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If you want to dive into the full preparation of beer, you will need to equip yourself with the right beer bottles. However, purchasing a whole new set of beer bottles every time you are homebrewing is quite expensive, thus you will need the best beer bottles to reuse for home brewing.
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My Top Reusable Home Brewing Beer Bottles Recommendations
The best beer bottles to reuse for homebrewing should be airtight to help retain the beer’s freshness. They are also easier to clean and bottle when reusing.
Cocktailor Grolsch Glass Beer Bottle
The Cocktailor Grolsch glass bottle is a premium quality beer bottle with an airtight swing top seal. The seal reduces foaming resulting from carbonation and pressure, allowing your brew to maintain its perfect taste. It also ensures that your brew retains its freshness without any contamination.
These beer bottles are 10.5 inches tall and comfortably fit into crates, allowing you to take your homebrew to weddings, parties, vacations, and family gatherings. The Grolsch reusable beer bottles are dishwasher safe. You can easily wash them and fill them again once you’re through with your supply.
However, they are the heaviest on my list, making them harder to carry around when cleaning. They are simple to reuse as you only need to fill the bottle with your beer and place the swing-top cap back in the bottle.
Like the Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Beer Bottle, every beer bottle holds 16.9 ounces or 500 ml of beer, which is close to the size of the industry standard. However, the seal does not hold carbonation for more than a few months at most.
Pros
- The airtight seal minimizes foaming that results from pressure and carbonation
- The amber color protects the beer from UV rays
- The height of the bottles allow you to take your homebrew wherever you want
Cons
- They are the heaviest on my list, inconveniencing you when carrying around
- The seal does not hold carbonation for a long time
- PREMIUM GROLSCH BOTTLES: Brew a beverage to perfection! Premium-quality, swing top Grolsch bottles
- BREWING MADE EASY: Brew and store your favorite drinks: beer, wine, whiskey, liquor and alcohol as...
- STANDARD SIZE BOTTLES: Available in 330ml/11oz., 500ml/16.9oz, and 1000ml/33.8oz.
Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Beer Bottle
If you’re looking for a durable, reusable beer bottle, you cannot go wrong choosing the Otis Classic Swing Top glass bottles. Unlike the Cocktailor Grolsch Glass Beer Bottle, the stainless steel closures in these beer bottles do not have chemicals that can dissolve in your beer, ensuring that your beer is safe for consumption.
They come with BPA-free caps, enhancing the cleanliness of your brewing environment. With high-pressure gaskets, they ensure an airtight seal for your glass bottles. The high-pressure gaskets introduce a leak-proof barrier, ensuring that your contents are safe during storage.
The Otis Classic Swing Top glass bottles come with a bonus of 12 bottle labels, six extra gaskets, and an erasable pen which is a perfect addition to every new homebrew so you can identify or label your bottles. These beer bottles are dishwasher safe, ensuring ease when cleaning before reuse.
You can also use these bottles to brew and store beers of different styles and flavors. These bottles are the most lightweight on my list, making them ideal for carrying around when sanitizing. However, these bottles are not the best for fermentation so watch out for air bubbles in the bottles.
Pros
- They are the most lightweight on my list, making them suitable to carry around when packaging beer
- The physical design helps in maintaining the neatness of your brewing environment
- The leak-proof barrier helps preserve and protect the contents in your bottle.
Cons
- These bottles are not safe for fermentation
- Failure to handle them with care, they are prone to breaking
- Safe: Our BPA free, durable, plastic combined with our high-pressure gaskets and stainless steel...
- Easy To Clean: Once empty, you can just pop our glass water bottles straight into the dishwasher....
- Marker, Labels & More: The 6 pack of swing top glass bottles comes with 6 extra gaskets, 12 bottle...
Hemlock Swing Top Glass Beer Bottles
The Hemlock Swing top glass beer bottles are reusable beer bottles ideal for the long-term storage of beer. These bottles use 204 stainless steel in their construction, enhancing their durability.
Unlike the other bottles in my list, these bottles feature a high-pressure rating of 58 PSI, making them ideal for storing heavily carbonated beer. Each glass bottle is double bubble-wrapped in the packaging box, divided in the box with five-ply cardboard, ensuring the safety of the bottles when carrying around.
