Plastic bottles

[Bobtheblob]

I've been using plastic pet bottles that I've used for about 4 brews now. However after washing them they seem to have developed a ring of haze around the shoulder inside the bottle. Is this something to be worried about or are they ok to carry on using?

 

[GhostShip]

I've used mine for a lot more than 4 brews and they're still fine. I haven't noticed a haze on mine, but as long as they're properly washed (with a bottle brush) and then sterilised, they should be absolutely fine.

 

[terrym]

I use clear PET bottles that have previously held either spring or tonic water. They do develop a haze in use, but that's probably the same haze that you cant see on dark glass beer bottles. So before use I clean them with a bottle brush, soak them with VWP, and then give them a good rinse with tap water. And I do give them a good rinse out following emptying of beer. But when they get a bit bashed up I chuck them away and replace them. And some of them will have done a lot more than 4 brews although I don't keep a log.

 

[hichaechoc]

I'm also using ex tonic water pet bottles. I use mine for red wine too which can discolour them and also experience the haziness. I rinse them in warm water after use and wash them on a bottle tree with a solution made up from 3 campden tablets just before use. I drain but don't rinse again. Seems to work for me. Plastic bottles have lots of advantages over glass but one huge disadvantage in that the contents will slowly oxidise over time. I've done side by side comparisons and after 3 months or so the glass bottled beers have better flavour, are cleaner tasting, paler in colour and better carbonated. I still mainly use PET but also have a few flip top glass bottles for each brew.

 

[terrym]

Plastic bottles have lots of advantages over glass but one huge disadvantage in that the contents will slowly oxidise over time. I've done side by side comparisons and after 3 months or so the glass bottled beers have better flavour, are cleaner tasting, paler in colour and better carbonated.

This debate crops up regularly. Some PET bottles sold specifically for home brew are supposed to have a liner which prevents this. The ones I use don't, and I have never noticed any oxidation or loss of carbonation of beer after months of storage. I maintain that if there is a positive pressure inside the bottle, as there usually is, there will be next to zero migration of oxygen through the PET bottle wall. And you are more likely to get oxidation of beer in a glass bottle of homebrew beer due to the amount of oxygen in the headspace after filling and capping (unless you displace this with CO2) compared to PET bottles where you can squeeze the bottle to eliminate the air before screwing on the cap.

 

[Clint]

I use only glass bottles. Has anyone else noticed that during bottling if your method is to fill a few then loosely place the cap and put to one side to batch cap them,the bottles seem to expel some c02? and the lid does a slight lift that you can hear?

 

[hichaechoc]

No worries Terry, I'm glad they work for you. The science is loosely described here. I think the trapped oxygen is probably removed by the yeast as it consumes the priming sugar and so I didn't see a difference in the short term. After 3 months I could see a difference in a number of hoppy pale ales. Less easy to see in a stout. If I hadn't done a bottle by bottle comparison I might not have been aware of the difference.