Carboys and Bottles

[Coyotex]

I don't even know where to post this, so I'll do it here.
I'm curious as to where people age getting their Carboys, bottles and corks.

I don't know whether it's legal to do on this site, but if you can post a link, that would be good too!
Thanks!

[pfshine]

Go dumpster diving behind a bar Saturday morning. You can get all the bottles you need.

[Coyotex]

Cool! I'm more interested in Carboys though.

[T-Pee]

Garage sales can be a good source.

tp

[MitchyBourbon]

I buy mine from Midwest supplies, my local brew shop. Sometimes you can find good buys on brew forums like homebrew talk.

[Snackson]

I bought mine online and locally via craigslist. I also sold them on Craigslist.

[cranky]

I got mine from lots of different sources. Shopgoodwill.com has been good to me, they usually list carboys as jugs, Got a carboy at St Vince for $8 once and several at auctions, Check auctionzip for auctions in your area. There is also estatesales.net. Bottles are another issue. I get bottles from a recycle dumpster used by several bars although my favorite bottles came from an auction where they were selling off a bunch of bottles from a distillery I paid about 50 cents a bottle but it turned out they required a special size cork which I could only find from widgetco at 75 cents each but I really like the bottles.

I was at my local brew shop the other day and they had a 15 gallon carboy for $54, I thought about buying it but don't want to try to lift something that heavy.

[S-Cackalacky]

I get most of my stuff from yard sales, thrift stores, and flea markets. I use the 5 gallon plastic water jugs for secondary settling and I don't think I've ever paid more than a couple of dollars for one. I also use a lot of 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon jugs for collecting low wines and storing feints. I get the jugs for a dollar or two. I have so many old (antique) likker bottles that I don't buy them anymore. I picked up a box of a dozen or more bottles at the flea market for 5 dollars. I use 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon pickle jars for aging. Like Cranky suggested, widgetco.com has a good selection of natural cork stoppers.

I have a 6 gallon glass carboy that I've never used. Only reason I have it is because it was $10 and I couldn't pass on it at that price. I'm a cheap SOB.

[greggn]

Carboys and bottles I buy from my local HBS. Corks I buy specifically from Widgetco because they offer premium, all natural cork.

http://www.widgetco.com

[bearriver]

I bought mine online and locally via craigslist. I also sold them on Craigslist.

That sounds about right.

[Coyotex]

This is some GREAT advice! Thanks for the tips!

[bitter]

Carboys I get used on local sites. For bottles/Gallon jugs I get them from a local guy. They are gallon jugs that used to have vinegar in them. $20 for 8 jugs. All they need is a good cleaning and corks to replace the screw tops. Work great for aging too. Look for greek restraints in your area you might find a free source of gallon jugs... They use so much wine vinegar, they toss them in the garbage.

B