Unlike the Cocktailor Grolsch Glass Beer Bottle, these bottles come with a collapsible funnel, ensuring your beer will not spill when bottling. With a self-locking swing cap, these beer bottles seal in your beer, saving you from the inconveniences that might result when you forget to lock caps.
Like the Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Beer Bottle, these bottles come with six extra gaskets, allowing you to only replace the seals, which relieves you of the hassle of purchasing a whole new set of bottles. However, they are tall and thin, which makes cleaning troublesome.
Pros
- The glass bottles packaging ensures the safety of the bottles
- The 204 stainless steel construction ensures durability
Cons
- Cleaning these glass bottles can be quite troublesome
- They weigh 5.34 pounds more than the Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Beer Bottle
- ✅ Includes collapsible silicone funnel and replacement high-pressure gaskets. The glass is rated...
- ✅ Clear glass kombucha bottles 16 oz. Sold by actual kombucha brewers. Perfect for kombucha, beer,...
- ✅ 16 oz. Grolsch Style Swing Top Caps - Made from 204 stainless steel. Completely reusable and...
Features to Consider for Reusable Beer Bottles for Home Brewing
Considering you are looking for beer bottles to reuse for homebrewing, choosing beer bottles that are difficult to recap can complicate the whole process. Below are some of the features you should consider when buying a beer bottle to reuse for home brewing.
In addition, the table below provides you with an overview of the varying weight and dimensions in the best beer bottles to reuse.
| Beer Bottle | Material | Dimensions (Inches) | Weight (pounds) |
| Cocktailor Grolsch Glass Beer Bottle | Amber Glass | 11.5 x11.5 x 9 | 12.87 |
| Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Beer Bottle | Glass and Plastic Cap | 11.4 x 6.5 x 9.7 | 1 |
| Hemlock Swing Top Glass Beer Bottles | Glass and Stainless Steel Caps | 10.83 x 9.33 x 6.1 | 6.34 |
Size and Shape
Many people think they can purchase any kind of beer bottle and reuse it for home brewing—however, the size and shape of the beer bottle matter. The problem with most thin long-sized bottles is that they are difficult to clean using a cleaning brush.
Keep in mind that you might be preparing beer for both personal consumption and also commercial purposes; small-sized beer bottles might fail to fit in a crate.
That means you will have inconveniences when reusing the bottles in special events such as parties and vacations. It’s advisable to go for standard sizes like the Cocktailor Grolsch Glass Beer Bottle, as it can conveniently fit in a crate.
Sturdiness
The construction of some beer bottles is not sturdy enough to withstand the internal pressure and carbonation of reusing them. If you are brewing heavily carbonated beer, you should go for beer bottles that are strong enough to withstand pressure without the bottle exploding.
For instance, you can opt for the ones featuring stainless steel construction, such as the Hemlock Swing Top Glass Beer Bottles, if you plan to reuse it with heavily carbonated beer.
Bottle Caps
If you reuse some bottle caps, they might end up not fitting your beer bottles properly. If you push or shake such a bottle, air or bacteria may leak in and mess up with your beer.
Many swing-top bottles come with replacement seals, allowing you to replace the seal if you suspect that it does not hold pressure. Bottles such as the Hemlock Swing Top Glass Beer Bottles are ideal for reusing as their caps do not disfigure after the initial removal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Reuse Twist-off Bottles for Homebrewing?
No, you should not reuse twist-off bottles for home brewing. Twist-off beer bottles are too weak to reuse, and recapping them is challenging. They may lose carbon dioxide during carbonation, and your beer will be flat.
Can I Reuse Beer Bottle Caps for Homebrewing?
You can reuse beer bottle caps as long as you sterilize them properly. You should also ensure the initial removal did not bend them out of their shape. However, it’s advisable to reuse bottle caps specifically designed for multiple uses.
Why Should You Sterilize Beer Bottles for Homebrewing Before Reusing?
Germs and bacteria have adverse effects on your beer, so you must get rid of anything, such as bottle labels that can come into contact with your beer at any point. Therefore, it is essential to sanitize and sterilize all your brewing equipment before brewing.
Final Thoughts
It’s advisable to invest in the best beer bottles to reuse for home brewing if you want to avoid the cost of purchasing new beer bottles each time you are brewing. However, not all beer bottles are ideal for reuse. Fortunately, the above bottles are ideal for reuse.
