I have a couple trips coming up and was wondering what the best way to get a few beers back home? I've never done it before and would like to bring some brews back to share with my friends. Is it as simple as wrapping bottles/cans in clothes in your suitcase?
There are a ton of good forums on this, but in short, pack them safely in bubblewrap in your clothes. I personally use a hard suitcase and have never had an issue. Obviously check your bag
I've done this hundreds of times. I will always wrap my bottles in a towel or clothes and place in my suitcase toward the center. The main idea is to not let it bounce around much and have padding to dampen any impact to other hard surfaces. If I'm traveling with a lot, I'll check in a separate suitcase that only had beer in it so that it won't damage my clothes if a bottle breaks. The extra $35 for the second bag is well worth it.
I'd say get a Wine Check. http://www.thewinecheck.com Then pack as much of the other stuff as you can in your suitcase!
(Clean) sock over bottle/can. Shirt around sock. Maybe something else around shirt. Pack in center of suitcase. Done it plenty of times. Never had a single ounce spilled.
I also usually bring extra plastic bags and put the bottles in those then wrap in towels, shirts, sweaters, clothes in general. Make sure there's a bit of padding on all sides especially the neck. I've never had any bottles break, but had one leak, it was a homebrew I hadn't apparently capped it properly so I was glad I had it wrapped in the bag incase.
I flew to San Francisco last spring and packed bubble wrap+big zip lock bags in my (mostly empty) checked bag and kept my clothes/toiletries in my backpack. Stocked up on about 14 bombers and they all made it back safely.
Just common sense really. Depends on how many bottles you're talking about and the size of your bag. Wrap them up in towels and clothes and they should be fine.
Put each bottle in a gallon size Ziplock bag. If it leaks, it'll be in that bag instead your suitcase and clothes. If/when TSA inspect your suitcase, they tend to just throw your beer back in. Do not put any beer in your carry-on.
Pack an oversized suitcase, wrap beers in your clothes, check your bag, profit. I have done this many times, and have had no issues over the years.
I assume you're flying, but if you're driving and your beer is purchsed warm, don't leave it in the car if you plan on spending the night somewhere...On my trip back from OK City to South Carolina I kept hauling my Prairie Bombs in and out of my hotels...if you buy it cold, bring a cooler...if you're flying, please disregard!!!
I flew to Virginia from boston over the summer and brought back a bunch of bombers and 4 packs, I stretegically placed them in the center of my suite case and prayed they didn't break. My stone 18th anniversary however..... Did break. BUT was inside a huge ziplock bag and taped so it didn't leak into my clothes!! I wish I had bubble wrap on hand at the time. Have you seen the airline people? They just toss the damn bags into the ramp without a care in the world if there's anything fragile inside LOL.. But overall, it wasn't that bad. All the other beers were perfectly fine when I got home good luck man!!
