Obtaining bottles

[BasementArtie]

Without cage I assume?

Yes without a cage.

 

[dad_of_jon]

This is what fragments of an exploding bottle look like.

Wow - you cracked an erdinger bottle! - I use those and usually get a 4 for £6 offer. I lost a few batemans bottles but never an erdinger as they have to handle the higher pressure of a wheat beer compared to a british ale.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Wow - you cracked an erdinger bottle! - I use those and usually get a 4 for £6 offer. I lost a few batemans bottles but never an erdinger as they have to handle the higher pressure of a wheat beer compared to a british ale.

Yep! This was a hefeweizen, so already targeting a higher carbonation that normal. Then it overcarbed (I have a feeling that it got a disastaticus infection) and I came back after the high-30s heatwave and found it like that in the garage (no idea what temperature it got up to in there, but likely mid 30s). 2 bottles (I can't remember what the other one was) had gone. All the rest were fine (albeit needing fridging to prevent gushers). About 80% of my bottles are homebrew ones with only about 6 going in commercial bottles as giveaways where I don't have to get the bottles back.

 

[BasementArtie]

Yep! This was a hefeweizen, so already targeting a higher carbonation that normal. Then it overcarbed (I have a feeling that it got a disastaticus infection) and I came back after the high-30s heatwave and found it like that in the garage (no idea what temperature it got up to in there, but likely mid 30s). 2 bottles (I can't remember what the other one was) had gone. All the rest were fine (albeit needing fridging to prevent gushers). About 80% of my bottles are homebrew ones with only about 6 going in commercial bottles as giveaways where I don't have to get the bottles back.

I was waiting for my whole batch of dark strong Belgian to blow during the heatwave (Brewed in March). My garage was regularly up to 36C and I already knew they were gushers before this. They were carbed to 3.5 Vol.CO² in Duvel and Westmalle bottles and none to my surprise blew up.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I was waiting for my whole batch of dark strong Belgian to blow during the heatwave (Brewed in March). My garage was regularly up to 36C and I already knew they were gushers before this. They were carbed to 3.5 Vol.CO² in Duvel and Westmalle bottles and none to my surprise blew up.

yup all my 330's are Belgian bottles and none of those went pop, there are less 500's to choose from when it comes to high carb levels. I split my batch thesedays and put a slightly lower amount of priming sugar into the second half of the batch as those usually get drunk from 3 months to 2 years later.

 

[Clint]

I have probably 300+ bottles,all of which are ex supermarket or offy. I've used them continually for about four years. Not one has broken under the capper neither have any exploded under pressure. My beers range from low carb Bitters to high carb wheats and lagers. The thing I would say is get a bench capper as some won't cap with a hand held and store them in a dry place as slugs love to get in them.

 

[Monkhouse]

Not all bottles are the same . Commercial/supermarket beers tend to be made from thinner glass than those made for home brew. So if bottle conditioning, you are more at risk of a bottle exploding with a second hand one from a supermarket than one from a homebrew store.

I use both. Most of mine are homebrew bottles, but I also reuse ones from the supermarket to give away to friends so I don't have to ask for the bottles back. Though I've had issues with over carbonation of late, and had 2 bottles explode during the summer heat wave. Both of them were reused bottles from the supermarket. The (much larger number of) homebrew bottles were fine.

Never had an issue using supermarket brown beer bottles although I do agree some do have thinner glass than others.
I’ve got approx 120 bottles and about 100 of those are mcewans champion bottles- VERY strong decent weight to them. I’ve only ever had a couple of bottles pop on me in the past and these have been noticeably lighter than mcewans bottles.
You will get used to spotting a good weight bottle to keep. Also to think about is how easy certain bottles are to de-label- mcewans are a pita but worth it for a decent strong bottle. Some bottles you can put in a sink of water and the label literally slides off.
I’ve never once bought a ‘proper homebrew’ bottle, absolute rip off if you ask me unless it comes with beer inside!

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

I use PET bottles 500ml or 1l, only ever had one go bang. Most of my 1 litre bottles are Best Braw from Euro Spin. But the fizzy flavoured bottles from ASDA are ok. I do have about 40 swing tops that are 500ml all bought abroad, usually Eurospin. Lidl in Germany sell their perlnbacker (forgive the spelling) in 500ml pet bottles. One of the bottles I have the best before date on it was Nov 2010, no single use plastic in my house!

