]

I know I've seen this talked about somewhere but I can't find it :sulk:

I've got beer bottles and a capper and caps, I don't really want the expense and hassle of buying wine bottles and corking

Could I bottle my wines and turbo ciders in beer bottles :wha: ?
Would it keep the same amount of time?
I like the idea of having wine in smaller more manageable size bottles, since I probably would spoil a whole big bottle before I got to the end of it :rofl:

thanks
Ade

 

[Gayle]

Yes you can :thumb: I prefer it too, having a smaller size bottle to drink! And the caps could potentially be more airtight than a worn out screwcap. The only downside is that you have more bottles to wash and sanitise!

Many wines are now sold in screw-cap bottles, get your friends to collect these and their caps and they can be reused. Screw-cap bottles can't always be corked properly, so you don't need a corking thingy unless you want the rustic-ness of corks, and the bottles are harder to come across anyway.

 

[Intelekt]

Thanks Gayle :thumb:

I was thinking of using those small green 250cl bottles that you get from aldi, the ones that come in a pack of ten with beer in

I know I'll have funny stumpy little bottles of wine, buy hey ho, needs must :rofl:
Well I needs must :party:

 

[Moley]

Yes you can, I use 660ml cider bottles for many of my juice wines because I'm a tight-arsed git and crown caps are cheaper than corks.

I also sweeten some wines to around 1.010 and use 275ml J2O bottles for my mother-in-law, which are ideal for her as she might only have one glass on an occasional evening.

I was thinking of using those small green 250cl bottles that you get from aldi, the ones that come in a pack of ten with beer in

Well they come with some amber fizzy liquid in them, but I'm not sure if it's beer.

Be careful when capping those bottles though, they are very light weight and may break easily.

If they come with the twist-off type of crown cap, dump them.

 

[calumscott]

I use screw cap wine bottles but...

There's always a not-quite-full bottle. A half litre beer bottle gets used and anything that does fit in that gets drunk on the spot. :thumb: :drink:

 

[Intelekt]

Thanks moley,

Good advice on the thin green bottles!

 

[paulwilliams]

You can get plastic screw caps for wine bottles that go on by hand.

A colleague got some from an online shop near to us. They look pretty good actually!

 

[Intelekt]

Thanks for the tips guys :thumb:

What's your opinions on swing top bottles for longer term storage of wine ?

I am thinking that the rubber seal might perish and if I couldn't get replacements then I would be stuck with bottles with no tops :wha:

Thanks again :hat:

 

[taxidiver]

Thanks for the tips guys :thumb:

What's your opinions on swing top bottles for longer term storage of wine ?

I am thinking that the rubber seal might perish and if I couldn't get replacements then I would be stuck with bottles with no tops :wha:

Thanks again :hat:

You would have to drink quicker.
:lol:
Geoff

 

[Gayle]

You can usually get replacement rubber things (washers, I think they're called) for swing top bottles, homebrew shops stock them and I think I've seen them on ebay too.

The green dumpy bottles? I hate those :lol: only because my friends used to come round with two or more packs of them, drink them all and I had to deal with them after. It seemed our glass bin was filled with thousands of them, and I didn't think they were worth using for homebrew. I think they are screw-cap so might not be capped easily, and as Moley said they might break easily. They might be okay for wine if you can cap them reliably but I wouldn't put cider or anything fizzy in them. They're so tiny, you'll have lot of work to do on bottling day!

That said, I use 330ml bottles for small portions of wine and cider, though I've had a couple crack when capping, I think they were ones that had been used a few times before so just be careful. They are designed as "throwaway" glass bottles so just can't stand up to too much wear and tear!

I have the reusable plastic corks for wine bottles too but they are not a reliable fit on every bottle - perhaps they fit "cork" bottles better but often seem a bit loose in screw cap bottles. If you're really stuck you can buy a 6-pack of water bottles from a supermarket and use those, but plastic isn't great for long-term storage.