Is there a beer you buy just for the bottles?

[plath]

I almost bought a six pack of North Peak's stubby bottles today but didn't think I'd like the beer...
So is there any that you buy and force yourself to drink just for the bottles?


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[jpsmithny]

I have never forced myself to drink a beer.

 

[plath]

Well then how about "prefer" to drink another beer but buy the one in the pretty package instead
Semantics...


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[MaxStout]

I often choose beer that comes in stubbies or long necks, just for the added benefit of getting more bottles for homebrew. But since there are so many beers that come in those two types of bottles, it leaves me open to lots of options. So it's never really forced me to or from certain beers.

But sometimes I throw the whole bottles thing to the wind and pick up some cans of Surly.

 

[jpsmithny]

Well then how about "prefer" to drink another beer but buy the one in the pretty package instead
Semantics...


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If I happened to have a champagne corker, I'd prefer to buy Chimay for the bottles then.

 

[Fionnbharr]

Didn't really force myself to drink the beers...

But I kept the bottles and cardboard box for Stone's "ENJOY by 4/20" offering.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

For sure. Full Sail Black Lager for their small stubbies. Pretty decent beer too.

(not my picture)

In case anyone tries to re use em... bench capper mandatory ( i learned the hard way when i first tried capping twists ).

 

[day_trippr]

Before I was cured of such insanity with the switch to kegging, in my bottle acquisition days I would definitely avoid brews that didn't come in a standard 12 oz long neck. I was all about standardization, and SN stubbies and their ilk were not welcome in the collection.

So I guess kegging not only freed me from dealing with mass quantities of bottles, it also set me free to enjoy the occasional store-bought without considering the package. Win-Win...

Cheer!

 

[Joewalla88]

I've bought grolsch for the flip top bottles, but I actually kinda like the beer too. So, I guess it wasn't just for the bottles.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Before I was cured of such insanity with the switch to kegging, in my bottle acquisition days I would definitely avoid brews that didn't come in a standard 12 oz long neck. I was all about standardization, and SN stubbies and their ilk were not welcome in the collection.

So I guess kegging not only freed me from dealing with mass quantities of bottles, it also set me free to enjoy the occasional store-bought without considering the package. Win-Win...

Cheer!

Same boat - different oar. I standardized on SN stubbies, anything with a standard size/small lip on the neck were verboten.

Looking forward to kegging (and goofy capped bottles) now!

 

[jekeane]

For sure. Full Sail Black Lager for their small stubbies. Pretty decent beer too.

(not my picture)

In case anyone tries to re use em... bench capper mandatory ( i learned the hard way when i first tried capping twists ).

Lol I went through 7 12 packs of these for the bottles came to bottling day and went to cap with my wing capper and was like WTF!!!!

 

[opiate82]

I like Negra Model bottles.

 

[David_Trucks]

Any cheap-ish but good beer. New Belgium beers come to mind. Needing bottles definitely makes me avoid canned beers like the plague.


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[Hoppity]

I have been working on preparing favors for my son's wedding and wanted to standardize on long necks. In the process I discovered Lagunita's Little Sumpin'. It's clone will be one of the favors. Couldn't stop buying them, despite their stubby stature. They will be relegated to other give-aways.

Early on before I started kegging, I bought a closed case of Grolsch, hoping for swing tops. They were capped and I left the green bottles out and learned about skunking being caused by the sun. I haven't bought a green bottle of anything since.

 

[Pkrd]

Love these little bottles.

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

They had pretty sub-standard beers on the Princess Cruises I've taken, but they do have Grolsch in the swing top 15oz bottles, so I drank quite a few of those and packed the bottles in my suitcase to reuse.

I prefer to bottle in 22oz bottles which are the standard here in San Diego, so pretty much any beer I choose is in a 22.

Green Flash has a more unique 22 that I like to bottle in.

When I first started brewing I bought a few cases of Sam Adams at Costco for cost effectiveness and great bottles. But I do like their beer from time to time, feels like I'm paying homage to great craft beer pioneers.

 

[kombat]

Around Halloween, the pumpkin ales come out, and there's a brewery that releases a pumpkin ale in a 1L (~1 quart) brown bottle with a flip-top. I do not like pumpkin ales, but I buy it for my wife, just for the bottle.

I've also bought Hacker-Pschorr (spelling?) just for the bottles, and given the beer to my wife to drink.

 

[CorwinGraves]

I moved to kegging after bottling my first batch, but have recently begun saving bottles from Anchor brewing for their unique shape, and because it takes forever to kick a keg of barleywine or RIS, so bottling is a must at times.

 

[MannyZ]

I have a wing capper and I always go for Widmer or Sam Adams.

Not a big Newcastle drinker these days but their bottles are surprisingly sturdy. They're clear though so I use them for Cider.

 

[GCGBrewing]

One of the annual competitions here require that the bottles be completely free of any markings, or even embossing on the bottles. For that reason, I always make sure I have an ample supply of bottles from Deschutes Brewery (Oregon) on hand. I actually have several from them that have embossing on them, but at some point in the past few years they went to smooth boring bottles, which is what I need for that competition.

