Used bottle feasibility

[Brewsquatch]

First let me ask a question, what is your experience with spent beer bottles from local bars, after a quick boil and star san rinse, are they deemed fit for duty? If so, I am a member at one of the VFWs in Mpls and the question came up, they have no problems with me picking through the bottle bin.

 

[NTXBrauer]

This should work fine for you, as a way to obtain bottles. Just make sure the bottles are not twist off. If so, you may not get caps to seat properly on them when capping, and if they are BMC (bud, miller, coors) bottles, the necks tend to be weak and could break when capping. Just a couple things to be aware of.

 

[Brewsquatch]

Thank you for the tip on BMC bottles, I figured that the bottles would have issues, and I went out tonigh and didn't get squat, maybe I'll call the recycling center...

Sent from my SGH-T999L using Home Brew mobile app

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

It's not just BMC as well. Honestly my hunch is you'll find at the VFW if it's anything like the VFW by where I grew up it will be dominated with BMC, maybe something like Yuengling or ROlling ROck (not sure what the Minny equivalent of that is) but it never hurts to try. Worst you can do is waste some of your time. They're glass so a boil isn't really even necessary. I soak my bottles in a bath tub to get rid of any crud then dunk them in star san have yet to have an infection.

 

[Brewsquatch]

Im on the hunt for flip tops, and .750s, I currently have one 750, 2 650s, a minikeg, and 9 12 oz bottles... so Im short something like 400 oz of glassware, any alternatives to glass?

Sent from my SGH-T999L using Home Brew mobile app

 

[landshark]

I've dug through the recycling center glass bins before to get a bunch of bottles. Came home with a truck load. All the bottles worked fine.

 

[jrgtr42]

I just save my own from when I buy commercial beer.
I'm usually pretty good about rinsing them out pretty well when I finish with the contents, so a quick rinse and sanitizer dunk is good to go for bottling.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't think the VFW is going to be a boon for pry-off bottles, but if you have a deposit on your beer in MN, you might try any place that collects returns. Otherwise, the recycle places will usually have at least a few now and again.

Here in MI I can get all the bottles I want for 10 cents each, but the downside is sorting through the ones that have gunk on the bottom and having to take the labels off. Small price to pay.

 

[Psycotte]

Go to the distributor. Buy a sixer of good craft beer (Consider it an investment in bottles ), while you are there ask the guy if you can buy some empty bottles. He will look at you funny. Tell him you are a home brewer. Worst he says is no. My distributor lets me buy all the bottles I want for $1.20 a case. I bring him some homebrew on occasion and it keeps him inclined to keep me supplied.

Prost

 

[Brewsquatch]

I woldnt even need to think of a new tasty beer as anything less than an investment... toward my happiness

Sent from my SGH-T999L using Home Brew mobile app

 

[EvilTOJ]

I've dug plenty of bottles out of glass recycling of pubs. Hell, one time I got caught with my ass up in the air upside down in the glass recycler. Turns out it was the brewer for the premises, so we talked shop for awhile. It was awesome.

 

[Paschendale]

I've only bottled one batch but I accumulated my used commercial bottles that were pry offs and they have done fine.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[dfc]

Too bad you're in MN. I have a few cases that need de-labeled that I could get rid of.

 

[estricklin]

I think most of us just save the bottles we buy. It doesn't take as long as you think to build up a pretty big stash of e'm.

DON'T try to use BMC bottles. Pop tops only!

 

[tx-brewer]

I think most of us just save the bottles we buy. It doesn't take as long as you think to build up a pretty big stash of e'm.

DON'T try to use BMC bottles. Pop tops only!

Ya, it becomes an addiction even when you have more bottles than you could possibly ever fill

 

[boscobeans]

First let me ask a question, what is your experience with spent beer bottles from local bars, after a quick boil and star san rinse, are they deemed fit for duty? .

Like Psycotte I live in a deposit State and when I need a few cases of bottles due to give aways I head to my distributor. I get all I need for $1.20 a case and all are in sixpacks, cased and sorted as to brand.

Since they have not come from my pipeline and may have anything in them I fill my 52 quart coleman mash tun with hot OXY solution and sink all the bottles so they are filled and totally immersed in the OXY. I close the lid and leave them overnight. ( I've never boiled any bottles)

Next day I wipe all the labels and glue off with a scrubby (VERY EASY) and rinse each bottle out with the spray head on my sink. After the rinse I look into each bottle (held up to a light) and check for any crud or mold stuck in the bottles. I give any bottle that looks cruddy a brushing and a second rinse, if it still has anything in there it goes in the recycle bin.

I let then dry, upside down on a bottle tree, and give them a few pumps on the vinator with StarSan just before I fill them.

Never had an infection.

bosco

 

[Paps]

When i started going after bottles i merely saved the pop-tops i bought.
Guinness bottles work well and their labels are basically a shrink wrap so you cut cut-n-peel them off....no scrubbing required.
Just rinse them out with water as you empty them and run them through your diswasher on high heat-sanitise cycle.
Store upside down.
I hit them with starsan on bottling day.

 

[glenn514]

I guess I got my bottles the hard way. I went to the liquor store/supermarket/beer store or whatever, and found some sixers of beer that I'd like to drink. I opened those bottles of beer, drank the contents and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Then, if the bottle was a pop-top, I took the label off, thoroughly cleaned the inside with hot water and a bottle brush, if necessary, and saved those bottles. It was, for me, a no-brainer.

glenn514

 

[Paschendale]

I guess I got my bottles the hard way. I went to the liquor store/supermarket/beer store or whatever, and found some sixers of beer that I'd like to drink. I opened those bottles of beer, drank the contents and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Then, if the bottle was a pop-top, I took the label off, thoroughly cleaned the inside with hot water and a bottle brush, if necessary, and saved those bottles. It was, for me, a no-brainer.

glenn514

That's pretty much how I got my bottles...I never discard a pry-top.

I always enjoy the beer, regardless ;-)

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[BigAndo]

I work in a pub and just bring the bottles I like home, and run them through the dishwasher. I'll give them a quick swirl round with boiling water before I bottle. When I first became a barmaid, lots of the bottles were sent back and reused by breweries, so I think filling them with home brew is just the same. Newcastle brown ale bottles are my favourites. Lol


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

 

[Homercidal]

Guinness is probably my favorite bottle to reuse. The label peels off with a quick slice with a knife and the widget pulls out easily with a pair of good needle nose pliers. I can clean a Guinness bottle in about 30 seconds. Even the Foreign Extra Stout (which I prefer) delabels easily in hot water.

Bells bottles are great because they also come right off in hot water. I used to use Oxiclean for a soak, but if I know I've rinsed the inside of the bottle out when I poured, I just soak in hot tap water for an hour and they slide right off. Quick scrub with a green scrubby or an old dishwashing brush to wipe the glue off and they are done.

If a label doesn't come off easily, I toss it back to recycling. I don't have time or patience for difficult labels. Short's in Michigan brews some very interesting and unusual beers, but their labels suck. Bells and Founders come right off after a hot soak.

Sam Adams also come right off, but they have inscriptions on the bottles, so I don't choose them due to the competition requirements.

 

[ChuckO]

I do research into styles that I want to brew every time I find a store with a good selection of beers, which isn't often around here. From this I seem to keep getting more bottles than I need. Unfortunately I don't always get empties returned from some friends who try my home brews.

I put the empties into a slop sink and run the output from my CFC into it with some Oxiclean to soak on a brew day.