Glass Vs Plastic Bottles

[Togorok]

I like the plastic pet....less to bottle more to drink plus im known for my butterfingers and drop crap all the time.... Not to mention my whole house is tile ... And half the time im enjoying a brewski its out of a glass mug anyways

[Rayyankee]

I prefer Glas to PET bottles although i have lept my original PETs from my first kit and use them as ice bottles to control temps for my LBKs in my ice chest. I have a old MRB wing capper that has served me well for 3 plus years but am looking to upgrade to a bench capper probably this fall.

[gwcr]

I prefer Glas to PET bottles although i have lept my original PETs from my first kit and use them as ice bottles to control temps for my LBKs in my ice chest.

Right there with you Rayyankee. I just swapped out two of those frozen bottles this morning. Best use of them IMO.

[duff]

I liked the glass bottles because they were basically 10 cents when I bought them filled with other beer. I also had some problems with the PET bottles after I used them for a while where the bottom would start to deform. Once that happened they were very unstable if you could even get them to stand on a flat surface.

[Brewbirds]

For those of you using the wing capper I highly recommend trying to find a case crate like the one pictured below. I fill three bottles, pull the caps out of the vinator filled with star san and cap those three then repeat. I can bottle an LBK size batch in 20-30 min.

As far as breakage I would think that is because the bottles are to thin or may be double ringed instead of flanged.

Case Crate & Wing Capper.JPG (108.75 KiB) Viewed 1769 times

[Brewbirds]

Oh yeah! And Moderators should't this be moved to the new kegging/bottling thread?

[gwcr]

Your wish is my command...

[goblin]

i use plastic, soda bottles. i like my bourbon and dr Pepper, 7up, pespi
1/2 liter mostly.
i would only use glass if i drank out of the bottles.
if i am going to pour into a glass for drinking why use glass bottles - harder to store, easier to break ...
each to their own.
i am a cheap @#$$%
kegging is the best IMHO
brewon

[Brewbirds]

For me glass is prefered for one reason only cleaning and sanitizing. All my old PETs are still sitting around somewhere but glass it a thousand times more resistant to the possibility of infection.
If there is a flaw or crack in a glass bottle it goes in the recycle been, if some gunk won't come off/out same thing. I can hold a glass bottle up to the light and see any possible risk.
I don't feel that confident with plastic.

[Rebel_B]

So here are a quick list of pros/cons to each I decided to make now:

Glass Bottles
Pros:
- Seem to carbonate faster
- Cap threads don't wear out
- Longer re-usability life?? (speculation)
- Look and feel a bit nicer
- Easily obtained, usually with beer inside

Cons:
- Need a capper to use them
- Breakable!
- No seriously, they break man!
- Bottle Explosions are much more dangerous

Plastic Bottles
Pros:
- Not breakable! Well....harder to break than glass.
- Don't need a capper

Cons:
- Takes longer to carbonate
- Caps wear out


Ehhh, that's all I got, feel free to disagree or add/subtract points.

I trade/give away bottles of beer with/to other Homebrewers (usually at my work) and I have never seen anyone else ever use plastic bottles. Glass bottles are universal, I think I would get the 'stink eye ' if I gave anyone a beer in plastic.

[tomtravelino]

Another vote for glass. More readily available and its a lot of fun emptying them. Just more pro's than cons for me. I have been using a wing capper for all of my batches, not as much as others but about 400 bottles and I have only broke 1 bottle. Although a bench capper, bottling tree and a vinator are in my future!

[Crazy Climber]

Minor "con" for plastic bottles: they retain odors from previous contents. I have made Mr. Root Beer batches, and also my own Hard Lemonade recipe, plus a Raspberry Saison and a Raspberry Iced Tea -- all left behind odors in the PET bottles, even after double cleanings.

On the glass side, I've use a wing capper for a year now without a single break (fingers crossed). I use mostly Sam Adams bottles, if that helps.

Overall, I am on the fence -- I see benefits to both types. I probably have a SLIGHT preference for plastic, but on a different day I might answer differently.

As soon as someone makes a homebrew canning line, I'm all in! (I know, I know...pipe dream)

[gwcr]

As soon as someone makes a homebrew canning line, I'm all in! (I know, I know...pipe dream)

[John Sand]

I use glass. Stopped using PET after one batch. The only time I've broken bottles is by getting the cap askew. I bottle prime six at a time in sixpack carriers, cap the same way. Prime six, fill six, cap six. No confusion, not put off by six bottles (as opposed to 24-53). Can stop for a beer without losing track. Easy and fun, I may bottle tonight!

[mtsoxfan]

I'm in for glass. There is soemthing about a glass bottle, whatever the contents are...