carbonated water bottles - will they do?

[drmick]

Hi All

I've got a batch of Geordie lager on the go that will hopefully need bottling at the weekend. I am sure I read on here (can't find the post anymore) that carbonated water bottles are OK for bottling and withstand the pressures of secondary fermentation (is that the correct term?). Is this true or will they all burst when I bottle it. The local supermarket has various different brands and sizes of bottle that are cheap 6 or 8 bottles for £2. The added bonus I guess is that they are all ready clean as well so just empty out the fizzy water and replace with lager - seems an ideal solution if they are strong enough, should be able to bottle all 40 pints for about £8 in bottles. Has anyone any experience using old water bottles for lager?

Thanks

DrMick

[MartialAnt]

Do you mean 2 litre pop bottles? If so, go to asda & buy 2L smart price still water. You can use the water so you dont have to treat it with a campden & you have bottles to use also. Smart price water is 17p a bottle.

You need 11.36 bottles for 40 pints so thats £1.93.

I do it frequently.

[drmick]

I was thinking of getting a selection of 2L and 1L fizzy water bottles as I don't always fancy drinking 2L in one sitting (well I probably will but like to think I will show some self restraint). Are the still water bottles suitable as well I thought they may be a bit flimsy, seem to be made of thinner plastic?

DrMick

[MartialAnt]

Volvic style water bottles wont work. I bottled in some & the ribbed bits popped out to make it look like a lemonade bottle. Not advisable.

[chairmanmaw]

I stumbled across and invested in some of these from Ikea..

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50108908

25 cost me £37.25 but they are fairly sturdy and hold 1L each. The Grolsch style top fits nice and tight and so far I have no complaints. Worth it, I think, if you are going to make brew after brew.

[MartialAnt]

Smart but im a tight barrrrrrrrstarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. When i buy a bottle it has to have beer in it first.

[chairmanmaw]

Smart but im a tight barrrrrrrrstarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. When i buy a bottle it has to have beer in it first.

Knowing what I know now. I will "aquire" my future bottles. Cant fault it for novely value though. I had a few mates around earlier and they were well impressed with the who presentation, not to mention the actual brew! I cant wait for the next tasting session! I came home from the pub early for another snifter before bed. Dont hate me but Im "working from home" tomorrow

[drmick]

Those Ikea bottles look tempting, but as Sainsburys are selling 4 bottles of beer or cider for the price of 3, I couldn't resist buying 12 assorted bottles - going to be a fun weekend emptying them all. Also got some Tesco value sparkling water so that should just about take the full 40 pints of the kit. Bit annoyed really as I drank loads of London pride and Bombadier over the summer and sent all the bottles for recycling - if only I had the foresight to realise I would need them

[edit1now]

T**cos are selling Bernard black lager in 500ml swingtops (brown glass) 2 bottles for £3. Drink beer, enjoy, collect bottles. 50p for the bottle and £1 for really nice black lager