Obtaining bottles

[Graz]

Personally I've just built up a stash of bottles from supermarket beer or cider I've been drinking. I only use brown glass as supposedly your beer is less likely to go off in brown bottles. I have a bench capper so can use any bottle including the infamous Wychwood / Hobgoblin bottles. The capper also has 29mm crown so I could also bottle into the big Leffe bottles and such like (with 29mm caps) if I so desired.

Never had a bottle bomb (hopefully not tempting fate).

 

[MrJay83]

I've found Magners (Irish cider) to be the best. Get a full pint without the sludge and IMO seem to be the easiest to cap. Plus they appear to be built thicker than most.
I just ask for empties in my local and clean them out... And always buy a pint to be nice.

 

[Polcho]

Personally I've just built up a stash of bottles from supermarket beer or cider I've been drinking. I only use brown glass as supposedly your beer is less likely to go off in brown bottles. I have a bench capper so can use any bottle including the infamous Wychwood / Hobgoblin bottles. The capper also has 29mm crown so I could also bottle into the big Leffe bottles and such like (with 29mm caps) if I so desired.

Never had a bottle bomb (hopefully not tempting fate).

Could you put a link to this bench capper please Graz.

 

[Graz]

Could you put a link to this bench capper please Graz.

No problemo: Bench Capper

 

[Polcho]

Thanks, I’ve ordered one, and a few other bits I needed.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I've never thought that some commercial bottles may be thinner than others, though I suppose that makes sense. My friend drinks lots of Paulaner (sp) so i've got loads of those bottles, the labels come off a dream and they aren't very dark brown so you can see the liquid inside whilst your bottling.

I've had one potential bottle bomb, I had a MIld which I accidentally carbonated with 250g sugar (15l worth), I noticed that the bottle had a hairline crack, wrapped it in a towel and carried outside, took the cap off and the beer shot up about 6ft in the air. I think there was a mix of infection and over carbed.

 

[IDK]

Thanks for all the replies. Hoping to get the first brew on this long weekend.

Just to add to the discussion about bottle weights. Here are the varieties I've got so far.

Looks like the Hercule stout bottles could be good for stronger carb beers. But I'm planning to do fairly sessionable pint-sized ales to start with.

The banks bottles I referred to in my original post are probably not the greatest.

I'll follow up on trying to get some of the Yorkshire beers in.

 

[BasementArtie]

Thanks for all the replies. Hoping to get the first brew on this long weekend.

Just to add to the discussion about bottle weights. Here are the varieties I've got so far.

Looks like the Hercule stout bottles could be good for stronger carb beers. But I'm planning to do fairly sessionable pint-sized ales to start with.

The banks bottles I referred to in my original post are probably not the greatest.

I'll follow up on trying to get some of the Yorkshire beers in.

Hercule 1) is a lovely shaped bottle 2) great Belgian stout 3) a flip top so most of the time you won't have to worry about CO2 pressure as the gasket will likely burp the excess co2 before any bombs. Also I believe it's a bottle that is designed for reuse so the manufacturers have likely factored into their tolerances the 25% reduction in capacity for pressure after reuse. I calculate this bottle to be able to withstand 4.5 vol.co² as a "safeish" bet. 303g is quite a sturdy boy for 330ml if that is non-caged weight. -25% would still be 3.44 vol.co² "safe".


The LIDl porter bottle I calculate the "safe" limit to be 3.2 vol.co² before factoring in the 25% I don't know the beer so maybe it states on the bottle it's for reuse anyway. If not then I'd say 2.4 vol.co².

Shepherd Neame 2.3 vol.co² (3.14)

Doombar 2.3 vol.co² (3.13)

Banks amber bitter 2.3vol.co² (3.0)

Hobson's 2.3 vol.co² (3.0)

Moretti 2.12 vol.co² (2.83)

The brackets are the figures removing the 25% reduction in strength. I'm sure most multinational manufacturers would account for this in their processes however I'd prefer to be cautious and for beers especially like Moretti I'd always remove the 25% as these are mass produced lagers and I would say they don't expect their bottles to be reused by themselves or anyone else.

 

[fireworkmaster]

I was in the position of bottle hunting a while back , no joy locally and the Philistines locally on street mostly drink canned beers so was sol their , ended up buying 80 bottles for £36 as I was running out of time and patience lol.
Still buy 3 grolsch swingtop with the shopping to slowly build up a collection of them.
Doitathome was where I got the bottles.
Old style 500ml

 

[Twogunrocky]

Just got ½dozen 450ml Grolsch from Sainsburys for £1.65 a bottle, considering Morrison's are charging £2.30 a bottle that's a big saving.

The beer is garbage, but you get bottles with no grief label removing, and swing top lovelyness.

 

[IDK]

My stash has grown quite nicely and I'm hoping to bottle my first batch this weekend. I can put about 15L into glass and have 13L of PET available as well if needed.

Out of interest, from a FV made up to 23L how much beer would it be reasonable to expect to get into bottles from that?

 

[Clint]

I did 41 yesterday but there was quite a bit of yeast.
41 x 500ml.

 

[Rwilts]

My stash has grown quite nicely and I'm hoping to bottle my first batch this weekend. I can put about 15L into glass and have 13L of PET available as well if needed.

Out of interest, from a FV made up to 23L how much beer would it be reasonable to expect to get into bottles from that?

Depends how tight you are ? I try and get as much as possible so probably 22 out of 23 , last few bottles are a bit of a challange to fill mind and have a lot more trub

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I siphon off what I can, bit like Boris, Lizzie and Kwasi (modo), into a second sterilised vessel.

I get my Mrs to tip the bucket as the level gets towards the bottom. I then batch prime my brew, by adding 10g of sugar per litre of beer. Priming rate is for sparkling cider. I dissolve this in about 300ml of hot water, and gently stir it in.

I normally end up with about 44 or 45 x 500ml bottles.

 

[Polcho]

I siphon off what I can, bit like Boris, Lizzie and Kwasi (modo), into a second sterilised vessel.

I get my Mrs to tip the bucket as the level gets towards the bottom. I then batch prime my brew, by adding 10g of sugar per litre of beer. Priming rate is for sparkling cider. I dissolve this in about 300ml of hot water, and gently stir it in.

I normally end up with about 44 or 45 x 500ml bottles.

This is very interesting to me at the moment.
I need to bottle some of the cider. About 10 gallons is ready for bottling.

I don’t have bottles for all that, but I do need to understand the process properly.

If anyone has instructions, or can link a good video, with regard to priming and whether to add campden tablets to reduce the chances of infection, I would be grateful.

I can’t seem to find anything that really helps me.

It’s been racked once and is in barrels with a bottom tap at present.

 

[scottydog.]

A local brewery sponsors my old footy club so the bar keeps their bottles for me. Saves them getting rid and I have a source of good 500ml botts...

First wash is a faff having to get the labels off, but after that it's great having heaps I can give away/take to parties.

I'd say most places would happily put some aside if you asked...

How do you get the labels off ? I soaked mine in warm soapy water but some are murder to remover .

 

[YeastFace]

German lager bottles are usually good. Labels come off in hot water (assume to aid with returns), nice thick glass, delicious contents.

 

[Leon103]

How do you get the labels off ? I soaked mine in warm soapy water but some are murder to remover .

I go to my local and collect the empty Swedish cider bottles, the labels fall off.

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

I found that white spirit is good for getting the glue residue off.

 

[JockyBrewer]

German lager bottles are usually good. Labels come off in hot water (assume to aid with returns), nice thick glass, delicious contents.

Same with most Belgian beers too.