When it comes to homebrewing, whats the point if you can’t share your homebrew with friends and family. So obviously you are going to want to use bottling for distribution of your beer.
But, buying brand new bottles is not only bad for the environment, its expensive. So how can you clean and reuse old beer bottles?
Cleaning and using old beer bottles is a great way to recycle, it is safe and very common in the homebrewing community. It also saves money. Proper cleaning involves rinsing as soon as you drink a bottle and sanitizing before reuse. You cannot use twist off bottles.
There is a myriad of ways to clean old beer bottles and some may be better than others. I know I’ve had a few issues in the past with bottle infections and its not fun.
If your interested in watching the process check out this YouTube video I made below.
Below I recount what I’ve learned to help you on your journey. Also I’m a bit curious if swing top bottles can be an even cheaper way to bottle so lets take a look at that too.
The Proper Way to Clean and Reuse Old Beer Bottles
When we say old beer bottles, I don’t mean bottles that are like five, ten, or one hundred years old! That would be nuts, but might still work? Who knows, the most important thing is that they are clean.
There are a few things you should do to make sure they are clean.
- Rinse after first use with water.
- Store in a dry place.
- Use Sanitizer to rinse and scrub inside the bottle on bottling day.
- Hold bottle up to the light to make sure there is no gunk or residue.
As long as you follow these steps you should be ready to siphon in your brew and enjoy in a few weeks.
While this is the methodology I follow, many people also use the dishwasher to make sure they are rinsed and sanitized, which is also a viable option.
Fears of Infection
I have had recycled bottles go bad before. I thought the whole batch was bad, but thankfully it was just one bottle. It was likely because I did not have one bottle thoroughly cleaned.
It’s pretty gross but not so bad that you have to worry about reusing bottles, its not dangerous. The best thing you can do is to make sure they are absolutely clean.
The best way to do this is to make sure that they are rinsed, that way nothing has a chance to grow inside.
Then toss in the dishwasher, and if that isn’t enough scrub with Star San by hand. You can find it from my amazon link.
But don’t forget the final check.
Hold them into the light and look through them like a pirate looking through his spyglass. If its bad you will see some gunk, such as a piece of old yeast residue or possibly mold.
At this point just toss the bottle in the recycle bin because its not worth it.
Taking Off Labels
Taking off old beer bottle labels to put your own on can be a nice way of taking pride in your homebrew. But it can also be a difficult pain in the butt.
That’s why me and my buddy love to just leave them on. As my friend recounts, he took a bottle of Negra Modelo filled with homebrewed beer into his local craft establishment. Some friends who worked there were going to try it out.
Some customers laughed at the Negra Modelo bottle, but were soon impressed when they were told it was homebrew and wanted to try some.
Nonetheless taking off labels can be beneficial for various reasons. Here is the best way to do it.
- Fill sink with dish soap
- Let is soak for an extended period of time, dealers choice. 20 minutes should be enough.
- Then slowly peal back the soaked label until its free of the bottle.
Bottle Caps And Sanitation
When bottling you will need to use brand new bottle caps, sorry those just are not recyclable. Once pried off they don’t retain their shape so you will need to get new ones.
Even with new bottle caps you should have them sit in Star San while you wait to cap them. These bottle caps actually work for most commercial glass brown bottles, but there are a few that just don’t work very well.
Not All Bottles Are Good Candidates
The more normal and strong the bottles look the better, since some commercial bottles have an issue when it comes to pressure. They will crack when you push down the caps on the them and shatter at the neck.
Its not fun and not safe, trying to salvage a brew from a broken bottle, drinking glass shards is not advised. At this point the safest thing you can do is toss the whole bottle.
Some examples of common commercial beer bottles that you can reuse are below.
- Samual Adams
- Stone
- Negra Modelo
Any bomber bottle should work out just fine. But some of the smaller bottles are where you might have some issues.
We have had a few issues with some stone bottles but overall about 95% of them work out just fine.
Twist Off Bottles
If you have any leftover twist off bottles don’t use those as they will not work. The reason is because the way the grooves are on the neck.
If you attempt to cap one it will likely break and could be dangerous. Don’t use them for any reason.
You will be able to tell if they were a twist off bottle by taking a look at the lip. If it is smooth below the lip its not a twist off. If it has a circular pattern then its a twist off.
Swing Top Bottles A Cheaper Alternative
Now this is an interesting alternative, since bottle caps and bottle capers can be a bit expensive in the long term, especially the initial purchase of the bottle capers.
Swing top bottles have been around for a long time so we know they work, and whats even better is that while the initial purchase might be more you won’t need the extra equipment.
Some complain about how it loses its ability to retain pressure and keep carbonation levels high, but you can refurbish them by purchasing replacement gaskets.
Depending on the number of times that swing top bottles can be reused it may be a cheaper option. I’ve read some reports it can be used up to 4 times. Which would put it ahead of the cost of bottle caps.
We are talking about small amounts of cash though so its really more about preference than cost. But it could add up to a princely sum i the long term.
Swing Top Bottle Replacement
You will typically need to replace a swing top bottle if any of the below issues arise.
- Mold Growth
- Weak Seal
- Cracked Seal
I think it might be an interesting hobby to revive old swing top bottles for use with your own home brew and a very inexpensive endeavor if you don’t have a bottle caper.
You can find some gasket replacements for cheap off of Amazon.
Best Swing Top Bottles
You need to purchase dark brown swing top bottles, or you could reuse ones from beer that you have bought in the past. They tend to be rare though so you may need to buy them.
The clear ones seem to be popular in mead circles, problem is with beer they will become skunky as the hops with get light struck and not taste quite right.
Its also better to buy larger swing top bottles so that you can store more homebrew with less wear and tear and less need for gasket replacements.
You can buy these dark swing top bottles off Amazon.
Growlers for Homebrew
Technically you can even use an old growler for bottle conditioning. As long as the seal is tight. The problem with doing this is most growlers hold a ton of beer, so you cant just open it and drink a little bit. It will go flat.
However, growlers work in the same way that any bottle does as long as the vessel is sealed, the yeast will carbonate the beer with the help of the priming sugar.
Growlers will not explode, because they work in the same way bottles do for carbonation.
Growlers may end up being the cheapest solution of all, although I have yet to try it because I’m worried about the seal, but just know it may be an option if you run out of bottles.
