Why not Plastic Bottles?

[nil_fhios_agam]

<EDIT>Just noticed this is the wrong forum, could this be moved to Equipement please?</EDIT>

Very new to beer brewing....so new I haven't actually got around to it yet, although all the kit has arrived. I can see that you shouldn't bottle into used plastic bottles but I am just wondering if there is a reason for this. I have bought loads of cider over the years (ah, college days!) in plastic 2l bottles similar to a 2l coke bottle so I can't really think why using these is a bad thing.......I am sure I am about to be educated though.

Thanks.

[stevezx7r]

And educated thee shall be

Just wash and sanitise them and provided they're in good condition i.e the cap is in one piece the bottle isn't rancid etc it should be fine to use again.

Plastic PET bottles are fine to use and re-use as long as they're clean and not broken in anyway. Some people here use them to see if the beer they put into glass bottles is carbonating as the plastic one will begin to feel firm once full of c02.

[nil_fhios_agam]

And educated thee shall be

Just wash and sanitise them and provided they're in good condition i.e the cap is in one piece the bottle isn't rancid etc it should be fine to use again.

Plastic PET bottles are fine to use and re-use as long as they're clean and not broken in anyway. Some people here use them to see if the beer they put into glass bottles is carbonating as the plastic one will begin to feel firm once full of c02.

Great...thanks for the reply. I'll start saving the coke bottles so.....and nudging the wino's in the park for their empty cider bottles!

[clogwog]

Nothing wrong with PET bottles. I've used them myself, but mostly prefer glass now. I did recently bottle a batch of Märzen in PET bottles, because I had doubts whether it had fully fermented, even after 4 weeks in primary, and 7 weeks in secondary.

In Australia, some of the Home Brew beginners kits come complete with 30 PET 750 mil bottles. My local supermarket sells 15 bottles boxes of 750 mil PET bottles in their Home Brew section.

I do use a single PET bottle in each batch I bottle. Once filled, I squeeze the bottle until all the airspace is expelled, and then close the screwcap. That way, it gives me a good indication that carbonation is actually happening.

[Frisp]

I usually use ASDA 1L water bottles you get 6 for 1.80. Yesterday I grabbed some Sainsburys flavoured water at 3 for a quid.
MY HBS wants 85 p each. I reccon I have therefore saved enough money to cover the cost of my two cornois. LOL

[DrZiggy]

I'll be honest I haven't had much luck with 2L PET bottles, first glass is normally fine but second and third have always ended up cloudy. the 1L PET bottles have been great though. Only on my first batch using glass bottles so can't comment on the diffrence yet. ( it's taken a while to drink enough bottled conditioned ale)

[sparky Paul]

I'll be honest I haven't had much luck with 2L PET bottles, first glass is normally fine but second and third have always ended up cloudy. the 1L PET bottles have been great though. Only on my first batch using glass bottles so can't comment on the diffrence yet. ( it's taken a while to drink enough bottled conditioned ale)

I use PETs almost exclusively now, my answer was to buy some plastic fruit juice pitchers to decant the beer into, mine come from Tosco and hold a 2 litre bottle full nicely. The lid has a rubber seal, there's a handy rotary valve closure and a pouring spout which forms a nice head on the beer.

Decant from your PET bottles into these, and with a bit of practise you can drink crystal clear beer every time. You may need to slightly over carbonate, especially for lagers, as the decanting knocks a little of the CO2 out of the beer, but don't overdo it.

[DrZiggy]

I use PETs almaost exclusively now, my answer was to buy some plastic fruit juice pitchers to decant the beer into, mine come from Tosco and hold a 2 litre bottle full nicely. The lid has a rubber seal, there's a handy rotary valve closure and a pouring spout which forms a nice head on the beer.

Decant from your PET bottles into these, and with a bit of practise you can drink crystal clear beer every time. You may need to slightly over carbonate, especially for lagers, as the decanting knocks a little of the CO2 out of the beer, but don't overdo it.

personally I'll give that a go as it might work out cheaper.. Sparky if you can upload a picture of exactly what you use so i can hit my local tesco's to find something simular that would be good

[Prozac]

I'll be honest I haven't had much luck with 2L PET bottles, first glass is normally fine but second and third have always ended up cloudy. the 1L PET bottles have been great though. Only on my first batch using glass bottles so can't comment on the diffrence yet. ( it's taken a while to drink enough bottled conditioned ale)

I use PETs almaost exclusively now, my answer was to buy some plastic fruit juice pitchers to decant the beer into, mine come from Tosco and hold a 2 litre bottle full nicely. The lid has a rubber seal, there's a handy rotary valve closure and a pouring spout which forms a nice head on the beer.

Decant from your PET bottles into these, and with a bit of practise you can drink crystal clear beer every time. You may need to slightly over carbonate, especially for lagers, as the decanting knocks a little of the CO2 out of the beer, but don't overdo it.

Overcarbonate? My Lager was flat as a witches tit. I'm using 2L PET bottles at the mo with some 1L's in there too....

[earwig999]

Just don't do what I did and put the bottle in the dishwasher on a 40 degree wash. They were nice and clean but the bubble at the bottom expanded and now they wont stand up straight. lol

Cold sterilization next time I think.

[sparky Paul]

personally I'll give that a go as it might work out cheaper.. Sparky if you can upload a picture of exactly what you use so i can hit my local tesco's to find something simular that would be good

Sorry about the delay, been busy...

Anyway, they're just like these Klipit ones...




The ones I have are Tesco branded, but virtually identical.

[sparky Paul]

Overcarbonate? My Lager was flat as a witches tit. I'm using 2L PET bottles at the mo with some 1L's in there too....

I prime with 4 tsp (use an accurate measure) of sugar for a 2 litre bottle of lager. This gives a pretty good level of carbonation, the bottles are very lively and need a few hours in the fridge before opening.

There is another problem I've found with PETs, the caps cannot be re-used indefinately. After half a dozen uses or so, I found that the odd cap would leak slightly - so I replace the bottles now and again.