Using 2nd hand PET bottles

[TheWarren]

Hi all,

New on here and just starting on the brewing journey.

I picked up a 2nd hand brewing kit that came with a heap of PET bottles. Some of the bottle had dried liquid still in them so im in the process of soaking and cleaning them.

Question is, a few of the bottles has this smokey film around the neck that extends probably 20mm into the bottle (see attached pic). Doesnt come off after soaking and cant rubbed off.

Is this something to be concerned about?

 

 

[Kegory]

Welcome to the forum.

Straight up, I don't know. However, personally, I'd be pretty cautious.

I've only been brewing since April, so pretty new to it myself. Before I bottled my first beer I tested my washing and particularly rinsing methods. I use glass, mainly, but that's neither here nor there. I filled a cleaned, rinsed bottle with tap water, capped it, and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I uncapped it and poured a glass. I thought I could taste traces of the cleaning solution in the water. So, I revised my rinsing method, filled and capped another bottle, put it in the fridge and tasted it the next day. It tasted "clean" so I was satisfied with that and proceeded to re-rinse every single one of my bottles.

As I said, I'd be very cautious with those bottles. I'd test them first and if they passed the water contamination test I'd consider bottling one or maybe two, marking them, and then testing them again after conditioning and then a few weeks later.

I wouldn't be so concerned if I got the results in a day or two. The problem is brewing and conditioning takes so long. It's a month between starting the brew and tasting it after bottle conditioning. I would hate to wait that long to find out I'd made an easily avoidable mistake.

I hope that helps.

[Oldbloke]

Welcome to the forum.

IMO they MUST be clean.

Sanitising is secondary IMO, but plenty will disagree.

If you can't clean them, chuckem. 

 

Read my signature.

[TheWarren]

6 hours ago, Kegory said:

Welcome to the forum.

Straight up, I don't know. However, personally, I'd be pretty cautious.

I've only been brewing since April, so pretty new to it myself. Before I bottled my first beer I tested my washing and particularly rinsing methods. I use glass, mainly, but that's neither here nor there. I filled a cleaned, rinsed bottle with tap water, capped it, and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I uncapped it and poured a glass. I thought I could taste traces of the cleaning solution in the water. So, I revised my rinsing method, filled and capped another bottle, put it in the fridge and tasted it the next day. It tasted "clean" so I was satisfied with that and proceeded to re-rinse every single one of my bottles.

As I said, I'd be very cautious with those bottles. I'd test them first and if they passed the water contamination test I'd consider bottling one or maybe two, marking them, and then testing them again after conditioning and then a few weeks later.

I wouldn't be so concerned if I got the results in a day or two. The problem is brewing and conditioning takes so long. It's a month between starting the brew and tasting it after bottle conditioning. I would hate to wait that long to find out I'd made an easily avoidable mistake.

I hope that helps.

Thanks @Kegory

They cleaned up pretty well after a hot soak and then a soak in a bleach/water solution for a couple hours.

Think I'll still buy some new bottles so I don't ruin a whole batch if these ones aren't 100%.

[TheWarren]

1 minute ago, Oldbloke said:

Welcome to the forum.

IMO they MUST be clean.

Sanitising is secondary IMO, but plenty will disagree.

If you can't clean them, chuckem. 

 

Read my signature.

Thanks @Oldbloke

They did clean up pretty well after a soak. Will still buy some new ones though.

 agree, drinking from glass is much better but until I get used to it, ill stick to plastic.

[Oldbloke]

1 minute ago, TheWarren said:

Thanks @Oldbloke

They did clean up pretty well after a soak. Will still buy some new ones though.

 agree, drinking from glass is much better but until I get used to it, ill stick to plastic.

Good glass bottles and stubbies with the old style crown seal type neck are getting harder to find. But if you can get a supply from some where they are worth their weight in cock sh1t.  

 

They are around.

[Classic Brewing Co]

8 hours ago, TheWarren said:

Hi all,

New on here and just starting on the brewing journey.

