plastic vs. glass

[bazooka]

I've read that when bottling your homebrew, glass bottles are the way to go. I've used plastic ones (the dark brown 500ml. bottles) in the past when bottling my beer at a local brew shop. Now that I'm going to do it myself at home, I was going to use the same plastic bottles. Are these OK, or should I go with glass, and purchase a capper? thanks.

[Beer Nazi]

I've been told and have read that air can seep into PET bottles, especially re-used ones (same reason for using a glass carboy instead of plastic). I would also think that the seals in the re-used caps would wear fairly quickly and not seal well.

I have a buddy that re-uses soda bottles and his brews are inconsistant. They seem to oxidize easily and some beers from the same batch have off tastes.

I'd say unless you could get new caps with new seals and do not plan on storing the beer for an extended amount of time, it'd probably be o.k. If not, it's a risky proposition.

Another thing to consider is that the thin plastic offers less protection from the elements, like heat, cold and light.

My opinion would be to go with glass. Glas may be a little more expensie than plastic, but I think it's worth it.

[CaptHook]

No bottles to wash
No bottles to store
No caps to buy
Racking takes 5 mins

Am I out of line voting for stainless steel?

[Beer Nazi]

Kegging rules, but in the meantime........

[bazooka]

can anyone tell me what the average shelf (or fridge) life is for homebrew once it's bottled???

[yonkersbrewer]

I used plastic soda bottles for the first year I brewed. They seemed to work out well but you can't deny that they lack the wonderful "pffft" sound of cracking open a brown long neck of your own stuff!

I still like the idea of using a big 3 liter as a mini-keg to bring beer to a pary.

[CaptHook]

The green bottles(soda) that we use do not stop UV.
I had boiled hops and stored them in one. After 1 day
sitting out it turned skunky from UV.

[Beer Nazi]

Originally posted by bazooka
can anyone tell me what the average shelf (or fridge) life is for homebrew once it's bottled???

I can't say as far as plastic bottles go, but glass bottles with normal caps last at least 4 months from personal experience.

Oxy-caps last a real long time and are made for long term storage, 6 months to a year.

[danno]

PET bottles are somewhat air permeable, but if you plan on consuming your beer in short order, then you'll be fine. I keg, (mostly because i HATE washing bottles...) but then went and bought a counter-pressure bottle filler, mostly for gift giving, and also for filling 2 liter bottles to take to parties.... works great...

[paul84043]

I think your storage life depends largely on what you brewed, how clean you kept your equipment, what you put it in, what temp you store it at, exposure to light, temperature swings, shocks from moving the beer around...stuff like that.

Higher alcohol beer need a longer conditioning but will also keep longer because of the higher alcohol content.
I have heard of people drinking ales that they had stored for well over a year in the basement with no problem at all.
I saw a kit on a website that actually requires a minimum or 6 months, and they even recommend that the beer age for up to 2 years to get optimim quality.

I have a friend on another message board that starts a lager about this time of year for his New Years Party.

I also don't understand why everyone hates bottling so much...It takes us less than a half an hour to bottle an entire batch, I actually think the whole process is alot of fun. Maybe I'm just sick?

[hnrblbrbrn]

Originally posted by Beer Nazi
I can't say as far as plastic bottles go, but glass bottles with normal caps last at least 4 months from personal experience.

Oxy-caps last a real long time and are made for long term storage, 6 months to a year.

Well, maybe it's just me, but it's difficult for me to make a beer last more than 20 minutes much less a few months.:D

[CaptHook]

Originally posted by hnrblbrbrn
Well, maybe it's just me, but it's difficult for me to make a beer last more than 20 minutes much less a few months.:D

hnrblbrbrn
What the hell kind of name is that???"
hn=his name
rbl=real big liar
brbrn=big red brown?

[hnrblbrbrn]

hnrblbrbrn = Honorable Barbarian

sn I've had about 8 years

[yonkersbrewer]

Where can I get decent looking brown plastic beer bottles? I used recycled soda bottles when I first started brewing but that just looked like hell!

I'd like to use plastic for those times where glass is not appropriate, like to pool club.

Any recommendations on where I can buy them? How expensive are they?

Thanks for the info.

[toneyc]

Originally posted by paul84043 I also don't understand why everyone hates bottling so much...It takes us less than a half an hour to bottle an entire batch, I actually think the whole process is alot of fun. Maybe I'm just sick? [/B]

It may be the "us" part. Solo bottling is not something that I have found to be much fun. I am big and clumsy and 50 open bottles full of precious liquid is not something that I should be exposed to.

:) Toney.

[paul84043]

You're probably right, I would have to do some fancy juggling, or be much more organized than I am to be able to do it efficiently alone. But luckily my wife likes beer almost as much as I do!! So things work out nicely.