 

[ryno1981]

Lagunitas is my favorite brewery and the labels they use come off very easily. You can basically run hot water over the bottle and the label will fall off.


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[Weezy]

I like the Anchor bottles actually.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

about 20 years ago I was buying Grolsch for the beer and bottles.. Now I'm using the 22oz bombers more and more, plus when you ship them, there is almost zero chance for the cap coming loose, like a swing top did to me a few weeks ago. And when I shop for beer in bombers, I look for the ones with the painted labels first.

 

[ajdelange]

about 20 years ago I was buying Grolsch for the beer and bottles..

Used to go to an after work watering hole that had Grolsch which isn't bad beer by any means. The first time I ordered one there when the waitress came to take the empty I said no, I was going to take it with me and told her why. The next time I went back when I paid the check she came back with my receipt and a bag of Groelsch bottles. And she got a big tip. And it went on that way for quite a while. Clever girl!

 

[Riot]

If I happened to have a champagne corker, I'd prefer to buy Chimay for the bottles then.

You can buy plastic corks that you can force in by hand. The cages as well, I love those bottles.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Strangely, Dos Equis and Sam Adams were the best bottles.

Never cracked.

 

[danthebugman]

I buy for the beer first and bottles second. It doesn't matter to me if they're stubbies or long necks, I do use all the same style for a batch though. That said I do like Dogfish Head's bottles because of the shark embossing on them. They don't distribute here in MO though so I don't have that many.

 

[WileECoyote]

La Divine, its a ok beer but the flip top bottles are way cool and I can get them at less than $3 per bottle.

Cheers

 

[Yesfan]

I'm liking stubbies more and more as when I bottle a few to take to a friends house, I don't have to look for something that has room for a long neck. The bottles from Red Hook I like a lot for that reason. I like Kona's new bottle too with the Hawaii Islands embossing on them.

 

[rocketsan]

I buy Hacker Pschorr for the swing tops. Not a fan but for $3.25 for 550mls is pretty good.


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[b-radbrew]

I've been on a New Belgium kick lately and since their labels come off super easy I've been picking up a lot of the variety packs. Plus I"m starting to get pretty fond of the bottle shape.

 

[Agate]

I almost bought a six pack of North Peak's stubby bottles today but didn't think I'd like the beer...
So is there any that you buy and force yourself to drink just for the bottles?


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I just bought a sixer of north peak today because of the bottles... And it's pretty good!

 

[Daphne-weizen]

For awhile I was drinking Lucky Beer because I thought the bottles were so cute. They are green, kinda stubby with a long neck and shaped like a buddah! The beer was meh. I thought it tasted like a lemony Becks.

 

[HopHeavy]

Have been stocking up on Sierra Nevada bottles, whatever the variety... I like the pour from the long neck and they aren't too difficult to clean up and remove labels. There is no embossing on the bottles so they are competition friendly. Now that they have an east coast brewery I suspect their availability will grow, too.

 

[Hopinista]

Lagunitas is my favorite brewery and the labels they use come off very easily. You can basically run hot water over the bottle and the label will fall off.


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you look at the bottles and the labels fall off. It's awesome.

Have been stocking up on Sierra Nevada bottles, whatever the variety... I like the pour from the long neck and they aren't too difficult to clean up and remove labels. There is no embossing on the bottles so they are competition friendly. Now that they have an east coast brewery I suspect their availability will grow, too.

Sierra Nevada doesn't use long necks.

I think Hoegaarden is just okay but I love the bottles so I buy it a lot. I also really don't like Red Hook's beer at all but I like they're unique bottles so when I see a case on sale I can't resist

 

[TheCanisDirus]

Lagunitas is my favorite brewery and the labels they use come off very easily. You can basically run hot water over the bottle and the label will fall off.


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It's odd... most of theirs come off with no effort at all... then some are nailed on! I was doing two cases of one of their variety packs one weekend and i can't remember which beers it was but two of the variety just didn't want to come off. The others floated away soaking in the buckets of StarSan.

 

[brrman]

I like the Red Hook bottles. I like the Longhammer IPA so i have lots of empties. lol

 

[stu4stew]

Guinness has the best bottles by far. Great hourglass shape. Plus plastic us easy to get off. Just shrunk wrapped on to the bottle

 

[clone63]

Around Halloween, the pumpkin ales come out, and there's a brewery that releases a pumpkin ale in a 1L (~1 quart) brown bottle with a flip-top. I do not like pumpkin ales, but I buy it for my wife, just for the bottle.

I've also bought Hacker-Pschorr (spelling?) just for the bottles, and given the beer to my wife to drink.

Haha, Howe Sound brewing's Pumpkineater. Other stuff is good too.

I ALSO buy Hacker Pschorr for the bottles, but definitely don't give it to other people. Can't stand Grolsch bottles.

Fruli comes in 250ml bottles that is very handy for wines and high grav stuff.

 

[Renoun]

I just posted about a coffee soda I've been buying for the clear 6oz bottles. Not what I want to bottle beer in but awesome for mead. My housemate took a liking to them and now I'm going to wind up with three cases worth.

That's a stubby 12oz bottle shown for scale.