Home Distiller

Hey everyone I thought I posted here since its part of ageing/ handling.Im going crazy trying to find bottles here there is 1 brew store that sells them but the price is 8$ per bottle!.ridiculous! Where do uou guys get your bottles ? Forget about bars and restaurants now,al.is closed. Cheers.

I recap 750ml green glass san pellegrino bottles. I buy a case every couple of weeks normally, so I've saved up quite a few.

A fellow distiller I met talked me into going crazy collecting bottles for a while, but now most of them have been recycled to get the shelf space back. Once a spirit is bottled. very little aging happens, so I only bottle enough for my projected needs and leave my aging liquor on the wood. My shelf space is for aging vessels, not for finished product.

I live in a 300 unit townhouse community.
Every other Thursday is glass recycling.
Each resident has their own glass recycling tub.
Wine and booze bottles are plentiful, enough so to be picky about it.
I now collect 750ml Reyka and Absolute bottles with caps.

Canadians pay a deposit on all alcohol containers. Many will return them to get the deposit back, only the laziest will put them out for recycling, at least in my region. Slim pickings on recycle days. I save my own liquor bottles that I like and get a few from a neighbour. Otherwise, I'm much like NZChris, I just pull a bottle as needed and leave the rest to bulk to age, so I only need a small number in use. I keep a few spare bottles in case someone does me a favour deserving of some of my good stuff (and then only if I'm sure it will be appreciated).

For glass gallon and half gallon I buy the high zoot juices / ciders and save the jugs. I had the good fortune some time back to meet the owner of an apple products company and bought a few cases of the gallon and half gallon jugs new, but I still add to the collection buying products in containers I like.

Most of the nice bottles are outrageously priced as you have seen. For my own use for something special maybe a decanter would be better?

the brew shop in my town is good for supplies but expensive on bottles. the wine kits store is cheap on bottles and expensive on all the other stuff.

wine shop is 12/case of 12 and t-top corks are like .50 each.

look up on interwebs, there are lots of vendors that sell small quantities. try ampak

Yes, wine bottles are reasonably priced and tasting corks are available that fit. Totally overlooked that option.

So are recycled plastic booze bottles considered safe? Those seem to be more readily available than the glass ones.

Butch27, no we don't consider the fact that industry will package up to 40% ABV in plastic an indication it is safe to do so. They are not suited to high ABV nor longer term storage. Look at the types of products sold in plastic. Usually real bottom shelf stuff and never over 40% ABV. Anything worth drinking will be in glass.

As an example, my old man was using old plastic booze bottles saying to me "they work for booze at the liquor store, they will work for my shine" while ignoring my pleas to switch to glass. Then one hunt trip he discovered that his bottles after repeated uses were getting brittle and showing real signs of degradation. He has since switched over. I never would drink his alcohol after I did my learning, largely because of the plastic bottles and because he only ever takes a small foreshot, smelled like solvent and tasted like fire.

We have rules regarding plastic, it is not condoned for anything past the fermentation stage, except for PTFE (Teflon).

Mason jars are always a good home solution.

If you're looking for 1 or 1/2 gallon jugs, uline has them for a reasonable price, and I believe they'll let you do cash and carry.

https://www.uline.ca/BL_8215/Glass-Jugs?keywords=jug

I was looking at a local brew shops website and they were selling the growlers for 28$ empty!

Otherwise, I put up a wanted ad on the local buy and sell and got a bunch for cheap, same with carboys and wine bottles. There's always some old lady whos husband used to make wine...

tiramisu wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:38 am Mason jars are always a good home solution.

That's been debated here too. The seals are probably not suitable for long term use, hence the threads discussing alternative lids. I don't use them except for very short term use like overnight steeps or nuclear aging, (that I no longer do).

At 40% I'm not too fussed about rubber seals.
It will definitely chew up the rubber over time.

Could just flip the lid upside down and have the aluminum facing if it made you feel better.

In my case the alcohol never touches the top of the jar so there is no contact.
If I stored the jars upside down for a year might be a question in my mind. (but I don't so there isn't)

tiramisu wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 12:26 pm In my case the alcohol never touches the top of the jar so there is no contact.
If I stored the jars upside down for a year might be a question in my mind. (but I don't so there isn't)

That is a common misconception that often gets posted. There is contact because of evaporation and condensation in the headspace. You can see the condensation under the lid when the ambient temperature is lower than the temperature of the jar. Have a look on a cold morning. The condensation is a higher abv than the contents.

Again meh. Rubber. Call me in about 100 years.

