What are the best types of bottles? Where do you get them from? Share your opinions...

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TimBass

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What are the best types of bottles? Where do you get them from? Share your opinions...
 
I bought a pack of 40 pet bottles and tops from a brew shop online. They 've done me 4 brews so far and still going strong. Better than my glass glass flip top bottles from Amazon. Just cracked one open tonight and it was pretty flat. Guessing the seal wasn't great.
 
If you do flip-tops, getting good gaskets and changing them when they wear out is a must. I love them and don't have a problem. Almost all of mine are empty Grolsch bottles.
Nothing wrong with capping glass bottles. It's important to know which kind of bottles work best for capping (no screw top beer bottles for sure).
 
Best 330ml are the stubby Belgian bottles, the Duvel and Chimay styles. Designed to hold more pressure than standard bottles, and the labels slide right off when wet so no fannying about trying to scrape paper and glue off. Plus you get to drink the Belgian beer inside them to build up your stock. It's a win-win situation.
 
I'm about to cash in all my 700ml flip tops, the seals have gone and I have an over abundance of crown cap 700s and 750s and the local beer store will give me a refund on the flip tops so... its like free beer. the more you drink the more you get back. I normally bottle my brews into a combo of 10 500ml, 10 330ml and the rest into 700s (normally around 8 bottles for my batch sizes).
 
If I were starting from scratch and I had to buy bottles, I'd buy these:
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/crown-cap-pet-bottles-500ml-3502.html
I got one set out of curiosity and they're great: light, unbreakable, you can feel the internal pressure by squeezing, they take caps and can be used over and over again.
Oh, and they're brown.
 
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Buy bottles of the beers you like, drink the beer, re-use the bottles. Just don't buy beer in clear or green bottles as UV light will make your home brew go off and taste umpeasant.
 
Buy bottles of the beers you like, drink the beer, re-use the bottles. Just don't buy beer in clear or green bottles as UV light will make your home brew go off and taste umpeasant.
Everybody says this and I believe them, but one of my favourites: La Choulette Blonde comes in corked, green bottles, they hang around on the supermarket shelves under fluorescent lighting (not for very long if I see them, I usually clear the lot) and I've never had a bad one. When I first came to France I had to drink Heineken in 66 cl green bottle so as to get some bottles, quickly and cheaply. It wasn't great, but it hadn't gone off. I use them all the time, I just keep them in a dark place.
 
Are the "seals gone" because the gaskets need replacing or has the mechanism for closing become worn, loose, etc.?
I would love some strong 700ml or 750ml flip-tops.

The mechanism is fine so I guess it is just the cap washers that need replacing (is that the gasket?). I know I can buy replacements here but in all honesty I dont mind just switching to all crown caps.

Happy to pass them on but not sure of the logistics between Prague and Detroit?
 
I use
Buy bottles of the beers you like, drink the beer, re-use the bottles. Just don't buy beer in clear or green bottles as UV light will make your home brew go off and taste umpeasant.
I use green bottles - no problem with UV because believe it or not I don't store my beer on the window ledge.
I prefer them because I can see the beer when I'm filling them.
 
I have a mix of clear and brown. I prefer the brown but I always bottle a few in clear bottles as a gauge for clearing.
 
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