They are not gushers. I had a 2.5 gallon batch of those once, all in old returnables, and none blew up. Some of those bottles were from the early 1950s and into the early 70s. I have some returnables dated in the late 80s and they are not as heavy but still 1/2 inch taller than the throw aways.

It broke at the bottom of the neck, right where the New Belgium bottles have that thick ring. To me, it looked like the glass was rather thin, much thinner than returnables, and I have broken them before and know how thick they were.

I brewed a batch of Oatmeal Stout today so I had to move the Irish Red I bottled three days ago out of the temp controlled "refermentator" into the basement after I labeled them. I rearranged the cases of older beer that I have stacked on a wooden pallet and I noticed I had a bottle bomb, the...

The only problem I can see is that it might give your beer a smoky flavor. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist this comment considering what has been going on with all the Canadian fires this year.)

From January 1972 through December 1975 I brewed nine batches of extract beer. Then I quit due to difficulty in getting ingredients and the time required. In January 2016 I got my Zymatic and since then I have brewed 29 batches. For me the Pros are quite simple: 1 case of 12 oz bottles at a time...