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I dabbled in the homebrewing of beer a number of years ago; haven't made a batch since sometime in the first quarter of 2000. Twenty years ago. Wow.

When I was doing it we used glass bottles which will explode if the primary fermentation has not completely finished, or too much priming sugar is put into the bottle at capping. Today, plastic Coke bottles are used because they can contain quite a bit of pressure that glass cannot and they have screw-down tops that seal really well if the tops are the kind that have a soft blue gasket on the inside.

I'm asking if anybody among us brews at home, and what are your experiences with plastic bottles. I'm really beginning to think about doing a batch in my two-gallon Mr. Beer kit. I used to use the glass carboys and all that fancy jazz and processes all those years ago but today, I just want a beer that's easy to make and tastes halfway decent. My palate is not one needing a 22-ounce bottle that would go for $4.99 at the grocery store. I don't drink mass-produced krepp like Bud or any of those other alleged beers that are sold in 30-packs. I'll drink Sam Adams or Deschutes Brewery products. I really like the New Belgium Fat Tire Ale. That stuff is ungodly good...
 
I have not ever used plactic bottles, so Im of no help to you there! Best advice is to ensure you get your sugar right, and that you let your fermentation complete it's process fully before you bottle! Having tons of experience with bottling root beers, this becomes S.O.P!
Good luck and enjoy your labors!
 
IBest advice is to ensure you get your sugar right, and that you let your fermentation complete its process fully before you bottle!
That's a frequent problem for novice brewers (like me). We get in too much the hurry to get it into bottles and it goes in still bubblin' away. Then we add priming sugar to the ticking bomblets. I've had a few bottles explode, but was never there to actually hear it. The plastic bottle can take a higher pressure than glass because the plastic can flex and expand a little. Glass cannot flex; it just breaks. I'll do some looking-around on the web and see if Coke bottles are good for it, or if I need to buy the brown screw-top bottles sold by the homebrewer kit companies. Them thangs are over a buck apiece, but they will keep a properly-fermented and properly-primed beer from exploding all over your laundry room...
 
That's a frequent problem for novice brewers (like me). We get in too much the hurry to get it into bottles and it goes in still bubblin' away. Then we add priming sugar to the ticking bomblets. I've had a few bottles explode, but was never there to actually hear it. The plastic bottle can take a higher pressure than glass because the plastic can flex and expand a little. Glass cannot flex; it just breaks. I'll do some looking-around on the web and see if Coke bottles are good for it, or if I need to buy the brown screw-top bottles sold by the homebrewer kit companies. Them thangs are over a buck apiece, but they will keep a properly-fermented and properly-primed beer from exploding all over your laundry room...
If you are not using a hydrometer you are rolling craps whatever you do. You can wait until the airlock stops bubbling for several days to attempt bottling. I strongly suggest a hydrometer. They are not expensive and will save a lot of heartache and mess. I have brewed from kits and full mash both, as a general rule I have found 2 to 3 weeks should, under normal conditions, be enough to ferment then 2 weeks to fully prime.

While fermenting buy yourself some Grolsch or other beer that comes in a flip top bottle, drink while waiting and reuse for the home brew.
 
If you are not using a hydrometer you are rolling craps whatever you do. You can wait until the airlock stops bubbling for several days to attempt bottling. I strongly suggest a hydrometer. They are not expensive and will save a lot of heartache and mess. I have brewed from kits and full mash both, as a general rule I have found 2 to 3 weeks should, under normal conditions, be enough to ferment then 2 weeks to fully prime.

While fermenting buy yourself some Grolsch or other beer that comes in a flip top bottle, drink while waiting and reuse for the home brew.
I know you can get the flip top bottles new, at least around here, and they are not all that expensive! I keg beer right off, so..........
But my Root Beer, that always gets bottled!
Good call on the hydrometer, I forgot to mention that!
 
If you are not using a hydrometer, you are rolling craps whatever you do. You can wait until the airlock stops bubbling for several days to attempt bottling. I strongly suggest a hydrometer. They are not expensive and will save a lot of heartache and mess. I have brewed from kits and full mash both, as a general rule I have found 2 to 3 weeks should, under normal conditions, be enough to ferment then 2 weeks to fully prime.
I have a hydrometer. The problem I always had with it is that it's hard to see the actual gravity through the meniscus. I'd place mine in my five-gallon carboy after my wort had been chillin' in the six-gallon for at least a week if not a few days longer. I'd then keep the wort in the five-gallon for as much as three weeks; I was looking for the stuff to get really clear. Into the bottles and as much as six weeks for carbonation. Then in the icebox for several days before consumption.

Mr. Beer says fermentation for twenty-one days, then twenty-one days in the bottle before consumption. Bseitz' two to three weeks to ferment and my twenty-one days to do the same are close enough for me to use in my efforts. The day is coming when I shall be swept away on a tsunami of ambition and get this beer underway. Today is not that day. Only God knows when progress shall obtain...
 
I know you can get the flip top bottles new, at least around here, and they are not all that expensive! I keg beer right off, so..........
But my Root Beer, that always gets bottled!
Good call on the hydrometer, I forgot to mention that!
im my own hydrometer. if nothing happens by the 5th or 6th one then we failed. if im face down in the dirt then its some hot stuff!!
 
im my own hydrometer. if nothing happens by the 5th or 6th one then we failed. if im face down in the dirt then its some hot stuff!!
That reminds me, we need to do a sampling there Brother, that last batch looked a little "Off" so, for the sake of quality control, we need to test it proper, wouldn't want ya having a bad bunch laying about! :p
 
I still ain't got my obama together and got that first batch (from almost two months ago) underway. I've been pursuing employment, and now it looks like I have a new job after eight-plus months living on my dad's money. This new job will have me away from home for 21 days, then back for maybe as long as 48 hours. That's too narrow a window to be back home for when it's time to take the elixir off the trub and get it into the bottles. Looks like it will be another long period of time before I can get back into the hobby. There's always something, don't you know...
 

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