Thick strong bottles for brett beers

[thegrantickle]

Hi folks,

Where do people buy new, thicker brown glass bottles from for bottling brett/mixed ferm beers? Struggling to find somewhere that sells stronger bottles on a small scale?

Thanks
Grant

 

[Richard_H]

Sadly in the UK I have found buying the extra thick bottles to be pretty tricky, the standard ale glasses are actually pretty damn strong IMO but if you want to go for even thicker almost bomb proof then you want the 750ml bottles used by the likes of Leffe but you will need 29mm caps or corks. If those are not an option then buy some German Bock/Weissbier. Most are bottle conditioned and are probably contain the highest amount of CO2 for any bottled beer you can buy. I can confirm both of the below use an extremely thick bottle:
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/erdinger-pikantus/628324-692425-692426https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/weihenstephaner-hefe-weissbier-germany/792655-112757-112758
It may seem like an expensive option at first but once you drink the beer the glass has only cost you 50p-£1 depending how much you paid for it, so not that bad compared to buying the thinner empty ale bottles and much more fun

 

[thegrantickle]

Sadly in the UK I have found buying the extra thick bottles to be pretty tricky, the standard ale glasses are actually pretty damn strong IMO but if you want to go for even thicker almost bomb proof then you want the 750ml bottles used by the likes of Leffe but you will need 29mm caps or corks. If those are not an option then buy some German Bock/Weissbier. Most are bottle conditioned and are probably contain the highest amount of CO2 for any bottled beer you can buy. I can confirm both of the below use an extremely thick bottle:
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/erdinger-pikantus/628324-692425-692426https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/weihenstephaner-hefe-weissbier-germany/792655-112757-112758
It may seem like an expensive option at first but once you drink the beer the glass has only cost you 50p-£1 depending how much you paid for it, so not that bad compared to buying the thinner empty ale bottles and much more fun

Cheers for that, bud.

I've got quite a few lambic/brett beer bottles stored up but have a few batched of bretty bois fermenting currently, so I was looking to get maybe 40-50 or so, which obviously becomes pretty expensive if they come with beer :p

Thought of getting some champagne bottles, but they generally come in 750ml and green (was hoping for 330ml brown).

I have got a few Erdinger bottles or similar, however. Have you tested these with the kinds of pressures that could feasibly be produced by brett refermentation?

 

[Richard_H]

I brewed a Belgian dubbel using real chocolate (95% cocoa) and the caps need to be gently opened slightly 2 days before drinking and they are still extremely lively once opened despite using the correct amount of priming sugar! Thankfully no bottle bombs etc and they have been in the bottle over 3 months now. This is using mainly Belgian thick 330ml bottles as this comes in at 8%. For reference if I just opened them like normal most of the beer would foam over the top before it settled

 

[phettebs]

I've had good luck using repurposed Grolsh bottles with the swing tops. Back when I bottled and was brewing a lot of highly carbonated Belgian beers, I invested in a couple of cases of larger swing top bottles and heavy Belgian style bottles that could be corked. Sadly, they just sit collecting dust now.

 

[An Ankoù]

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brew-cider-bottles.htmlhttps://www.brewuk.co.uk/wine-bottles-champ-6.html
These are what you need. They also sell 29mm crown caps.
I'd use the smaller ones.
You're unlikely to find them in brown, though.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've had good luck using repurposed Grolsh bottles with the swing tops. Back when I bottled and was brewing a lot of highly carbonated Belgian beers, I invested in a couple of cases of larger swing top bottles and heavy Belgian style bottles that could be corked. Sadly, they just sit collecting dust now.

I use those bottles all the time (the ones that won't take a crown cap). I either use a composite beer cork or fit a swing-top.

 

[thegrantickle]

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brew-cider-bottles.htmlhttps://www.brewuk.co.uk/wine-bottles-champ-6.html
These are what you need. They also sell 29mm crown caps.
I'd use the smaller ones.
You're unlikely to find them in brown, though.

These are what I was thinking, cheers for confirming. Maybe I will go with these and wrap in thick brown paper or something.

Cheers

 

[An Ankoù]

These are what I was thinking, cheers for confirming. Maybe I will go with these and wrap in thick brown paper or something.

Cheers

They probably ship in a cardboard box. just put them back in the box.

 

[mickthetrick]

asda has Robinsons Old Tom and their bottles are good. bonus you get to drink a nice beer too

 

[Oneflewover]

My brother in law buys and drinks quite a bit of Belgian beer, I've just taken delivery of 50 ish 330ml chimay style bottles from him. This is the right size for me for a 6% plus highly carbed beer. I'd be inclined to agree with the recommendation to buy commercial beers then repurpose the bottles having drank the contents. I've never found swing-tops ideal for highly carbed beers, I've found that they tend to release pressure.

 

[phettebs]

My brother in law buys and drinks quite a bit of Belgian beer, I've just taken delivery of 50 ish 330ml chimay style bottles from him. This is the right size for me for a 6% plus highly carbed beer. I'd be inclined to agree with the recommendation to buy commercial beers then repurpose the bottles having drank the contents. I've never found swing-tops ideal for highly carbed beers, I've found that they tend to release pressure.

That's the opposite of my experience. I've put highly carbonated saisons and tripels in swing tops with no ill effects other than the occasional gusher when I open it.

 

[labrewski]

Oul Guinness or bulmers bottles is what you need

 

[Oneflewover]

That's the opposite of my experience. I've put highly carbonated saisons and tripels in swing tops with no ill effects other than the occasional gusher when I open it.

To be fair I've been using my swing-tops for getting on for 5 years. Maybe the seals need replacing. Work fine for styles that don't suit high levels of carbonation though.

 

[rats_eyes]

Developing a belgian beer habit is probably the way I would recommend, as most of them come in heavy duty bottles. If you wanted to do this relatively cheaply, aldi and lidl sometimes stock some belgian stuff in 330ml and occasional 750ml cork and cage.