I noticed homebrew always comes in Brown bottles. I've saved about three cases worth. (it was pretty fun getting all those empty!) But I also have some Spaten beers in green bottles. Can I clean those and use them for my homebrew? I think I have some Carlsberg in green bottles too. Is there any reason why I should not use green bottles?

You can use the green or clear bottles. Just keep them away from all light. Which all your beer should be out of the light anyway. Even brown will let some uv rays in.

You can also paint those green bottles. That will keep out ALL the UV rays. I've seen a few hand painted beer bottles that look friggin' sweet! The LHBS has some grolsch bottles that are painted with a stone looking finish, and they're pretty cool. Of course, if you do this, you'll probably want to keep the hand painted bottles, and give the brownies to friends and family.

Cheers,
Dave

I bought some bottles of a bizzar belgian beer a while back, called "Tremens Delerium" I think, it was fairly strong, it might have even been a tripel. anyway, the bottles had been covered in something completely opaque, it was gray with flecks in it. I thought they would be cool bottles to keep, except then I realised I can't see whether the insides are clean

*raises hand* I know, I know. It's Delirium Nocturnum. Good beer and awesome bottles. I think they would need to be corked though, not capped. The lip is thick for a normal cap/capper.

I have a ceramic bottle I like to use occasionaly. I just put some bleach water in it and let if soak, then I rinse well and sanitize. My bottle brush gets stuck in it So it's a no go on scrubbing it. Just rinse well after use to prevent gunk in the first place.

There are all sorts of faux finish paints you could use on your bottles. Just make sure to ruff up the glass first.

Actually, it is Delirium Tremens. Its a very tasty beer! I haven't tried the Nocturnum yet. I believe the Nocturnum is a holiday ale??? How's it taste?
I love the Delirium bottles! If you rinse the bottles immediately after drinking the beer, I see no reason to worry about them being dirty. I would feel comfortable reusing them. Of course, I think I'd rather hand paint the bottles myself. It'd have more of a personal touch.

Cheers,
Dave

Hmm The local bottle shop only has Nocturnum. I can't quite remember the beers flavor since it was almost a year ago. I recall liking it though.

penguinfogel wrote:Hmm The local bottle shop only has Nocturnum. I can't quite remember the beers flavor since it was almost a year ago. I recall liking it though.

The Tremens I bought were in standard 330ml bottles that recapped no problem. the lable had little elephants on it I think, or something crazy, it didn't look like a beer lable, more like the lable on a packet of balloons or something. if I remember right, the taste was somewhere between Chimay Tripel and Leffe Blonde, but I can't remember whetherit was actually as good as either, I'd have to do a side by side tasteing.

We use green bottles for making mexican or skunky beer like Moosehead. The trick is you actually want the sun to get to them so you set them out in the sun for a bit. Check out a recipe its crazy that that's the trick.