Home Brew Beer Bottles

I was asked what type of home brew beer bottles I use for my home personal home made beers. My first thought on this is a standard 12 ounce brown glass bottle. This is the kind that does not have a twist top. Of course these bottles must be sanitized and be absolutely clean before being used. I say that because my bottles are used over and over again. Oh yeah, we will need to buy new caps every time we are ready to bottle our beer. These caps are cheap enough and you'll have to throw the cap out (they cannot be used) as soon as you've opened your bottle.



I didn't always think this way. In fact, my father used to make his own beer and although I did not participate in the beer making with him, I was interested in the procedure. My dad reused Grolsch bottles. These were the kind that had a flip top that could be used over and over again. The only issue is that some of these bottles were green (more about that later) and after 20+ years, the seals on nearly half of the bottles were going out. Now don't get me wrong. I love these Grolsch bottles... the brown ones. Lucky enough, my local home brew supply store sells new flip tops for these Grolsch bottles.






I may show my ignorance here but when I think of beer coming out of green bottles, I think of a skunky taste. Some people will flat out tell me that I'm wrong and then we can get into an argument over whether a record or CD sounds better. The fact is that somewhere between shipping and when the green beer bottles land on your local  liquor store shelf, if a good amount of light hits these bottles, it can change the taste of the beer. So, in reality it is not the beer that is skunky but rather the green beer bottles (combined with light) which cause the beer to taste "off".

Ok. So you can find empty brown beer bottles (the non screw type) or brown Grolsch bottles usually at your local brew supply store. If you do not have a brew supply store nearby, you are going to have to suck it up, go buy some brown bottles (no screw type) and maybe invite some friends over so you will have empty bottles. And one other thing. You will need a bottle capper. A bottle capper will insure that you get a tight seal on your bottles. Ok.... thats it for now. Any questions?