need some advice

joe 90 · Dec 29, 2012

thanks first for the warm welcome,i was going to go for the AG brewing for my first go at brewing but santa claus gave me two brewing kits one a coopers dark ale and the other tomas caxton real ale kit,i think i will try the dark ale first as i am not so keen on it so if i make an a...e of it i can learn from it,i have all the kit for it except the bottles for it,i would rather bottle it as it is easier to keep,i was wondering where would be the cheapest to get coloured 500ml bottles,are all bottles on sale for home brewing strong enough or do you get what you paid for? seen bottles on ebay 40 for Â£25 posted treid to post a link but forum said no because i am a new member and quite right as yous are protecting yourselves from spammers

also the caps for them are they all standered size? and are they easy to seal, also is there any way to lighten up the dark ale kit?
any help and advice on my first brew would be most welcome :wha:

bobsbeer · Dec 29, 2012

The cheapest bottles are free from the back of a pub. Ask nicely and you will never buy another bottle again. You can lighten your brew by adding light DME instead of the sugar, which you want to do anyway. But don't get too hung up on the colour at this stage. Taste is everything. Have fun. You will need to get a capper, and for the price you are paying for bottles get a bench capper (about Â£30) and some caps. They are nearly all 26mm

Edit: Champagne bottles take 29mm caps

jonewer · Dec 29, 2012

+1 for the bench capper. Worth every penny/

TRXnMe · Dec 29, 2012

If you're not comfortable scrounging bottles from the local pub, got to Tesco, 24 plastic bottles for under a tenner. They are reuseable and when / if the caps wear you can get new ones.

Ian... · Dec 30, 2012

2 litres of still water is 17p at Morrisons and 18p at Tesco. so you get 2 x 20 bottles for under 4 quid and you can use the water for your brew.

PD · Dec 30, 2012

when I started kit brewing begining of last year. I actually bought my 500ml plastic PET bottles they are on sale for Â£13 per 2 dozen. I bought 2 cases and never regretted spending the money. Very good bottles a joy to clean and sterilise ( chuck em in the bath ) I've since collected lots of glass bottles and have added a couple of more cases to pet bottles....
To help you when starting out the Â£26 is money well spent.

Edit...in fact they are cheaper here.

http://www.dorsethomebrew.co.uk/shop/bo ... 00056.html

but I got mine from lhbs so no postage charges.