Soda bottles vs. wine/beer bottles?

[Intheswamp]

I find my handheld capper easier to use than my hand corker... and I've busted a few bottles but only because I tried capping soda bottles. Now I know

CG posted the above reply in another thread and I didn't want to hijack that thread with a new question, thus the post here..

I'm curious as to what the difference is in bottling soda bottles and the other recappable bottles. Are the mouths/necks of the soda bottles thinner? I was thinking that with the high carbonation of soda that soda bottles would be ok for beer and mead, but...

Ed

 

[Noe Palacios]

CG posted the above reply in another thread and I didn't want to hijack that thread with a new question, thus the post here..

I'm curious as to what the difference is in bottling soda bottles and the other recappable bottles. Are the mouths/necks of the soda bottles thinner? I was thinking that with the high carbonation of soda that soda bottles would be ok for beer and mead, but...

Ed

It depends of the bottles' schedule, somewhere I read that 2 lts bottles can hold 80 psi and even more.

The main concern is not the pressure, but the C02 leakage. Your sparkling mead won't last more than 1 or 2 month, then you'll have stiil mead again.

Saludos,

 

[Intheswamp]

It depends of the bottles' schedule, somewhere I read that 2 lts bottles can hold 80 psi and even more.

The main concern is not the pressure, but the C02 leakage. Your sparkling mead won't last more than 1 or 2 month, then you'll have stiil mead again.

Saludos,

??? It won't last more than 1 or 2 months in glass bottles? I *think* CG was talking about glass bottles, but I could very well be in error. What I am interested in, though, is glass bottles.

Ed

 

[Bob1016]

From soda making experience, I've learned that a 2ltr in the fridge, naturally carbonated, and tightened with a wrench! Only lasts about ~3weeks. I did pull of a really neat trick last week though: I took some traditional, dry mead that was bulk aging, puti it in a 2 liter and added 1/2 cp of honey, I watched very carefully and waited for the pressure to build. When it was around soda level, I put it in the fridge for 5 days (cap tightened with wrench) and I had a semi-sweet sparkling mead with no keg setup. I would not let this sit for too long though.

 

[Chevette Girl]

Yes, it was glass pop bottles that my capper has pulled the top off. Either they're not meant to be reused like beer bottles or they looked like they were the same shape but weren't and because of this my capper broke it. I've had one beer bottle lose its lip when I opened it, so it's always a possibility. The ones that are NOT twist-caps are a lot sturdier than the twist-offs, it has been only the twist-offs that have broken on me.

Bob, that's interesting info about your plastic 2-litres only staying carbed for a couple weeks, I've left my brew-in-a-bottle bottle in the fridge for a month after it fermented out and cleared for a month and it was fine the first time it was opened.

And yeah, a short-term sweet, carb'd mead can be done that way but you're absolutely right, refrigerate it as soon as the bottle gets hard and then don't keep it around for too long. I think it was Fatbloke who injured himself with an exploding plastic 2-litre that was knocked over after he left itout overnight after it should have gone in the fridge.

 

[Intheswamp]

Ok, that helped clear up my momentary fog regarding the age-ability of the glass or plastic bottles. I'll keep the info on the short-term refrigerated sparkling mead for a later time when I have enough sense, uh, er,...knowledge to do it safely.

As I've mentioned before, I'm interested in making a sparkling mead later on. I'm very cautious in going that route, though. Years ago when the transition from glass bottles to plastic bottles for softdrinks/sodas there was a time when there were screw-cap glass soda bottles. Among the sizes was a smaller 10-12 ounce bottle. These bottles as I recall were thinner glass than the old crown-capped ones. The caps were metal screw caps. A good friend of mine (we were both in the tire business) was on a service call over in Mississippi when he stopped at a convenience store for a snack and a soda. He was getting back into the truck when the Coke bottle exploded in his hand. The truck was parked away from the building as it was a large boom truck. He knew he was hurt badly and also knew that the local hospital was just down the road. He said by time he got to the ER parking lot that him and the truck was covered in blood. He got out of the truck and passed out. The doctors told him if he'd hesitated and sought help at the store rather than heading straight to the hospital that he most likely wouldn't have made it to the ER...major artery was cut in his wrist. He was also permanently blinded in one eye and had glass shrapnel removed from his chest. This guy is a mountain of a man...6'6"...300+ pounds, if he hadn't been so big he probably would have bled out before he made it to the ER.