I picked up a 2nd hand brewing kit that came with a heap of PET bottles. Some of the bottle had dried liquid still in them so im in the process of soaking and cleaning them.

Question is, a few of the bottles has this smokey film around the neck that extends probably 20mm into the bottle (see attached pic). Doesnt come off after soaking and cant rubbed off.

Is this something to be concerned about?

 

 

I would be chucking the worst ones & get yourself some PBW (Powdered Brewer Wash) & follow the instructions & you need to sanitise them with something like StellaSan, it is in the video in the attached link. A soft bottle brush will also help, don't use really hot water otherwise you will damage the PET bottle.

Glass is far better plastic though.

https://www.kegland.com.au/products/stellarclean-pbw-powerful-brewing-wash-brewery-cleaner-beer-line-cleaner-keg-wash-1kg-35oz

[Phoenix76]

G'day

When I started brewing I used glass bottles. They were very good but capping them was a pain in the butt. I moved over to PET bottles supplied from the Coopers , on line store.  They are great. Yeah if you are going to put down a really heavy beer that mature in twelve months, then go back to good glass bottles. 

But I buy the PET bottles from Coopers and I don't have any problems with my beer. I will make a point though, do not use hot water when washing. That will shorten their life and as I found out you can getting exploding or leaking bottles. 

At about $1 per bottle, free postage, you can't go wrong.

As for your inherited bottles, if in doubt, then don't. Nothing worse than  brewing and bottling and then find out that you have a bad beer because of dirty bottles. shout yourself a couple or four cartons of new bottles. Worth it.

Cheers

Bill

[DavidM]

11 hours ago, Phoenix76 said:

G'day

When I started brewing I used glass bottles. They were very good but capping them was a pain in the butt. I moved over to PET bottles supplied from the Coopers , on line store.  They are great. Yeah if you are going to put down a really heavy beer that mature in twelve months, then go back to good glass bottles. 

But I buy the PET bottles from Coopers and I don't have any problems with my beer. I will make a point though, do not use hot water when washing. That will shorten their life and as I found out you can getting exploding or leaking bottles. 

At about $1 per bottle, free postage, you can't go wrong.

As for your inherited bottles, if in doubt, then don't. Nothing worse than  brewing and bottling and then find out that you have a bad beer because of dirty bottles. shout yourself a couple or four cartons of new bottles. Worth it.

Cheers

Bill

Some good advice in there Bill,

But I'm a glass man and I've never had a problem with the bottle capper

When I first started it slipped one day and from then on I used a wood clamp to hold it in place.

Now I have it screwed to the bench where I Brew, simple and can be taken off if needed.

I also make a Ginger Beer for the Wife, that goes into PET's, I always find them slower and a bit more tedious.

I use this type of Capper.

Capper

 

[Kegory]

36 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Some good advice in there Bill,

But I'm a glass man and I've never had a problem with the bottle capper

When I first started it slipped one day and from then on I used a wood clamp to hold it in place.

Now I have it screwed to the bench where I Brew, simple and can be taken off if needed.

I also make a Ginger Beer for the Wife, that goes into PET's, I always find them slower and a bit more tedious.

I use this type of Capper.

Capper

 

Automatic capper? Looks very manual to me.

I have basically the same thing, but from Kegland. Much cheaper at $25 and does the job pretty well after a bit of experimentation (just capping the bottle filled with water).

[Classic Brewing Co]

28 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Automatic capper? Looks very manual to me.

I have basically the same thing, but from Kegland. Much cheaper at $25 and does the job pretty well after a bit of experimentation (just capping the bottle filled with water).

Capping is no effort at all, I have 4 of them - all gifted from people who gave up brewing, in fact there are 2 for $5.00 each at the local SH Lions Club Bazaar I visit occasionally for beer glasses & barware.

The few I bottle these days, it is easy just put a towel under the base, get a good grip on it & pull down.

[Kegory]

11 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Capping is no effort at all, I have 4 of them - all gifted from people who gave up brewing, in fact there are 2 for $5.00 each at the local SH Lions Club Bazaar I visit occasionally for beer glasses & barware.

