2 liter for bottling beer?

[paul]

I have a guy at my work who HB's and he told me that a faster way to bottle is to use plastic 2 liter's that Coke and other carbonated beverages come in. I did some searching and I have found some are for it and some are against it. The ones that are against it state that it would not make an air tight seal and you would have with skunky beer in the end.

I was just wondering if any of you have used 2 liter's for carbonating your beer. This is my first batch and I did not want to mess up a large portion of my beer just because I wanted to cut a few corners.

 

[ChshreCat]

I've heard of many folks on here using it. The biggest cons I've heard aren't from the seal but the fact that the bottles are usually clear and that's what causes skunked beer. A bad seal would give you oxidized beer. The other problem is that they often retain the flavor of what was in there first, so you'd have pepsi beer or root beer beer. If you want to try it, you might pick up 2-liter bottles of carbonated water. They're pressure vessels, but don't have flavored pop permeating them.

The main reason I don't use 2-liter bottles is that I don't usually want to drink 2-liters of my beer at a time.

 

[weirdboy]

I have used PET bottles for carbonating before. It's not a problem, and people do it all the time. The reason you can get skunky beer is not because of the seal, but because of exposure to light. Light will cause the hops, yeast, and enzymes in the beer to react together to create that skunky flavor. So, if you use a 2 liter bottle, or really any bottles that aren't brown, you want to be extra careful to store it in the dark all the time.

 

[paul]

Not looking at doing the full 5 gallons in 2 liters maybe one or 2 and then the rest in bottles. A kegging setup is starting to look real nice . Thanks for you input!

Paul

BTW Thanks for the tips on storage and giving consideration as to what once inhabited the 2 liters. "Coke flavored beer, might be on to something!"

 

[tcklord]

Some people also use the 2 liter bottles and the caps that you can carb with a regulator and tank. That way you have a portable container to bring some to a party that is fully carbed and good to go.

 

[SFBEER]

I have been using the 2 litre bottles for a while and have never had any problems other than if you open it then you want to drink the whole thing that night. What I usually do is fill about a dozen 1 litre PET bottles that I got from my LHBS and then fill a couple of the 2 Litre bottles for when I am having people over. Never had any trouble with skunky beer but I keep my bottles in the dark until it is time to open.

 

[riromero]

I use 1.25 liter plastic mineral water bottles sometimes. Typically it's when I make an experimental batch or am testing recipes and it doesn't turn out that well. I don't want to go to the trouble of bottling in glass but I don't want to dump it either. So I'll quickly fill 10 or so of these and stash them away and slowly go through them little by little. Who knows, maybe I'll crack one in 6 months and the crappy beer will be magically transformed.

 

[jds]

I keep a handful of 2 liter bottles in the brewing area, because they're so damn useful.

• Fill 'em partway with water, freeze 'em, and you have insta-cold for cooling fermenter baths.
• Dispense into them from the keg, screw the lid on tight, and you have port-a-beer for parties.
• Sanitize a bottle and a funnel, and you can get most (if not all) of a yeast cake in one for storage / washing.
• Fill your keg and have extra beer left? Put the extra beer in a 2l bottle, add a carbonator cap, and you don't have to send the leftovers down the drain.

I find that tonic, club soda, and sparkling water bottles work the best for putting beer in, since the leftover flavor/odor is small to negligible. Coke / Dr. Pepper/ Rootbeer bottles are pretty much relegated to chilling duty, because you can't ever get the smell all the way out.

 

[lurker18]

Up here in Winnipeg, Fort Garry Brewing uses 2 litre plastic bottles for their wino beer Stone Cold Draft. Seems to work just fine, but the people that are drinking this stuff are more concerned with the 6.2% ABV than the fact that it tastes like fermented corn juice.

 

[BeantownR6]

I used (4) 2 liters when i didn't have enough glass bottles around. they worked for me. buy sprite or 7-up because they don't have much flavor that could contribute to the beer instead of coke. they carbbed up fine, just make sure when you open one to drink it all, otherwise it will go bad fast

 

[SMOKEU]

I'd rather stick with 750ml bottles. Trouble with big bottles is that you have to drink it relatively quickly as it goes flat and spoils within 2 hours.

