Does anyone have any experience bottling with PET bottles like these? Link to them for sale at Northern Brewer site: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...tles/amber-500-ml-pet-bottles-case-of-24.html I'm especially interested in what the screw-on caps are like. Are they re-usable? If I'm priming in the bottle are they tight enough to let the beer carbonate and keep out air? I'm also interested in people's experience with the bottles and how they preserve beer over time as compared to glass bottles. Apologies if there's already a thread on this (I figured there would be but couldn't find one). I'm not the most experienced forum user, so I fear it may be out there even though it didn't show up on my search.
I have not used them but they look like the beer bottles sold at the Titans games. Those hold pressure with screw-on tops so I would think these would also. They would get a pretty bad reputation if they didn't work well.
I have used those bottles before. The first time they worked really well, that was also the last time I used them as it seemed tacky to keep beer is plastic bottles.
I have try them among other kind of bottles, its comfortable to use, light, silent (if bottle @ night ), sustainable. Just don't tighten the caps to hard, over time it will destroy the cap screwing. I prefer to using twist off glass bottles, the caps work for me over and over again.
Well, I would disagree with Ilanko about the screw top glass bottles as they would lose pressure easier than any other option...but they can also work just fine. As far as the PET bottles, they hold soda...which is generally carbonated much higher than any beer.
I have used PETs similar to that, as well as other types, without problem. That includes many reuses of bottles and caps. They carbonate just fine. For aging, glass would be better. Else, plastic is fine. I bottle in PETS and glass and generally prefer the advantages of plastic.
FYI, I'm sure that the twist off style glass bottles are too thin for HB'n/bottle conditioning. They can work but you're pushing it.
Besides being cuter than puppies...PETs are perfect for packaging. - Rated to 10 volumes! - Caps are reusable as long as they aren't cracked. Mine have been reused for years without a single crack or instance of failing to make a tight seal. The 'tamper-guard' seals break on first use but that doesn't interfer with re-use. - Squeeze the bottle to guage whether it's carbed. - No breakage hazard from clanking like bottles. - No oxidation. May be sold for less elsewhere. http://www.leeners.com/homebrew/store/plastic-beer-bottles.shtml (caps included)
Glass is impermeable to oxygen. PETs are pretty good at keeping out the O2 but they're not ideal for long-term storage.
My only experience are the ones that came with the Mr Beer kit. I have had no issue with them. In fact, I have kept them as back-up bottles, just in case I under-estimated how many glass bottles I needed for a batch, and didn't have any back-ups. So I have occasionally used them, and they work just fine. They are not the first ones to open tho, keep some 12oz bottles for test bottles. They keep carbonation just fine, in my experience. Sanitize the caps well. They are re-useable. Any similarly constructed plastic bottles should be equally useful. Thing is, if you drink any quantity of commercial brew, particularly good craft beer (frequently found in bombers, hint hint), you'll likely have plenty of bottles come bottling day. I prefer glass bottles over plastic any day, even if they were proven to be equally useful. I don't know the stats tho.
