I thought I read somewhere that you should not bottle beer in wine bottles... the reason given was something about wine bottles being thinner than beer bottles and the potential for the bottles to actual break ("explode") due to the pressure.. ??? Any experience with this? Thinking ahead .. I'd like to brew the Cherries in the Snow recipe from Papazian book and think it would just be cool to put it in wine bottles and let it age. ... of course with a cork and the tie down to keep it there.
Wine corks allow air exchange, and that would be reason enough not to use them for beer. As for bottle pressure, no idea. I'd get some capable champagne bottles, like they have for some high end beers, and do a wax seal for effect.
High-end Belgians are bottled using champagne corks and bales - gas loss isn't a factor. I wouldn't be worried about the bottles (champagne bottles, that is) except for the green color. You can't skunk wine but you certainly can beer!
That is a good point, and I suspect the density of a champagne cork to be different than a normal wine cork.
I can buy champagne-style bottles at my homebrew store that will take either crown caps or bales and corks. My only objection to them is the cost and the color and the size - 750ml is not that much of a gain over a US standard 22-ounce bomber. I'd love to find some one-liter crown cap bottles but don't think such things exist on this side of the Atlantic.
For gifts I use the sparkling cider bottles with the pop off tops (Welches uses screw tops). A standard Crown cap fits them just right and I'll do a wax top for a bit of style. Works great, kids think they're drinking champagne, fairly cheap compared to flip top growlers, and someone gets a good beer in a nice disposable container.
I'm pretty sure you can put a crown cap on the swing top bottles I sell. I'll check tomorrow and get back to you. I get them in clear, cobalt blue and amber in both 1/2 liter and 1 liter sizes. I also sell amber Belgian beer bottles and champagne bottles with corks and cages. Brian
Thanks, Researching now for a spring project, so you might hear from me on getting some clear champagne type bottles for it.
Boone's Farm bottles would work. I should have thought of that - I've got a giant pile of those in the yard.
I have not such experience bottling beer in wine bottles..But after that post i can try it.I think it is a great idea to have a fun.
yes, check your crown size BEFORE getting ready to bottle, and BEFORE the LHBS closes. They all might look the same, but they are not. Many a posts on the internet about last minute solutions because someone bought standard caps and are using say, Bruery bottles, which are 1-2mm larger
Just use some bombers from the homebrew store. You can also buy the Belgian bombers that hold high carbonation, but they are expensive.
2014 thread? + New member with link straight away? On top of that, I thought brown bottles were better than green
As our new-member-with-link noted, color can be subjective. You may prefer the skunky flavor of Heineken. But even if they wanted to, there is almost no way Heineken could change to some other color.
Heineken in the Netherlands comes in brown returnable bottles Almost all returnables I know are brown, whereas export bottles (disposables) always seem to be green. Never noticed any skunky flavour in heineken. Maybe you all just get old, exposed to light, stock?
Going back to the original post. Standard wine bottles are definately NOT suitable for storing beer. One of the stages in brewing wine is called 'degassing'. It is the most physically demanding stage of winemaking if you transfer fermentation from the bin into 1 gallon demijohns as I do. There are gadgets available nowadays to make this easier - some that fit on the end of a power drill etc. Otherwise you shake the vessels vigorously then periodically three to four times a day over three to four days to get the carbonation out.
