Damaged Bottles in Transit

[Hadsustabio]

Hi all,
I'm new hear and we are creating a solution to stop bottles breaking and cans denting in transit and just wondered really if anyone hear does struggle with bottles/cans being damaged by couriers or when being shipped around and if they are interested in helping us create this solution?

 

[Stu's Brews]

Welcome to the forum.

I send out glass bottles fairly regularly for swaps and competitions and have had no breakages so far. I've never had to buy any packaging material either (other than tape) as I have always been able to scavenge boxes, paper, bubble wrap, etc. from stuff I've had delivered.

That being said; always interested to hear new ideas!

 

[nickjdavis]

No. Never had a breakage.

But then...I do pack my bottles properly, creating dividers (using old cardboard boxes or reusing dividers from commercial deliveries) that separate the bottles from each other AND creates a brace across the box to prevent crushing. Also the use of double walled boxes goes along way to providing protection.

One of the best protections I've seen for bottles is the use of a cardboard trays that are moulded into a bottle shape. Think of the old cardboard egg trays with eggs sandwiched between two trays....the lower half of the tray is a round hole and the upper half narrows to accommodate the neck of the bottle. These come in a 6x4 array allowing you to pack 24 bottles securely in a suitably sized box....or you can cut the arrays down to create whatever you need. not sure where they can be bought by the public but I've received beers from various different companies using this system.

 

[MickDundee]

I’ve only had one breakage - I didn’t use enough bubble wrapped and tried to stuff one of the stockier 500ml bottles into a Pringles tube.

I’ve sent several dozen other bottles out for swaps and competitions without issue.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

i'm new hear and we are creating a solution to stop bottles breaking and cans denting in transit

Members have been doing bottle swaps for many years some use polystyrene some make their own packaging out of bubble wrap and cardboard, i have searched google images and think you may be a few years too late.

.

 

[Braumeister]

Hi all,
I'm new hear and we are creating a solution to stop bottles breaking and cans denting in transit and just wondered really if anyone hear does struggle with bottles/cans being damaged by couriers or when being shipped around and if they are interested in helping us create this solution?

I hear you

 

[Jim Brewster]

I've had a lot of beer subscriptions and a few beer bottle swaps and never had a breakage so far. As long as they're sensibly packaged they seem quite resilient. Beer bottles are relatively strong as a result of being designed to take a certain amount of internal pressure. Wine bottles I don't know. A simple piece of cardboard seems enough to protect them in most cases.

 

[Leon103]

Perhaps one breakage. Spend your time and money on a postal service that doesn't lose bottles, that's more of a problem.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Post PET bottles; never glass. Problem solved. I can chuck a PET bottle of beer out of the upstairs window into the drive and it won't break. Try that with a glass bottle.

 

[Bernie]

Post PET bottles; never glass. Problem solved. I can chuck a PET bottle of beer out of the upstairs window into the drive and it won't break. Try that with a glass bottle.

Was that a controlled or uncontrolled test?

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

Was that a controlled or uncontrolled test?

independent, I have found with PET the chances of beer bombs is greatly reduced.. Only one in 12 years. Saying that I do have a few 1l bottles that now hold 1.2l

 

[mgmick]

My beer fridge freezer has recently developed a faulty thermostat. The fridge part just keeps on getting colder and turns into a freezer. I had a 1 ltr PET bottle of soda water freeze up and explode. It blew the door open but it wasn't a major ball ache to clean up. Did I learn though? Next week it was 2 ltrs of Lidl's Rolla Cola. That was a whole new ballgame.

 

[Agentgonzo]

My beer fridge freezer has recently developed a faulty thermostat. The fridge part just keeps on getting colder and turns into a freezer. I had a 1 ltr PET bottle of soda water freeze up and explode. It blew the door open but it wasn't a major ball ache to clean up. Did I learn though? Next week it was 2 ltrs of Lidl's Rolla Cola. That was a whole new ballgame.

Imagine what it would have been like in glass

 

[mgmick]

Imagine what it would have been like in glass

I had a few bottles of Cobra in there but fortunately the cap seals gave rather than the glass. The big problem now is trying to get a new thermostat. None of the online parts suppliers recognise the model number of my f/f or the part number of the stat. Does anyone know how to identify the length of a thermostat capilliary from its part number?

 

[dave_77]

No special packing needed..if the bottles move and bang into each other they will break. If the box is solid and wrapped tight enough they will be good. I can't remember more than one I have sent that has broken..the ones I have received broken had wrapping but too much spare space in the box.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I don't even use boxes these days and mine don't break (I used to).

I use those inflatable wine bags that @Chippy_Tea has shared above, wrapped in a plastic courier bag.

Marking the package with 'glass' is also extremely helpful in my experience.

I ALWAYS use royal mail.

 

[Stu's Brews]

@Hadsustabio - based on the way this thread is going, it looks like you are fixing a problem that doesn't exist so you probably need to think about what your solution offers that is better than the current options.

Is it cheaper? However, bear in mind that some people re-use previous packaging so their current cost is zero.

Is it lighter? This would potentially save people money on shipping costs.

Is it more sustainable? Packing noodles, bubble wrap, inflatable bags, polystyrene, etc. are all plastic-based so there could be improvements there.

Or is there some other benefit I'm not thinking of?

 

[Jim Brewster]

Packing noodles, bubble wrap, inflatable bags, polystyrene, etc. are all plastic-based so there could be improvements there.

I've had pies bought online and delivered in wool, quite a good idea I though. Would work for bottles too. Plus you get an interesting smell of barnyard.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Think we really need an idea of what the posters solution is. There might be solutions out there, but his/hers might be really good, space efficient and cheap. Maybe we would all be into it... Not sure what the point of the thread can really be wiout some idea what we're looking at here

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Maybe we would all be into it... Not sure what the point of the thread can really be wiout some idea what we're looking at here

He didn't hang about, maybe we will never know

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Hadsustabio​

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Last seen Yesterday at 11:14 AM