I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the traditional
bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the idea of a
"serving size" bottle.

I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.

Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences with
it?

Brad

I've not tried it - but was considering doing the same this year. A
professional winemaker friend told earlier this year that properly
placed, the 'crown' style beer caps are arguably one of the best
closures available.

IMHO, I don;t want to bottle anything that will require lengthy bottle
aging, but some white wines in the smaller beer bottles sounds like a
great convenience.

Lots of people do it. Although I bought a couple of case of 375ml
wine bottles instead, partially because I didn't have a beer capper at
the time.

The big question is, can you cap screw top bottles? Some people say
YES, others say NO.

Personally I have had no problems capping CANADIAN screw cap bottles
(both brown and clear Sleemans). These are thicker glass, because the
breweries re-use them. Yeah they break once in a blue moon, but so
does all glass.

Admitedly, I use mostly crown cap bottles but that is an appearance
preference, not because of the tops. For example, I have replaced all
of my screw top Sleemans bottles with crown cap Bavaria/Brahma bottles
because I prefer the shape of these bottles (esp the Brahma ones).

Steve

Brad wrote:
> I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
> beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the traditional
> bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the idea of a
> "serving size" bottle.
>
> I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
>
> Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences with
> it?
>
> Brad

Yeh, it works fine, probably better than corks. You'll never look
back.

The bottle caps are cheaper, and you avoid over consumption by not
having an opened 750ml bottle to deal with if it's just you having a
glass of wine or two.

I use green heineken bottles that are not twist-off.

Brad - I do this all the time. When I put wine in a barrel I also put up 6
or 12 twelve ounce beer bottles of the same wine to use when I top up the
barrel. I fill the bottles full to the top lip...no air space. Crown
capped beer bottles are an excellent container. I have beer that's a year +
old (bottle conditioned) that's in great shape...had two tonight while
tending the BBQ.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Brad" > wrote in message
.. .
> I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
> beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the
> traditional bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the
> idea of a "serving size" bottle.
>
> I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
>
> Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences
> with it?
>
> Brad
>

On Mon, 22 May 2006 01:56:05 GMT, "William Frazier"
> wrote:

What are Crown capped bottles?
Stu

snip
> Crown capped beer bottles are an excellent container.
snip
>Bill Frazier
>Olathe, Kansas USA
>

"Brad" > wrote in message
.. .
> I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
> beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the
> traditional bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the
> idea of a "serving size" bottle.
>
> I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
>
> Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences
> with it?
>
> Brad
>

I bottle all of my meads in small (~7 oz) bottles just for the very purpose
of single servings.

So far so good.

Duke

StuPedaso wrote:
> On Mon, 22 May 2006 01:56:05 GMT, "William Frazier"
> > wrote:
>
> What are Crown capped bottles?
> Stu

bottle caps. aka "crown" bottle caps.

Duke wrote:
> "Brad" > wrote in message
> .. .
> > I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
> > beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the
> > traditional bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the
> > idea of a "serving size" bottle.
> >
> > I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
> >
> > Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences
> > with it?
> >
> > Brad
> >
>
> I bottle all of my meads in small (~7 oz) bottles just for the very purpose
> of single servings.
>
> So far so good.
>
> Duke

Superb idea. And when adult sons or friends ask to share, its easier
to pass along a smaller quantity, and you don't worry about getting the
bottles back (full of mold).

Yes, would love to train adult daughters to return the bottles
de-labeled and cleaned, but then, "Dad! Your asking too much" :*)

DAve
p.s. Love the smaller bottle sizes, good ideas in this thread. thanks.




wrote:
> Duke wrote:
>> "Brad" > wrote in message
>> .. .
>>> I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
>>> beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the
>>> traditional bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the
>>> idea of a "serving size" bottle.
>>>
>>> I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
>>>
>>> Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences
>>> with it?
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>> I bottle all of my meads in small (~7 oz) bottles just for the very purpose
>> of single servings.
>>
>> So far so good.
>>
>> Duke
>
> Superb idea. And when adult sons or friends ask to share, its easier
> to pass along a smaller quantity, and you don't worry about getting the
> bottles back (full of mold).
>

Dave:

The following idea comes from one of my customers, although another
does something similar.

He loves to make wine, but hates cleaning bottles. So he bought each
of his three kids a case of new bottles and gave them to the kids
full. Now whenever they bring CLEAN bottles home they LEAVE with FULL
bottles. If the bottles are dirty, they get them back full at a
future visit AFTER he has finally gotten around to cleaning them. I
haven't met the sons, but the daughter said something like...'you bet
I clean them well'.

