Hey guys,
Was wondering if you could give me some tips on reusing old bottles for my next bottle day? Would like to reuse some old ones instead of buying expensive new ones.
Is there anything in particular that I should look out for? Obviously il be washing and sterilising the shizz out of them!
Thanks in advance
Hi Donny you can buy 30 bottles in Alpack for €13, I just sanitise as they are straight from factory.
I did that GB on 2,000 flip tops a couple of years back, I must have been on crack at the time
Otherwise good rinse and store upside down after use, for really cruddy ones builders bucket teaspoon of W5 in each and hot water 1/3 filled up leave for 30 mins then top up entire bucket covering lips with cold leave overnight, next day big rinse and sanitise, that €13 is starting to look cheap now isn't it :)
Stay away from Tyskie bottles, crown cappers tend to break the neck when capping.
I use O' Sheas bottles from aldi, they're strong enough to reuse and the labels come off easily after a run through the dishwasher or a soak in w5. make sure to rinse well afterwards, you dont want dishwasher tab residue in the bottles.
Before you commit to a certain bottle type, check if your capper can handle it. Most bottles are pretty much the same but some like Hob Goblin bottles can't be capped with a crown capper.
Whatever bottles you chose, make sure to wash them out well the night they're drank or the next day at latest. I've sent many a bottle to the recycling bin because i forgot to rinse them out after use. Doesn't take long for mold and stuff to take hold in the dregs at the bottom of the bottle.
Quote from: Drum on October 19, 2015, 11:23:35 PM
Stay away from Tyskie bottles, crown cappers tend to break the neck when capping.
well fcek that .........and i just completed my collection of 3 boxes of them, as in i just poured the last bottle into my glass .........was going to delabel and wash them at the weekend,ah well 3 less boxes of bottles at this rate my house will be tidy soon
Quote from: hopapotamus on October 19, 2015, 11:57:34 PM
Quote from: Drum on October 19, 2015, 11:23:35 PM
Stay away from Tyskie bottles, crown cappers tend to break the neck when capping.
well fcek that .........and i just completed my collection of 3 boxes of them, as in i just poured the last bottle into my glass .........was going to delabel and wash them at the weekend,ah well 3 less boxes of bottles at this rate my house will be tidy soon
Get a counter top capper...you won't regret it
+1, I had one of those hand cappers for years :-[
i think i should , they arnt that much more expensive thesedays
Quote from: CH on October 19, 2015, 11:17:52 PM
Hi Donny you can buy 30 bottles in Alpack for €13, I just sanitise as they are straight from factory.
Thos looks great but delivery is mighty expensive for 30 bottles, nearly the same price as the pack. Pushes the price above €20
Thank for the advice on the bottles. I have starsan for sterilising but il see if I can get my hands on some.W5
Where are you based Donny, Alpack is in sandyford industrial estate and you can collect from them
Great Labels: Erdinger, Paulaner, Weistephener, Staropramen, O'Sheas, O'Haras, Galway Bay stuff, Blacks of kinsale, Rye River,
Bad Labels: Frankiskaner, Bru, Spaten, Smithwicks,
this does not represent quality of beer just difficulty of label removal :)
Franziskaner - no problem in a dishwasher.
Quote from: AJ_Rowley on October 20, 2015, 08:21:25 AM
Where are you based Donny, Alpack is in sandyford industrial estate and you can collect from them
Unfortunately I'm based in Tipperary. No plans to head up that way anytime soon either :(
Ask at pubs. You might get a wide variety of bottles. Otherwise folks in your local clubs might have some spare (especially if they've moved onto Kegging recently)
Not that it helps Donny but avoid these from alpack
http://www.alpack.ie/VK497_Short_Beer_Bottle_500mlPack_of_30/Default.1085.html
They knackered my crown capper. Luckily I got a bench capper and tried them recently and it worked okay. If you bottle at all definitely get a bench capper!!
The longnecks seem to work better
http://www.alpack.ie/VK498_Longneck_Beer_bottle_500ml_Pack_of_30/Default.1088.html
no problems using either of their bottles with bench capper
Quote from: Donny on October 20, 2015, 11:56:08 AM
Unfortunately I'm based in Tipperary. No plans to head up that way anytime soon either :(
Approximately where?
U work with or know any Eastern European lads, from my experience most of the beer they drink is in brown 500ml btls.
Quote from: Drum on October 19, 2015, 11:23:35 PM
Stay away from Tyskie bottles, crown cappers tend to break the neck when capping.
I'd say half my bottles are Tyskie (cos it's cheap, I like it and the bottles are brown and really easy to delabel) - I've never had one break...
Quote from: shweeney on October 20, 2015, 03:13:38 PM
Quote from: Drum on October 19, 2015, 11:23:35 PM
Stay away from Tyskie bottles, crown cappers tend to break the neck when capping.
I'd say half my bottles are Tyskie (cos it's cheap, I like it and the bottles are brown and really easy to delabel) - I've never had one break...
I started using them for pretty much the same reasons but I cracked 1 or 2 on the second or third batch. Kept happening in the next batches with 1 or 2 bottles each time so I got rid of them, changed to O'sheas/O'haras and I havent broken one since.
They might be ok to use a few times (or fine with a bench capper, dunno cause I havent used one) but I found they didnt last more than a few uses before the crown capper started snapping the necks
Quote from: CH on October 20, 2015, 01:18:25 PM
no problems using either of their bottles with bench capper
Quote from: Donny on October 20, 2015, 11:56:08 AM
Unfortunately I'm based in Tipperary. No plans to head up that way anytime soon either :(
Approximately where?
In Thurles