 

[Dauntless]

Cola bottles with the labels still on + Stout = Sneaking a beer somewhere you shouldn't.

 

[FireNightFly]

Cola bottles with the labels still on + Stout = Sneaking a beer somewhere you shouldn't.

Brilliant! Makes a note.

 

[GregT]

Take it from me. . . .Don't use rootbeer bottles! It really does change not only the smell, but the flavor of beer.

 

[HonestJon]

I ALWAYS bottle my beer in 2 Liter bottles. It works extremely well! Here's what I do instead of adding corn sugar to get carbonation: I buy some dry ice, which is solid CO2 and drop a few grams in each bottle, and put the lid on. You gotta shake the bottles really well to get the CO2 to disperse. It usually takes a couple of times to get everything carbonated well. INSTANT CARBONATION IS AWESOME!!!
I've never had a problem with off-flavored beer from using Coke bottles. It is so much easier than having 4 cases of 12 ounce bottles to deal with. And no waiting for those who are impatient!

 

[PanzerBanana]

Aside from the major cons everyone listed. I just want to add I don't touch any plastic bottled alcohol. I once had a "strawberry" wine that tasted exactly like a fresh tomato...

If you want something bigger to put your beer in, just spring for some of those fancy bottles with the attached clippy-lid-cork-plug-thingys. Then you have something sturdy and reusable.

Just make sure when you clamp them in place that the top is sitting properly.

 

[Khyber]

are you guys using new caps? if so, where are you getting them. I do have some of the bottles with the new caps that came with a Mr. Beer setup, but I have yet to use the caps or the bottles.

 

[Broncobum]

are you guys using new caps? if so, where are you getting them. I do have some of the bottles with the new caps that came with a Mr. Beer setup, but I have yet to use the caps or the bottles.

I have done it re-using the soda caps, and using the mr beer caps. I didn't notice any difference. I used the green sprite bottles, and spent about a minute with some tape and scrap paper to cover the bottles and keep light out. I don't use them so much anymore because 2 litres is a lot to lose if the beer isn't ready to drink yet.

 

[TylerGuy]

I'd rather stick with 750ml bottles. Trouble with big bottles is that you have to drink it relatively quickly as it goes flat and spoils within 2 hours.

got drinking friends?

 

[RIC0]

I use 1 and 2 liter bottles with every batch except my belgians that age. Buy carbed water an go with it i usually bottle 26 in glass the rest is in plastic. Best idea ever if you dont keg.

As for skunkin what kind of jackleg lets ANY beer sit around in the light.??? Mine go from the cellar to the fridge.

I have a 40th B-day party in 1 week and have 6 gallons in different kinds of homebrews ready to be drank all in 2 liter bottles.

 

[castillo556]

I use 1 and 2 liter bottles with every batch except my belgians that age. Buy carbed water an go with it i usually bottle 26 in glass the rest is in plastic. Best idea ever if you dont keg.

As for skunkin what kind of jackleg lets ANY beer sit around in the light.??? Mine go from the cellar to the fridge.

I have a 40th B-day party in 1 week and have 6 gallons in different kinds of homebrews ready to be drank all in 2 liter bottles.

This is my plan for my son's bday party, but I am going to pour the beer into growlers and put them in the cooler to give it a more "craft beer" look. The 2 litter Sprite bottles might turn those not in the know off.

 

[HoosteezMorgan]

Couldn't someone order up some extra dark bottles I'm quite sure about 2 weeks ago I saw bottles about like nos energy drink comes in it black being sold by the pallet for like 200 bucks I'm not certain how many are on a pallet I know they're 2 litre bottles I'm not certain of the plastic make up but I saw it on a chemistry ( I'd said brewing first but realized it was on a chemistry site for hobbyist chemistry nerds as am i I can't remember the site and delete mt history often )wholesale site and i think it said each bottle only cost approximately 16 cents I haven't done the math but i assume that light resistance would work

 

[dwhite60]

I use a few 1 liter plastic bottles. I have never had a problem with them. They seal fine. You just have to keep them out of direct light.

I find beer will keep three to four days in them once opened. The trick is to keep it cold so the CO2 stays in solution.

All the Best,
D. White