Beginner with Questions.

[Woot]

Hey guys Im new to brewing and have a few questions Regarding Bottling.

Are the Plastic PET Bottles Very good? I have had one person tell me not to use them because they will explode and i have another person telling me they are good because they trap all the sedement in the bottom grooves. personally I would rather have Plastic bottles explode on me than glass ones. but i am hoping Exploding bottles is not something i will experience often . Also I would rather poor a mate a beer from a glass bottle. I think pouring a drink from a plastic bottle would take a bit of the thrill away from it all.


Another question is. If i was to buy cartons of beer in Longneck Bottles specifically for the Crown Seal bottles , which brands of beer would i need to buy to get crown seal topped Longneck bottles?

[bullfrog]

Plastic bottles are good. Not only will they not pose a risk of death if you accidentally over-carbonate a batch, but they're good for testing whether the beer is carbonated because you can squeeze them (if they're hard then they're carb'ed.)

As for glass bottles, I've always been partial to the Coopers longnecks. They're twist-top but my bench-capper handles those like a champ.

[warra48]

Yeah, what bullfrog said ! Coopers longnecks are the ducks nuts when it comes to longnecks, there are none better.
Exploding bottles are not caused by the materials they're made from. PET or glass makes no difference.
Just look at soft drinks, they're in PET bottles mostly, and they're carbonated higher than beer. None of them explode!

The major causes of exploding bottles are:
1. Bottling too early, before fermentation is fully completed. Cure is to understand your recipe and ingredients, and to trust your hydrometer. Good brewing software is your friend to guide you as to what your FG should be.
2. Overcarbonating with too much priming material; almost guaranteed to blow a bottle or two. Cure is to be precise with your priming medium measurement. Use the priming tool in good brewing software to tell you how much to use.
3. Infection in the bottle. Cure is to be very very fussy with your cleaning and sanitising procedures.

Have a read of the stickies on this forum to become familiar with the basics.

Good luck with your brewing journey. HB beer can be magnificent, and as good as or better than commercial beers.

[Woot]

Thx for the fast replies . Il definately give the coopers longnecks a go aswell as the PET's.

[barrelboy]

Hi Woot, welcome. Good advice above. When I first started brewing I used the PET bottles until I was sure I was brewing ok and not likely to produce "bombs" . They trap the sediment well and don't break if drop. For a start why not bottle say half glass, half PET, that way when friends drop in use the glass, home alone the PET
Happy brewing, cheers BB