# Reusing glass beer bottles



## Xplorer (Sep 23, 2010)

I have a large collection of beer bottles. Can these be cleaned up & reused for my beer making use? I want to ramp up my beer production and that would help as far as costs are concerned.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I always reused bottles...but I only did with the pop off with an opener type...I have heard people say they recapped twist top bottles but I never felt good about it.
I ran then through my dishwasher on a sanitize setting and still dipped in sanitizer before bottling.


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## JamieCatheryn (Feb 9, 2013)

Yep def. reuse. I wash them out right after use, put them in the cabinet until bottling time and use sanitizer in them before filling. If they've sat dirty you'll need to use soapy water and a bottle brush on each one very well and still use sanitizer when almost time to fill them.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I wouldn't.. I would only use returanble bottles.. They are heavier than the non returnable bottles.. 

My wife's uncle lost an eye to an exploding disposable bottle he had reused.. They just aren't heavy enough to take the risk of one exploding.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

simi-steading said:


> I wouldn't.. I would only use returanble bottles.. They are heavier than the non returnable bottles..
> 
> My wife's uncle lost an eye to an exploding disposable bottle he had reused.. They just aren't heavy enough to take the risk of one exploding.


I have never seen beer in a returnable bottle....not like the old " deposit bottles" that soda came in when I was young.....all bottles that it comes in here are marked as deposit in certain states.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

They are marked as a refund.. that's to get people to recycle them. They are melted down, not refilled.. 

You can still find the old returnable bottles if you look.. Many people had stacked cases of them... I've still got a couple cases myself.. 

If not, buy bottles from a home brew store. They are much thicker than disposable bottles. 

Me and a friend used to bottle quite a bit of home brew. couple times we tried some disposable bottles and we had a couple that broke.

Twist off's do not seal well, and most are too thin.


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## JamieCatheryn (Feb 9, 2013)

I've never tried using twist offs, my husband has a more "refined" taste in beers so ours are always the other kind. Anecdotally, I've bottled some pretty fizzy mead and never had a bottle break.


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## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

Most bottles are being made out of thinner glass. I still see Sam Adams in a heavier bottle and some of the beers from Germany. If you have access to a glass recycle just look at what they have and keep visiting or talk with a worker about setting aside brown beer bottles for you. 

I got some real nice very heavy larger than normal bottles at the recycle center at my local air force base. 

The only time I had trouble with bottles breaking was when I added much more than normal sugar to some root beer trying to get it sweeter. 

I have found that soaking the bottles the first time to get labels off the outside and junk out of the inside to work best. When soaking let them soak for 24 or more hours then scrub with a brush and wash them out rinse sanitize then air dry. 

After you use them just rinse them out prior to storing. Still need to wash them out and sanitize prior to filling but it is not hard as long as you rinse after you empty them.


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## our ochre way (Feb 14, 2014)

I wouldn't reuse twist off bottles. Also, try to find some big bottles. I mean the 22 oz. or 1 pint 9 oz. bottles. That will save time come bottling day. I like to do half and half, smalls and bigs, and just use the big bottles if more than one person is drinking. 

Although, you learn a bit about your beer as it warms, so sometimes I indulge in a big bottle for "research purposes".


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## jefferson (Nov 11, 2004)

Look up your local distributer. Go down and buy some of his "bar bottles" Take care of them and use them forever.


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## marlowzach (Sep 17, 2013)

I've reused beer bottles without any issues. Biggest headache was cleaning them all since I don't have a dishwasher. But then I stepped up into kegging, and what a difference. Nothing like having your own beer on tap, and I bought everything I needed for around $300.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

If you are concerned about possibly blowing up bottles, use champagne bottles. They usually have a lipped top that takes the same caps as beer bottles, and are much heavier than other bottles. I also like Grolsch style beer bottles, and I find other beverages sometimes in larger bottles with the same style of attached resealable caps, and they are also available new from wine/beer supply shops. These work well and the red rubber gaskets can be replaced when damaged or worn, but usually last for years.

But, since finding a CO2 tank and regulator at a garage sale cheap, and a bunch of usable Cornelious kegs for $10 each (sorry, all gone now), we now use Corny kegs for most batches of cider, mead, and beer.


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## wes917 (Sep 26, 2011)

I've never had a bottle explode reusing old bottles. The clear bottles (ie corona, land shark etc) are thinner than the darker colored bottles. I just finished a 6 pack of lasso the other day if you lived closer you could of had them.


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## SquonkHunter (Feb 24, 2008)

I have done it successfully with the thicker European bottles. Some of them are considerably thicker glass than US throwaways. All had non-screw caps.


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