re-use glass bottles

[wheazy_joe]

I have been saving glass beer bottles from commercial beers (pilsner urquell mostly :) and plan on re-using them for my latest brew.

Just had a panic moment and thought it best seeking advice, surely these will be OK (cleaned and sterilised of course), they are used to store beer afterall!

Anyone else re-use commercial beer bottles and ever had any bottle-bomb problems?

Thanks.

 

[stesmi]

I have been saving glass beer bottles from commercial beers (pilsner urquell mostly :) and plan on re-using them for my latest brew.

Just had a panic moment and thought it best seeking advice, surely these will be OK (cleaned and sterilised of course), they are used to store beer afterall!

Anyone else re-use commercial beer bottles and ever had any bottle-bomb problems?

Thanks.

Yip. Almost everyone does it. They're perfect ;-)

 

[wheazy_joe]

thanks thought that, just had a panic moment this morning and didn't want my (hopefully) nrilliant new beer destroyed!

 

[Covrich]

Yep most of mine are commercial

Just be a little bit more careful with clear and green ones as they offer much less UV protection so try and store them away from sunlight (can you just throw a towel over them I suppose)

I do still do a few clear ones every brew anyway as I like to see how it clears.

 

[wheazy_joe]

have got mostly brown bottles that i got from home brew shop (£4.50 for 12 500ml bottles, bargain!) and a few green and brown commercial bottles. My dad has been keeping some Newkie brown bottles for me, which I'm sure are clear, they can do for keeping track of clearing then.

 

[GHW]

And wychwood bottles are a pain to cap but doesnt sound like you'll have any. Some cappers can manage them ok, others seem to struggle.

 

[lagerfeld]

Has anyone tried re-using the aluminium (Bud) bottles? I wanted to try for my current brew but the bottler couldn't handle it (Youngs?)

 

[JonnyD]

I use newcastle brown ale bottles as in my opinion they are some of the strongest bottles out there. However they are clear but thats usually not an issure as i store them in the garage.

 

[brydo]

my mate works in a pub and i only use the bottles he gets me. mostly 500 ml magners or bulmers bottles. never any issue with at all

 

[sledgehammer]

i have reused commercial bottles in the past there are a few that i have had a problem recapping but it may be due to the type of capper i have the one with 2 handles that you press down
i found the wychwood bottles the caper couldn't grip the neck and the shepards neme bottles broke as i tryed to cap it but keep going its a cheap option especially if you are friendly with local restaurants and pubs

 

[Hopping_Mad]

Bench cappers do Wychwood bottles, but I don't have one, so I don't use them! All other commercial 500ml bottles used - beer, cider etc. not fussy!

I do at least two clear and two PET bottles for every batch to check clarity/yeast flocculation and carbonation (PET bottles get firmer during secondary fermentation). Keep these in the house once the rest get garaged.

Why two of each? Well sometimes it's just too tempting you know!:p :drink:

 

[Snausmeister]

I'm a newbie and plan on reusing brown commercial beer bottles to bottle my first beer - I haven't bought a capper yet. Are most commercial beers (Hobgoblin, Banks's Bitter, Forty-Niner etc) a 26mm cap and is a £4 capper that you use with a hammer a bad idea?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'm a newbie and plan on reusing brown commercial beer bottles to bottle my first beer - I haven't bought a capper yet. Are most commercial beers (Hobgoblin, Banks's Bitter, Forty-Niner etc) a 26mm cap and is a £4 capper that you use with a hammer a bad idea?

There is a great thread about cappers below, from what i have read bench cappers are the best and hand cappers work well, there are some links to good ones a £12, i don't know how good the hammer type are as they are rarely discussed.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53650&highlight=cappers

.

 

[terrym]

I used a hammer type capper years ago (before I thought I'd finished with homebrewing and gave all my kit away ) and from what I remember using one it was fine once you had mastered the knack of how to use it, which was to apply a sharp tap square to the bottle top rather than a heavy blow!

 

[alarmsparks]

I have only used the hammer type capper and no disasters so far. Touch wood. Been using it about 2 years so far, will do all the bottles mention in previous post as difficulty to cap.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Wychwood bottles are the worst for capping. You can cap them with a dual lever capper but it feels like the capper or bottle is going to break.

I give my remaining wychwood bottles now to those I know wont return them, thus phasing them out.

Thornbridge bottles are my next least favorite. They cap fine, but the glass is a bit too dark brown to see where you are when filling the bottles up and the lables once removed are rather sticky most of the time.

Erdinger bottles are the best IMO for reuse.

 

[GHW]

I give my remaining wychwood bottles now to those I know wont return them, thus phasing them out.
.

Hadn't thought of that. Father, brothers in law being chief non-returners.

 

[Hopping_Mad]

have got mostly brown bottles that i got from home brew shop (£4.50 for 12 500ml bottles, bargain!) and a few green and brown commercial bottles. My dad has been keeping some Newkie brown bottles for me, which I'm sure are clear, they can do for keeping track of clearing then.

I've got my local cricket and rugby club filling a milk crate with 20 each time I collect. Cost = 5 minutes of my time once in a while, and the odd sample of my end results for the stewards. Now THAT'S a bargain!!!:hat:

 

[chuff76]

Rekorderlig cider, labels come off easier than anything else I've found

 

[bochgoch]

I've love bottled Timothy Taylor Landlord, not only for the beer but also for how easily the labels come off, often just from the condensation on the bottles!