BTW, another customer has complained about his parents not returning
bottles, at all.

Steve

On Tue, 23 May 2006 07:15:29 -0400, DAve Allison
> wrote:

>Yes, would love to train adult daughters to return the bottles
>de-labeled and cleaned, but then, "Dad! Your asking too much" :*)
>
>DAve
>p.s. Love the smaller bottle sizes, good ideas in this thread. thanks.

Steve wrote:
> Dave:
>
> The following idea comes from one of my customers, although another
> does something similar.
>
> He loves to make wine, but hates cleaning bottles. So he bought each
> of his three kids a case of new bottles and gave them to the kids
> full. Now whenever they bring CLEAN bottles home they LEAVE with FULL
> bottles. If the bottles are dirty, they get them back full at a
> future visit AFTER he has finally gotten around to cleaning them. I
> haven't met the sons, but the daughter said something like...'you bet
> I clean them well'.
>
> BTW, another customer has complained about his parents not returning
> bottles, at all.
>
> Steve

The nerve of some parents!

Steve! Sounds like a good plan! I like it. An arrangement. A Deal! I
like it.
thanks for the thought.
DAve


Steve wrote:
> Dave:
>
> The following idea comes from one of my customers, although another
> does something similar.
>
> He loves to make wine, but hates cleaning bottles. So he bought each
> of his three kids a case of new bottles and gave them to the kids
> full. Now whenever they bring CLEAN bottles home they LEAVE with FULL
> bottles. If the bottles are dirty, they get them back full at a
> future visit AFTER he has finally gotten around to cleaning them. I
> haven't met the sons, but the daughter said something like...'you bet
> I clean them well'.
>
> BTW, another customer has complained about his parents not returning
> bottles, at all.
>
> Steve
>
> On Tue, 23 May 2006 07:15:29 -0400, DAve Allison
> > wrote:
>
>> Yes, would love to train adult daughters to return the bottles
>> de-labeled and cleaned, but then, "Dad! Your asking too much" :*)
>>
>> DAve
>> p.s. Love the smaller bottle sizes, good ideas in this thread. thanks.
>
>

Crown caps are great and cheap. I just finished the last of my 97
sparklers and it was under crown cap until a few months ago. There are
absolutely no issues with crown caps that I am aware of other than
people think they look funny when used with wine. I really liked
Bill's idea for topping wine and the single serving idea too. Good
thread.

Joe

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Crown caps are great and cheap. I just finished the last of my 97
> sparklers and it was under crown cap until a few months ago. There are
> absolutely no issues with crown caps that I am aware of other than
> people think they look funny when used with wine. I really liked
> Bill's idea for topping wine and the single serving idea too. Good
> thread.
>
> Joe

They also look pretty cool finished off with capsuls. A big plus
is that they can be stored cap up (to _my_ experience). If I remember
correctly, some suppliers offer personalized caps.
I often use that card board six-pack carrier they origionaly come
in for storage, too. If I'm giving away a quantity, I'll spray paint
the carrier, and put my lable on it. `sounds cheesy but you should see
the pleased look of the recipient. : )

Thanks for all of the input. I will certainly start saving beer bottles now.
A friend is offering me a bottle capper in exchange for some computer work
so all I have to get is the caps.

I have the traditional problem of not getting bottles back, and the ones
given to me that some friends were kind enough to save, weren't clean so...

Brad

"Brad" > wrote in message
.. .
> I've been considering purchasing a bottle capper and using empty (clear)
> beer bottles to store some of my wine. I still intend to use the
> traditional bottle and cork for the majority of the batch, but I like the
> idea of a "serving size" bottle.
>
> I would of course bulk age my wine before hand.
>
> Has anybody tried this that they are willing to share their experiences
> with it?
>
> Brad
>

Just remember not to save bottle with 'twist off' lips; they are not
meant to be resealed with an ordinary hand capper.

Joe

Brad wrote:
> Thanks for all of the input. I will certainly start saving beer bottles now.

Another option is to get the 187 ml bottles that belgian style beers
come in. They look like mini champagne bottles. they will accept
corks and the larger european crown caps.


Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Just remember not to save bottle with 'twist off' lips; they are not
> meant to be resealed with an ordinary hand capper.
>
> Joe
>
> Brad wrote:
> > Thanks for all of the input. I will certainly start saving beer bottles now.