NZChris wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 1:54 pm

tiramisu wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 12:26 pm In my case the alcohol never touches the top of the jar so there is no contact.
If I stored the jars upside down for a year might be a question in my mind. (but I don't so there isn't)

That is a common misconception that often gets posted. There is contact because of evaporation and condensation in the headspace. You can see the condensation under the lid when the ambient temperature is lower than the temperature of the jar. Have a look on a cold morning. The condensation is a higher abv than the contents.

To prove the alcohol will be present in the headspace, put an orange or lemon in the headspace.
Stick it on a wooden or stainless skewer or hang on cotton.

I did that and left the orange much too long above fairly strong spirit.
Maybe three months, not sure.
I wanted the 'essence' from the peel to flavour the spirit.
And now I can squeeze the orange and make a screwdriver cocktail, too strong actually.
Just by adding more orange juice and three ice cubes (which dilute it a bit too), no extra spirit at all.

Geoff

It is a challenge in Canada, but there are a few packaging companies that will sell nice 750ml bottles but you can only order in volume (like a pallet). HOWEVER, if you show up at their front they *might* sell you a case of 12. Look it up locally and try it out. There is a place in St Catherine I intend to try out the next time in the region.

Personally, I tell my friends that I share with they need to bring me an empty bottle (type specified) for me to give them a full one. I get lots of emails with photos of upside down (empty) gin bottles. It works! I almost always have about a dozen empty clean bottles on hand.

I am curious what my American friends do for spirit bottles?

It will vary a lot by area. Where I am in the Niagara region, I can get a case of new clear wine bottles for about 9 or 10 dollars from my local wine supplier.
bottles are one thing that are very expensive to ship because they are bulky and heavy, so prices from online vendors will usually be high.

Even the caps on most of the glass bottles are plastic. What are you guys doing with those? I get the odd bottle with a cork but I doubt it is real cork.

I don't use them. coffee filter and a hair elastic until I'm ready to give it to someone.

I keep my daily drinking supply in an all glass decanter, just cuz I'm classy... also, SWMBO got tired of a gallon jug in the kitchen!

I get used glass bottles from friends. I am very selective. They must have no branding cast in the glass, or painted labeling that is difficult to remove, and use a cork or synthetic cork. Bottles with synthetic corks get a new cork stopper. A soak in hot soapy water, helps remove the labels, and foreshots removes the glue.
Unless you're gifting a fine batch for the holidays, I dont see any reason for uniformity in Bottles. Keep everything stored in the aging vessels until you need to fill up the bottle on the bar.

Deplorable wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:34 am I get used glass bottles from friends. I am very selective. They must have no branding cast in the glass, or painted labeling that is difficult to remove, and use a cork or synthetic cork. Bottles with synthetic corks get a new cork stopper. A soak in hot soapy water, helps remove the labels, and foreshots removes the glue.
Unless you're gifting a fine batch for the holidays, I dont see any reason for uniformity in Bottles. Keep everything stored in the aging vessels until you need to fill up the bottle on the bar.

Agreed on no casting. Note however that almost all painted branding rubs off after a cleaning vinegar soaking.

Thats good to know. I've tried using foreshots to remove the painted lables with no success.

A mixture of alcohol and the abrasive household cleaning cream here called Jiff
along with vigorous rubbing with a cloth or an abrasive saucepan cleaner thingy works well.
(great also for removing marking pen writing on the bottles.)
And of course soaking in water first, then scraping with the back of a knife;
and repeat these different processes as needed.

Geoff

If the label glue won't come off with alcohol, or soapy water its probably oil based. In which, case lighter fluid (e.g. Ronsonol)will take it off quick.

I've been saving liquor bottles, mainly Appleton Estate and Tanqueray. But what are people using for aging vessels?

user604 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:22 pm I've been saving liquor bottles, mainly Appleton Estate and Tanqueray. But what are people using for aging vessels?

Oak barrels?

Was thinking something a little cheaper... for ageing on oak cubes/staves/chips.

user604 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:51 pm Was thinking something a little cheaper... for ageing on oak cubes/staves/chips.

1 gallon cider jugs are kind of popular. You have to drink the cider first of course, or ferment it.
I have four 1 gallon jugs and half a dozen 1/2 gallon growlers, I use. Also a few 2L mason jars with PTFE discs under the lid.
Lots of options out there.

user604 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:22 pm I've been saving liquor bottles, mainly Appleton Estate and Tanqueray. But what are people using for aging vessels?

Not bottles. I use a few for very small experiments, but that's all. Most of mine is in second hand demijohns from 1 US gallon to 5 liters and everything in between, all with natural cork bungs. Search the forum and you will find better options for aging larger volumes.