My local brewery supply of bottles has dried up (they finally went to twist offs!). I've been buying various microbrews in 6 packs at the store. Is there any reason I can't reuse their bottles for homebrew? The reason I ask is at the base of the bottle, there is raised letters saying "Do Not Refill"...does that just mean they are not returnable to the brewery or is there a safety reason they should not be used again (ie explosion?)???
Scott
I have never tried it but I understood it to be that they will not withstand the pressure of the carbonation process. On the other hand, I have heard (not seen) that some people use plastic water bottles.
I have a keg system but I still bottle using flip-tops of the Grolsch variety for some beers that I brew. High gravity beers just seem to taste better when bottled versus coming out of a keg. Luckily, I have an acquaintance that drinks Grolsch that has given me about 8 cases of bottles.
I was never forced to do it but I bet a local bar that serves Grolsch might set aside empties for ya in return for a few filled with homebrew.
That's an idea...now if I could only find a bar serving Grolsch within
500 miles of me :)Scott
use bottles from reputable, high-quality breweries. Of course, returnables are best, but I re-use crimp-cap bottles all the time. Look at the glass, the heavier it looks the better it is. There are some German swing-top bottles that look bomb-proof (Mondschein?). Grolsche are great, as are Fischer d'Alsace (same but bigger). European (especially german) bottles are often thicker, experment with some brews and see how heavu the bottles feel. I'd tell you which ones I use but the labels are long gone... I think the larger bottles (18-22 oz) are generally better for re-use.
Never had a bottle explode.
mkl
I have always reused any bottle that had beer in it. I throw away the twist off's but that is because I have so many regular ones. I usually use the shorter green ones for 'give away' beer, if the bottle doesn't come back I don't really care. (It's a carry over from winemaking, I want my bottles back. I hate taking new labels off and mine fall right off...)
I naturally carbonate with 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon and have never had an issue with bottle grenades. At least half of mine are not returnable and some are pretty thin; the rest are swingtop Grolsh. My capper is an antique too, it cost ~$2; it's at least 40 years old and we got it used when caps had cork inside them. I may try some of the twist off's now.
Joe
Joe
Joe
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