Bottle Questions

[RedBEERd]

I have a bottle question for you good folks............I've been using the mr beer PET liter bottles for my brews and haven't really had any problems with them but the last batch of beer it seemed to me the bottles weren't as 'tight' as earlier and maybe the beer could've been a tad more carbed....I know there are other possibilities for this but I also know that after time, the bottles/caps need to be replaced so I plan on buying some flip top bottles from my LHBS today, if available.....

So a few questions: 1) how often should I replace PET's (assuming I continue to use them) 2) should I replace just the caps instead? 3) my LHBS has some nice EZ Cap brand 1 liter flip tops but amazon has another brand much cheaper but I've read some comments that they break easy and some have exploded after 1 night of carbing....in this case, does brand name matter, ie EZ caps? I'm willing to pay more for good quality and not losing beer.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Gymrat]

I can't see how the bottles can wear out. It has to be the caps. When I was using those bottles I put new caps on them every time I used them that way they always had a seal on them so that if I wanted to take them somewhere I wasn't carrying "open containers".

[Trollby]

I thought I read somewhere that Mr. Beer recommended replacing the caps every 4-5 batches

[jimjohson]

i would replace the caps. it would seem to me if it were a bottle problem there would be other signs like a deformed bottom. don't really know what to say about where to buy except remember "you get what you pay for." never had to replace my caps moved to 12oz pry offs before it was needed. i did run 3 batches thru without an issue and swmbo has made 1 batch of rootbeer in them so i think the 4-5 from MrB is probably a good idea replace before there's an issue.

[RickBeer]

I think people tend to blame caps when it isn't the caps. If the cap is at fault, you should have flat beer. On the other forum, someone talked about getting blisters from tightening the caps. I had to smile at that, I put the caps on snugly and everything works fine.

PETS don't wear out.

I use at least one 16.9 liter bottle per batch to test for firmness. I make a hash mark on the top each use, I have none that have reach 4 uses yet. I also collected 2-liter bottle caps from 7-UP bottles that seem to fit quite nicely and will likely use them at some point.

I'd recommend you blame something else and not waste your money.

[RedBEERd]

Thanks VERY much, guys. I REALLY appreciate the advice.

Just last night I bottled a small batch (mr beer size) of Hefe for my wife and I'll see in a few days if the bottles harden up. I may not use them much more since I plan on getting real glass flip tops so it shouldn't be a problem but I may just pick up some caps anyway as a back up........but I did notice a difference in the firmness of some bottles from my zombie clone...ie same batch but some bottles are tighter than others so I'm pretty sure I didn't undercarb, in fact beerlord and I batchprimed with a tad more sugar than called for since I like my beers just a tad more carbed. I'll see how this all turns out...but if the hefe all goes flat, with 2 tspoons of sugar in each liter bottle, then I'll KNOW its the bottles/caps and not sugar since every time I've done this batch with 2 tspoons of sugar, it's come out awesome.

thx again.

[Ibasterd]

I have been phasing out the PET bottles in favor of 16oz glass flip tops. My local liquor store sells a few varieties of beer in them so I usually grab a few when I'm there and have been building a collection (although I am getting sick of drinking the same beer). I have not had issues with under-carbing so I'm no longer worried about not being able to squeeze a PET for firmness (that sounded dirty!). In my mind, I think my beer tastes better coming from a glass bottle.

[philm00x]

In my mind, I think my beer tastes better coming from a glass bottle.

I feel the same way. Placebo effect maybe? And I think they carb faster because they don't flex and expand.