Does anyone have experience reusing beer bottles from 6Packs they’ve bought. I’ve got a lot of old bottles but don’t know how to go about removing labels etc.
Soak in hot oxyclean.
I don’t need to do this anymore because I have plenty but I used to just soak them in an oxygen cleaner solution and if they came off easy I would save them, if not they just go into recycling. You’ll find some brands come off easy and others not so much.
I think breweries should market easy off labels because if it was a good beer homebrewers would buy it like crazy.
If they are twist off you can have problems with the caps not sealing correctly.
I’ve found some brands are thinner and more likely to break if they get highly carbed for any reason.
For example I have a lot of Lagunitas, flying dog, anchor brewing bottles just sitting in my garage. Its almost time to bottle and was wondering if I can use those and how I would go about removing their labels.
Unless I’m sending into competition, I don’t even bother removing the labels. But like everyone else said, a soak in Oxyclean takes care of it.
Also, rinse the bottles right away when you’re drinking them. That way nothing will grown in them between that time and the time you use them.
I have a dual basin sink. One side gets filled with hot water and Oxi-Clean Versatile (the scent-free one). The bottles get soaked in that. After 10-15 minutes the labels usually slip right off. I use a blue scrubby to get off as much of the glue remnant as I can. Then I rinse them very well under hot water in the other basin of the sink.
After a while, you should have a decent stockpile. At this point, I only save bottles that can withstand high pressure (like Belgian’s and weizens). I have plenty of supply around for my typical needs, and if I need a lot of bottles on short order, I’ll just grab some at the local shop.
Thanks .
I’ve been rinsing them when I fishish them and throwing them in the dish washer to make sure nothings left behind.
GREAT!!.
With all the bottles I have I’ll have more than enough. Saves me a trip to the supply shop.
My wife happens to like Fever Tree tonic with her gin. It comes in clear, 7.5 ounce bottles, so I soak the labels off to have mead bottles when needed. Lately they haven’t been soaking off as easily in oxy clean or ammonia. What else do you guys use?
Lagunitas and anchor bottles are a bit of a hassle with normal hand cappers. The cappers are designed for long necks and both of those bottles are short with anchor being weird on it own. They work ok, but I sometimes would get poor seals.
Just one note on putting them through the dishwasher. If your dishwasher isn’t super efficient or you use a lot of rinse-aid, you might want to skip this and just go with a good cleaning in a sink followed by plenty of flushes with hot water. I’ve had more than a few bad experiences with crud getting caught in the bottles that went through the dishwasher and I believe if rinse-aid doesn’t get properly washed off it can lead to head retention issues in the beer.
Try goo-gone.
My go to combo is leaving them in star san over night then peeling off the labels the next day. Whatever doesn’t come off can easily be handled with hot running water and a steel wool assault.
Summit saga bottles are unique in size but the labels are a pain in the ass! They used to come off like nothing now you need a chisel!When they changed the design of the label they changed the glue too. Like the others have said once you have a reserve life is good.
Sierra Nevada bottles crack at the top of the neck with my hand capper quite often. Not sure if that’s because of my capper or the bottles, but use caution.
Stone bottles are a royal PITA to get the labels off, BTW 
A Baking soda soak works pretty well. Then a scrubby sponge for any remaining glue…
Toss any screw tops or those with plastic labels
Stone bottles are the worst!!!
I think it is the capper not being setup for short neck bottles. The jaws squeeze too tight. I’ve been wanting to get a bench capper, but I bottle so infrequently that it’s a poor investment.
Steve,
If you ever do buy a capper, look at the Colona. It does every size bottle, cap, and also corks. I love mine and have never had an issue.