 

[Cwrw666]

I have probably 300+ bottles,all of which are ex supermarket or offy. I've used them continually for about four years. Not one has broken under the capper neither have any exploded under pressure. My beers range from low carb Bitters to high carb wheats and lagers. The thing I would say is get a bench capper as some won't cap with a hand held and store them in a dry place as slugs love to get in them.

Same here. I find commercial beers way more gassed up than I like, so if they can take that pressure the problem is not the bottles.
I did eventually stop using my pint bottles from the 80s even though they were thick glass as I kept snapping the tops off with my 2 lever boots capper. Never done that with thin supermarket bottles, but it might start happening by about 2040.

 

[moto748]

I use ordinary beer bottles. I don't care about the weight, but I want the deep-collar type of ease of capping. And as I've remarked before, if yu want clear bottles, most, altough not all, are not deep-collar. Brains SA (Lidl) is one that is, though.

I have never, ever, had a bottle actually break (except back in the very early days, when I used to hammer the crown tops on!), so I don't see the strength of the glass as a concern. However, I do not brew high strength beers, or beers that require months in the bottle. I accept that this may be a factor.

 

[dad_of_jon]

However, I do not brew high strength beers, or beers that require months in the bottle. I accept that this may be a factor.

That's a very good point TBF , I generally brew 6%-12% beers and some of those see 2 or 3 summers....

 

[klaus]

I used to pick up crates of pilsner when returning from German, in those days it was about €10 for a crate of 20 500ml bottles, INCLUDING return deposit. I still have plenty of them, and use them for my own brews, never an issue, never had a bottle bomb. I had gushers but due to using too much priming sugar. I also use bottles from UK supermarkets, again no issues. Also have quite a few swingtops, both from Germany and the UK.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I got bored of using bottles form commercial beers. Getting the labels off was a PITA to start with then they are all different sizes so makes capping them a real PITA with a bench capper so bit the bllet and bought some new bottles off Amazon. Wasn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things - about £40 or so, and makes bottling as least of a PITA as it possibly can be.

 

[Jim Brewster]

I would say most decent English ales come in a decent solid dark brown bottle. Got sick of labelling and delabelling, now I leave the labels on and simply stick the brew# on the shoulder. Doesn't appear to affect the beer much.

Black Sheep had the best labels for removal in my experience, they practically fall off in warm water

 

[RoomWithABrew]

PBW is good for getting labels off and patience. Plastic labels seem to peel off easily but leave a tenacious glue that takes effort with orange solvent to eliminate.

 

[Worf]

A near by brewery (Four Peaks) uses a vinyl label which peels easily from the bottle. Any remaining glue cleans off easily with a wire-pad.

When I've been a slacker and allowed my own stock to drop low, I purchase a couple of 12-packs to consume. I prefer their 'Kilt Lifter' ale. Not pdf for store bought stuff.

I only label my product when I give it away.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I’ve got a mixture of 500+ bottles. Mostly Magner’s and Kopperberg, with a few Savanah Dry (clear glass). I’ve had them for over 6 years, and never had one explode, or crack when using the capper.

i batch prime my cider at 10g/litre of sugar, if it helps.

I do find that the Kopperberg ones are a bit fiddly with getting the capper off.

I also tried Bulmers Cider bottles in the first instance, but found that they broke when the two levers were pulled down to cap the bottle. I think the neck of the bottle was too wide.

I got them from my local pub. They had to pay to get their recycling taken away, so they were glad to get the extra space in the bin.

 

[Little Rock Brewing]

Spotted this air bubble in one of my Rekorderlig bottles when I was washing it. It hadn't failed but its gone in the recycling!

 

[andyb13]

I love Sam Smith bottles, 550ml size, easy soak off labels and a good thickness, have several hundred of them and never had one fail.

 

[Monkhouse]

I love Sam Smith bottles, 550ml size, easy soak off labels and a good thickness, have several hundred of them and never had one fail.

Urgh I hate that guy