If it seems like I ask a lot of questions about bottles just overlook me, please, I'm just paranoid. I just know what a bottle bomb can do...even something as innocent as a Coke...and I wan to have the best knowledge I can going in to this.

I appreciate all the feedback I get....good folks here on Gotmead.

CG, you mentioned something that got my attention.

The ones that are NOT twist-caps are a lot sturdier than the twist-offs, it has been only the twist-offs that have broken on me.

Do twist-off bottles use the same caps and cappers as the non-twist-off bottles?

Ed

 

[Chevette Girl]

CG, you mentioned something that got my attention.
Do twist-off bottles use the same caps and cappers as the non-twist-off bottles?

Threaded bottles will accept a non-threaded bottle cap, it just won't twist off when you go to open it, you need an opener. And of course, because the threaded glass lip is so much thinner than the non-twisties' lip, there is a higher risk of breakage.

But heck, if you do manage to break some glass during bottling (I've even broken a wine bottle with a corker once - make sure your corker is vertical when you drop your weight on the lever arms!), just run the liquid through a coffee filter to catch any glass fragments and then funnel it into a fresh bottle. This is what I've done in the past so as not to waste a whole bottle

 

[Intheswamp]

CG, what size corks do you use with your hand corker? I've seen where #8's are recommended for hand corking but that #9's seal better for aging.

Ed

 

[Altricious]

Threaded bottles will accept a non-threaded bottle cap, it just won't twist off when you go to open it, you need an opener. And of course, because the threaded glass lip is so much thinner than the non-twisties' lip, there is a higher risk of breakage.

I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't try to cap the twist off bottles. I think whatever I read implied you wouldn't get a reliable seal, but I expect the higher risk of breakage is just as valid.

Of course, I don't know where I read it now. Given how the people I know drink more of the non-twist off beer, it's just as easy for me to skip trying to reuse twist off bottles.

 

[celticgladiator]

I also read not to recap twist off bottles, it was in a beer brewing book I'm sure but I'm not sure which.

 

[rideincircles]

It's common knowledge in beer brewing not to use twist off bottles. I think How To Brew states they don't always seal correctly being the main reason and may be weaker.

I planned on using Heineken bottles for all my meads since my neighbor gave me tons of bottles, but found that I still have yet to remove the sticky labels and I have not bottled any of my meads yet. I have heard baking soda, oxi clean and 2x starsan solution will help, but so far have only used PBW and have not had much luck.

I have broken one bottle with my capper when I squeezed the capper too hard. I think that was a Bass bottle. Next time I will try and save my beer.

 

[Intheswamp]

Yeah, I was just curious whether the crown caps work on both types of finishes. I won't be bottling a large quantity so I'll either be corking wine bottles or capping non-twist bottles.

WD40 and other such substances takes glue off pretty good, I've even used 3-n-1 machine oil. Of course then you have to clean the oil off but it only takes a small amount.

Ed

 

[Chevette Girl]

CG, what size corks do you use with your hand corker? I've seen where #8's are recommended for hand corking but that #9's seal better for aging.

I'll have to check, I think it's usually #8's I use.

It's common knowledge in beer brewing not to use twist off bottles. I think How To Brew states they don't always seal correctly being the main reason and may be weaker.

It's the risk you run, I don't drink much beer myself and most of my friends don't either so I use what I can get so long as I can get the labels off. I think I'm halfway through my first bag of caps and I've only had it happen once. Cooler bottles work well, I was ticked off when Bacardi Breezers went to plastic bottles!

WD40 and other such substances takes glue off pretty good, I've even used 3-n-1 machine oil. Of course then you have to clean the oil off but it only takes a small amount.

As for labels, I soak bottles in water if they've got glue that dissolves... if they don't, a quick spritz of Goo-Gone, 5 minutes to soak in, and a scrape with a spoon helps significantly before I get the paper towels out. Then I let them sit a couple days for the volatiles to evaporate, then I wash in hot soapy water to get anything else off.