BeerBorg

Well for me and all the newbees here is where we need your imput. Our new kits come with plastic bottles and 98% of you seem to bottle in 12oz. Glass. Need some help list your pros- cons. Help a brother out..

12 oz glass bottles are my preference because it's easier to drink 12 oz of beer versus a liter in one sitting. The 1L PET bottles that came with my first LBK were great when I first started, but then I didn't want the beer to go flat after opening them, so I would drink the whole thing, which made me bloated and gassy. Bottle caps for glass bottles are cheap enough. And glass bottles are easier to keep clean and sanitized, in my opinion.

I have stuck with plastic as the prospect of a glass bottle bomb scares me. I got lots of 1/2 liter bottles from Mr.Beer, and I sometimes purchase 6-packs of plastic 16oz Bud-Light bottles if I need more bottles quickly.

I've been using plastic since I got my first kit just over a year ago, but I did re-use a couple twist offs before I find out it is a no-no. I just got my bottling equipment delivered today so I'll be transitioning to glass. Here's a post with some more info to consider: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=45

FWIW, I bottle mostly in 740ML Coopers PETs - which is what Mr. Beer seems to have replaced their 1Ls with just recently - funny that.

I use them because I like that size, it's pretty much how much I drink at a time. They do not explode ** knocks on wood **. Less bottles to clean and sanitize on bottling day, since a batch takes half as many bottles. They look decent.

If I don't drink the whole thing I just cap it tightly and put back in the fridge and drink in the next few days. I've never had any issues with beer going "flat". Some slight carb loss into the headspace, sure there is a tiny bit, but it's minimal and doesn't affect my enjoyment in any way.

Ok, well when is it time to replace a plastic bottle, or the cap??

I have tossed a handful of the Coopers PETs since I got them around 5 years ago. They have 3 layers, an inner liner, the main bit of plastic and an outer liner/oxygen barrier. I get rid of the bottles when one of the layers separates. Literally you can see bits of the plastic flaking or bubbling. I can't say when I'd toss one of the other kinds of PETs as I haven't seen what they look like when they go bad, but if you see any deformation then that would be the time I'd say. You should get many years out of them, this should not be an issue unless you massively overprime all the time.

The caps I tend to use a handful of times and then toss them and get new ones. Or if they just don't look right, IE the inner seal looks weird. But that doesn't usually happen unless I forget to toss them after a bunch of batches.

One trick I can tell you is to put the caps on, then walk away. Come back 20 minutes later and tighten again. You will be surprised that some of them will tighten more. I don't lose any carb in my PETs over a year+. I've got 18 month old beer in PETs that is fine.

My only real problem with the PETs is that I don't want to give them away. I need to get some glass so I can send beer to my friends here.

There were some great discussions on the other forum about this.

PET bottles are convenient. Easy to use, easy to clean. Many find the 1 liter size too big. When I started with Mr. Beer I used the 1 liter bottles, then got another kit on Craigslist for $10 with 8 more. I ended up buying 2 sets of the 1/2 liter bottles (50% off), and liked them better. However, when I decided to ramp up my pipeline (for selection, not volume), I decided to switch to glass. Glass can be cleaned with very hot water (PET can't), and you can use a bottle brush (not with PET).

With PET, you buy the bottle once and then replace caps every so often. Hint - collect soda bottle caps, they'll fit fine. But they are costly.

With glass, you have to buy a capper and caps. Caps will cost 2 1/2 to 3 cents each, and a good bench capper (Super Agata) is $40 or so. The bottles are free or next to free - I paid people the deposit amount and got over 20 cases across 3 people in a matter of days. Sold over 1/2 that for a profit, and now I have 10 cases of glass bottles, 16 1 liter PET and 32 1/2 liter PET. That allows me to have lots of choice - right now I have 13 different types of beer (6.6 full cases) with one more ready for bottling in 9 days.

If I could, I would sell most of the PET bottles. Each batch I do one 1/2 liter to check for carbonation and the rest glass, unless I'm running short or think having a few 1 liter for that particular beer makes sense. To me, 1/2 liter is the ideal size. For SWMBO, 12 ounces is ideal. I just prefer doing nearly all glass for each batch.

As far as bottle bombs, I use plastic file boxes to store the beer after bottling (the glass bottles, not PET) for at least 3 weeks (i.e. until I bottle again). This way if a bottle goes, all the liquid is contained. I got the boxes at Staples 100% Rewards, so in essence they were free.

I still use the Lt. PETs from my original kit 3+ years ago. I did toss a couple which started to separate, but that was probably due to mishandling on my part than the bottle itself.

For a 2 gal batch I normally do 2 and put the rest in 12oz glass or 16oz flippies. For a fiver, 3 or 4.

I also bought a couple cases of Miller Lt. in 16oz PETs and use those for the first and last bottles of each batch (and sometimes when I’ve miscounted the bottles needed and have to scramble for more). I’ve had the plastic layers separate on more than a few, but since I only use 2 -4 for each batch, I still have quite a few left.

I’ve not detected any difference in flavor or any carbonation loss between glass and PET and will continue to use both. I was lucky that Swenocha offered free Lt. PETs for shipping cost only and was able to get another 16, so I’m probably good for 5 years.


One thing I’ve noticed is the Lt. PETs seem to carbonate and firm up quicker than the 16oz PETs (when not the last ‘trub’ bottle). Anyone else notice this?

Lately I've been doing 7 12 oz glass bottles and 5 1L PET bottles. The PETs are for me, the glass bottles for giving away. I like the 1L bottles, makes for quick bottling and they are reusable. The glass are more for gifts cause that's really what people expect, except I tell them not to drink from the bottle, pour into a glass, and leave the last bit in there.

Monty

I use between 4 and 8 22oz glass bottles and 12 - 20 12oz glass bottles per batch.

I mostly switched to glass because the PET bottles I used on my second or third batch stretched and they didn't stand correctly after that. Then when I started using glass I realized it was much easier to store and relocate them since the boxes that came with the bottles that had free beer in them were designed to carry around and be stacked on top of each other.

I haven't had any plastic bottles go bad on me yet, but I have seen some of my caps start to dome. It seemed like the ones that were domed after conditioning time did not have as much carbonation as those which were still flat. So for me, I replace the cap after I start seeing that.

RickBeer has a good summary pro vs. con of each, imo.

To me it just seems like personal preference. I personally prefer 500ml glass bottles as they are the perfect size (for me) and easy to clean. I do keep a few PETs around just incase I have a bottle capper emergency.

As a curiosity, why no screw-cap glass bottles? Tradition? Practical reason? Seems it would eliminate some of the "cons" for both plastic and glass traditional bottling - no need for a capper, doesn't require a (horrors) swing top, easy to clean and sanitize (brush, hot water), easy to replace cap (you could even vent the bottle like the PETs, reducing the chance of a bomb), doesn't distort, last forever, easy to remove label. Soooo - why not? Just askin'...

Can't screw the caps back on as tight so carbonation will start to leak, and the threads will wear out just as much as on PET bottles.