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Can You Reuse Commercial Beer Bottles For Homebrewing? When you are first starting out making homebrew one of the initial expenses associated with settling equipment is the purchase of bottles. This can be relatively expensive because they often need enough bottles for at least 2 batches of beer, one you are currently drinking and one you are about to bottle. So is there an alternative to purchasing beer bottles like saving commercial bottles?
Commercial beer bottles can be reused for home brewing, they are readily available free resource that reduces the number of bottles going to landfill. They are relatively easy to clean and sterilize as most commercial beers do not have any sediment in the bottle, though labels can be difficult to remove from the bottles.
Bottles may be collected at parties you attend, however, generally, I prefer to purchase a slab of beer occasionally with my preferred type of beer bottle and simply drink the beer and keep the bottles that way you get a uniform set of bottles.
The easiest way to remove the labels from the beer bottles is to soak them in water for at least 24 hours or longer. It is recommended to add a cleaning agent such as Oxiclean, or a detergent to the water as this will help the water to penetrate the label. I generally find that some brands are more difficult to remove, particularly ones that use plastic labels rather than paper ones, so avoid the difficult ones.
What Type Of Beer Bottles Can You Use?
There are many different types of beer bottles that can be used successfully for homebrew however the best ones are the brown bottles rather than green or clear ones. The reason for this is that brown glass bottles reduce the influence that light has on the flavour of the beer. However, this process only occurs in beers made from hops as they produce a particular type of acid that is susceptible to degradation in the presence of light at specific wavelengths. This process produces by-products that affect the flavour of the beer. To read more about the chemical reaction pathway and how it affects a beers flavour click here.
The second key consideration is the type of seal that the bottle has. Twist-top bottles that do not require a bottle opener to get the lid off are not suitable for homebrew. The main reason for this is that the bottle caps sold at most homebrew stores are crown caps which a crimped onto the lip of the bottle to create the seal. The thread used on twist top seals does not allow an airtight seal to be formed easily which will result in a loss of carbonation over time.
However, beer sold in bottles with flip-top lids are quite suitable for homebrew because they form a strong seal. However, for these bottles to seal properly the rubber seal needs to remain in good condition. A bottle where the rubber seal has become damaged should not be used.
Can To Use Plastic Bottles For Homebrew?
Plastic bottles used by companies such as coke can certainly be used to bottle homebrew. In fact, new brown PET bottles are available for purchase from many homebrew stores and some introductory beer kits come with plastic bottles rather than glass.
And despite the fact that many people traditionally drink beer from glass bottles and sometimes frown upon the use of plastic bottles has several distinct advantages over glass for the homebrewer which are as follows;
- Plastic Bottles come with their own reusable plastic lid that seals well. This avoids the need to purchase beer bottle caps.
- Due to the flexible nature of plastic, it is possible to gauge the level of carbonation within the bottle without the need to open a bottle to test it. Simply squeeze the bottle, if it has become hard the beer is fully carbonated and ready to consume.
- Plastic bottles are lighter.
- They do not shatter when dropped.
However, there are also some disadvantages associated with plastic. The first is that the majority of beverages sold in plastic are clear which means the beer needs to be stored in a dark location to avoid the flavor of the beer being affected by UV light.
Secondly, plastic has a tendency to scratch more readily which can make it more difficult to sanitize the bottles prior to use.
The third disadvantage is that PET bottles are permeable which means that there is a gradual loss of carbon dioxide from the bottles overtime. A study by Nestle in Italy showed that PET bottles lost around 2 g of carbon dioxide from a 500ml bottle over a 12 month period.
How Do You Clean Beer Bottles For Homebrew?
The easiest way to clean beer bottles is to start by soaking them first. Place all the bottles into a gallon tub that is large enough to completely submerge the bottles in water. If you don’t have a vessel that is large enough a bathtub can be used as a substitute.
The water used should be as hot as possible to aid in the cleaning process. Add a cleaning solution such as bleach Oxyclean or a sanitizing product and allow the bottles to soak for 24 hrs. This stage will make the removal of residues within the bottles easier.
However, if the bottles are relative free of residues and do not have labels on the side of the bottle the soaking time can be reduced significantly.
Once the process of soaking the bottles has been completed the next stage is to scrub the interior of the bottle using a bottle brush. Given that this is one of the most time-consuming parts of the bottling process it is worth spending time getting a good quality bottle brush as it will reduce the amount of time spent on this task. The set brush we recommend for this task is from Turbo Microfibre, to see the latest price on Amazon click here.
The next stage is to rinse the bottles with fresh clean warm water to remove any residues. If you have a suitable dishwasher they can be used to rinse the beer bottles to automate the process somewhat.
The last stage of the process requires the beer bottles to be sanitized to ensure any traces of bacteria or mold have been removed. This is quite an important stage because it will affect the self-life of the beer substantially.
There are two common ways to sanitize your beer bottles, either using heat or a commercially available sanitizer. In both cases the bottles need to be rinsed in the sanitizing solution for approximately 20 minutes. The sanitized bottles can be left on a rack to dry. Sanitizing should be done just prior to filling the bottles.
How Many Times Can You Reuse Beer Bottles?
Beer bottles can be reused indefinitely as long as they do not become chipped or cracked. The most common reason I have had for throwing them out has been when there has been sediment, dirt or some other contaminate at the bottom of the bottle which has been difficult to remove.
Given that I had collected the bottle free anyway and could easily be replaced at no cost, I have taken the attitude that if it is too hard to clean throw it out and get another bottle. To reduce the frequency of this occurring it is best to rinse the bottles immediately after consuming the beer. This reduces the chance of the sediment drying out and becoming hard which can make it difficult to clean the bottles. It also reduces the chances of bacteria of mold growing in the bottle.