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bottle size
Do any of you fellers have a size preference to what bottles you use? I think I'm going to be going with the 16oz. pints. Does size have anything to do with strength, I don't want to have a mess from an explosion due to picking poor glass.
The half gal. growlers look like they would be good for yeast starters, but how good would they be for test batches? Would they seal well enough with the screw caps
Or would it help to use a sealing wax after bottliing ?
Marv.
Me personally I use 12 oz bottles.
I usually keg now, but I like the 22 oz bottles. The fewer bottles to fill the better. I always do a few 12 oz bottles as well, just to use for testers as the beer is conditioning.
I have about 30 22oz bottles. They are much quicker to clean and fill, and use fewer bottle caps. I also have one half gallon growler that's has always done fine. Very convienent.
no matter what size bottle you choose, make sure it requires a clamp down cap, NOT a twist off cap. twist off caps do not make a proper seal.
hopefully you will not experience any explosions. if you measure your fermentation and use the appropriate amount of priming sugar, then you should be fine. however, it is best for beginning brewers to purchase the bottles that homebrew stores sell, simply because they are thicker, therefore stronger, and can hold more pressure to account for a little error when you are first starting out.
choose the size bottle that you can finish drinking in one sitting. better to crack 2 smaller bottles, then to crack 1 and store it more than a day.
i hope you are finding this forum helpful! good luck!
I was looking at the 1/2 gal growlers online and most look to be screw on caps.
Would to help seal then to use a sealing wax, like a wine bottle?
Marv.
I'm curious about that. I don't think I've ever heard of sealing beer bottles with wax, although it seems to be part of an illustration for a European beer if I remember correctly.
I have 6, 8, 12, 22, 24, 32, 50 and 64 oz. bottles, cappable, swing tops and corkers. This way I have 12 oz. for contests, little bottles for quick sampling, and party bottles. I would pesonally stay away from anything with a screw top.
I'm intrested in hearing about the sealing wax, I'm going to give this a little bump.
Marv.
My Local HBS sells sealing wax...it is meant for wines, I am sure...wether or not it has any purpose as far as sealing goes is beyond me. In the case of wine bottles, where you would be using cork, I guess I could see the wax helping create a tight seal, but I don't see a point when using caps/swing-tops except for style 
That being said, I may try some when I bottle my mead some time in the future...
Thanks for the tip ickysbrewhaus, don't know how I missed it.
I'll look into that.
I hope they have pints.
Marv.
Champagne bottles are also an option, as you can cap those. I have started keeping all my champagne bottles, as I plan on using these for my cider. Always a big fan of cutting back on the number of bottles to fill.
Are the flip tops worth the extra money?
I noticed they run and extra 10 bucks over regular bottles.
Then you have to replace the rings on the flip tops, how long do those last, are
they cheaper they just buying caps?
Marv.
I use mostly 12 oz. bottles but I brew a lot of really strong beers so I try to stay away from bigger bottles. Plus it makes it seem like you have more....always good. 16 oz., 22 oz., those are all good to use. Don't worry about them exploding, UNLESS......you are bottling your beer before it is all the way done fermenting. In other words use a hydrometer and see were your gravity is at. Beer that is not yet completely fermented and then adding sugar to it can make for some beer grenades. This is pretty easy to avoid but knowing your gravity. 16 oz. bottles are great for beers that you would normally order by the pint at the pub. Sometimes it is kind of depressing when you pour a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass and it is only 2/3 full. Boo.
Marv. wrote:
Are the flip tops worth the extra money?
The once or twice I used them, it was definitely nice to not to have to worry about capping, but if you don't mind capping, then they really aren't worth it to you.
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