The few I bottle these days, it is easy just put a towel under the base, get a good grip on it & pull down.

Yeah but the website calls the Automatic Cappers, lol. That lever is a dead give away that they are manual don't you think?

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Yeah but the website calls the Automatic Cappers, lol. That lever is a dead give away that they are manual don't you think?

They work fine, if they stuff up you find them at Garage Sales, SH shops, Gumtree etc, stuffed if I would pay $50 for one.

[ChairmanDrew]

I collected a big bunch of these for bottling. They are beautiful bottles, but at only 450ml it becomes a bit of a chore to cap them up when you've got 19l of beer. Especially since I've just been using a hammer capper. I've moved to trying to use as many larger bottles with screw lids as I can find as an alternative. But if I find a cheap capper like the ones you are talking about I'll definitely grab it.

Edited June 16, 2023 by ChairmanDrew

[Kegory]

2 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

I collected a big bunch of these for bottling. They are beautiful bottles, but at only 450ml it becomes a bit of a chore to cap them up when you've got 19l of beer. Especially since I've just been using a hammer capper. I've moved to trying to use as many larger bottles with screw lids as I can find as an alternative. But if I find a cheap capper like the ones you are talking about I'll definitely grab it.

As Phil says, the lever arm bench cappers are great and easy to use. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Kegory said:

As Phil says, the lever arm bench cappers are great and easy to use. 

Yeah just get oranised for bottling day, 1st photo - bottles unpacked from boxes, washed in the sink & then into the tub of Sanitiser on the left, place on the tree for draining.

Then on the right, beer bottled & straight int boxes, sealed, labelled & stored for 14 days at 18c .

[DavidM]

19 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

I've just been using a hammer capper.

Careful, I've heard from others that they can be very dangerous!

I have two of the tall arm type "Automatic/Manual" cappers and didn't pay for either!

You can find things about it you are looking.

[Oldbloke]

Yeh, careful with them.

A plastic hammer or wooden mallot works ok with stubbiy on hard rubber.

 

People get into strife using a claw or engineers hammer

 

[BlackSands]

For what it's worth I bought 100 second hand PET's about six years ago for $1.   While I later replaced many with glass bottles I'm still using many of those old PET's to this very day.   They've been used and abused countless times over the years, including regular hot water washes,  but they have clearly stood the test of time!    

[Kegory]

I am far too accident prone to even consider holding a hammer anywhere near a bottle let alone using one to apply a cap.

[Tricky Micky]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:17 AM, TheWarren said:

Hi all,

New on here and just starting on the brewing journey.

I picked up a 2nd hand brewing kit that came with a heap of PET bottles. Some of the bottle had dried liquid still in them so im in the process of soaking and cleaning them.

Question is, a few of the bottles has this smokey film around the neck that extends probably 20mm into the bottle (see attached pic). Doesnt come off after soaking and cant rubbed off.

Is this something to be concerned about?

 

 

The Warren, if you're in Melbourne suburbs You can have a whole lot of clean PET's which still look near new. I've got 6 boxes you could have if you want and live in Melbourne.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Tricky Micky said:

The Warren, if you're in Melbourne suburbs You can have a whole lot of clean PET's which still look near new. I've got 6 boxes you could have if you want and live in Melbourne.

I have another 8 boxes if you ever get to Adelaide.

[Oldbloke]

If people need bottles, glass or PET. They need to ask.

 

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I gave away 220 stubbies about 5 months ago.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Kegory said:

I am far too accident prone to even consider holding a hammer anywhere near a bottle let alone using one to apply a cap.

You wouldn't be wanting to hit a bottle on the head in any circumstances, it is not only dangerous & but a neanderfal way of doing things, especially with your home brew.

[Oldbloke]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

You wouldn't be wanting to hit a bottle on the head in any circumstances, it is not only dangerous & but a neanderfal way of doing things, especially with your home brew.

You can. I used one of the hammer type capper for 2-3 years. Worked fine. No busted bottles IIRC. But you do need a bit of "finesse".