Using 40 oz screw top bottles

[Bigjack68]

Hi folks

I was wondering if reusing 40 oz beer bottles would be ok. The twist off cap on these usually are pretty substantial and since they were used to bottle beer in they obviously can take some pressure. I was going to thoroughly wash the cap and bottle put the stuff in and twist th cap on really hard. Any experience from anyone doing this? Any thoughts ?

Thanks for any insights

 

[Leithoa]

Are you talking about the glass ones? or Aluminum? It also depends on if you're filling from a keg or naturally carbing the beer. Many containers can keep the pressure of already carbonated beer(ie; growlers) but not all can contain the pressures created during natural carbonation.
The other issue is the manufacture in the interest of cost savings puts the minimum amount of gasket material in the lid. Eventually, with reuse, the seal will fail.
Hopefully someone else has tried it already and can let you know the outcome. If not, it could be worth it to bottle 3-4 of them and set them apart from the rest of the batch in a place where it won't create a giant mess if they explode.

 

[Bigjack68]

Are you talking about the glass ones? or Aluminum? It also depends on if you're filling from a keg or naturally carbing the beer. Many containers can keep the pressure of already carbonated beer(ie; growlers) but not all can contain the pressures created during natural carbonation.
The other issue is the manufacture in the interest of cost savings puts the minimum amount of gasket material in the lid. Eventually, with reuse, the seal will fail.
Hopefully someone else has tried it already and can let you know the outcome. If not, it could be worth it to bottle 3-4 of them and set them apart from the rest of the batch in a place where it won't create a giant mess if they explode.

Glass ones filled with malt liquor or beer originally.

 

[2bluewagons]

Besides the cap seal failure raised above, most 40's I have consumed in my err..career have been either clear or green glass. Remember that if you use these, make sure to keep them away from all light sources, lest it lead to skunky beer, ala Heineken or Rolling Rock.

IMO, it's not worth it to use these 40 oz bottles. If something does go wrong, that's a lot of beer to lose all in one go. It doesn't take much to collect enough 12 oz crown cap bottles. Get friends and/or neighbors to give their used bottles to you instead of recycling them. Or if you trust your apartment complex, go through there, making sure to rinse and oxyclean thouroughly. Also, there are tons of stores sell 12 oz crown cap bottles for as little as $1 a piece. And these kind come with free beer in them!