bottle aging in whiskey bottles?

[Brew Cat]

Presentation is important but I think your defeating the purpose with a corona bottles. I only bottle in dark bottles. The color should be admired in a glass.

 

[jmcnamara]

Aren't Corona labels printed on the bottle? I get frustrated enough with taking off some labels as it is

 

[jeffpn]

I have original paper labels that have survived numerous washings.

 

[Head First]

Corona bottles are painted on so still labeled but not smeared or half a label falling off. Easy to clean and make sure they are clean. Like I say I never let the beer out of the dark and no problems. Good presentation for "pretty" beers as with the huckleberry, creame ale, irish red, etc. I wouldn't consider any of these for long term storage anyway (1 year+).
I have about 100 Grolsch bottles (brown) that the Belgian Trappist's or Barleywine's or Imperial Stouts are stored in.
That whiskey bottle would be a good bottle for a Dead Guy Ale Clone for someone who likes whiskey but needs introduced into good beer like we brew!

 

[EbonHawk]

Aren't Corona labels printed on the bottle? I get frustrated enough with taking off some labels as it is

Yes, but not an issue for me. My dad drinks so many of them that I have about a dozen 18-count cases of them. I only have about a batch's worth of amber bottles, but I am acquiring more...slowly.

Bury them deep in the closet wrapped in a blanket and it won't make any difference

But not so far back that you can't get to them easily.

The only problem is I think they are clear glass so probably not the best for aging.

Nonsense, see the "burying deep in the closet" post.

Always keep all your beer in the dark. All of it. The clear bottle will enhance presentation on that special occasion. I have some Huckleberry Saison force carbonated in Corona bottles for that reason. It looks like a light colored wine.

Exactly. The blackberry/blueberry mead I recently (hehe, "recently" — my, how time flies) made looks oh so wonderful in the corona bottles — the prettiest purplish pink color I've ever seen. Plus, with the shrinkwrap labels I'm using I can cover up 90% of the writing in one swipe. Wouldn't take much more tweaking to get the label to wrap all the way around if I wanted.

 

[Head First]

If there is a will there is a way! We are only limited by our imagination.

 

[jeffpn]

All of my carboys are clear.

 

[Brew Cat]

All of my carboys are clear.

Keep them in a closet for aging or wrap them in something. I think it's better to age carbonated, so a keg or bottles would be better.

 

[jeffpn]

My point is that I find it to be a bit ironic that homebrewers as a whole are quite outspoken about clear bottles, but 99.999% of all carboys are clear. You never hear anything about carboys!

 

[Brew Cat]

My point is that I find it to be a bit ironic that homebrewers as a whole are quite outspoken about clear bottles, but 99.999% of all carboys are clear. You never hear anything about carboys!

That is not true at all,read the directions again and they say to keep your fermenter in a dark closet or corner. Fermenting in a carboy for a week or two you may get away with it but hops are expensive and light supposedly affects the hops. Clear or green is not recommended for storage.

 

[jeffpn]

You missed my point.

 

[Brew Cat]

You missed my point.

Car boys make no sense really when you think about it. Professional Brewers use stainless. Anything over 5 gallons is stainless or plastic.

 

[jeffpn]

Ok

 

[Nosybear]

Stainless, glass, plastic, any inert material is acceptable for beer storage. To the issue of color, yes, all my carboys are clear. There is a good reason to use them: The narrow neck limits exposure to oxygen, if the carboy is filled to the neck. IF you're fermenting in a reasonably dark area - I use my basement - there's little concern over skunking from using them. Plastic carboys are cheap at about $30 each, stainless fermentors start at over $200. Glass carboys cost a bit more but bring safety hazards with them. I can always "blanket" the carboy with a garbage bag with a hole for the carboy neck cut in it if I'm really paranoid about light exposure but have not and unless I have an anosmia to mercaptans (likely not, since I always smelled the dead skunks on the Kentucky roads where I grew up), have not had problems. I've dreamed of stainless fermentors but have never been able to justify the cost. Bottles are a different story: They're for long-term storage. A small amount of light over a long period will eventually lead to perceptible skunking. So in my brewery, clear carboys are okay, clear bottles are not.

 

[Head First]

Stainless, glass, plastic, any inert material is acceptable for beer storage. To the issue of color, yes, all my carboys are clear. There is a good reason to use them: The narrow neck limits exposure to oxygen, if the carboy is filled to the neck. IF you're fermenting in a reasonably dark area - I use my basement - there's little concern over skunking from using them. Plastic carboys are cheap at about $30 each, stainless fermentors start at over $200. Glass carboys cost a bit more but bring safety hazards with them. I can always "blanket" the carboy with a garbage bag with a hole for the carboy neck cut in it if I'm really paranoid about light exposure but have not and unless I have an anosmia to mercaptans (likely not, since I always smelled the dead skunks on the Kentucky roads where I grew up), have not had problems. I've dreamed of stainless fermentors but have never been able to justify the cost. Bottles are a different story: They're for long-term storage. A small amount of light over a long period will eventually lead to perceptible skunking. So in my brewery, clear carboys are okay, clear bottles are not.

Key words "long term storage". Absolutely keep long term beer in brown bottles. I use clear bottles for "force carbonated" beers I am using for presentation, even to present to myself. I like looking at beer sometimes.
Clear clean beer before it's drank. It's a conversation piece so to speak.
"I just set up camp for opening day of fishing season, have a fire warming my toes and reach in the cooler for a creame ale to ease into the setting, hold it up to the sunset and pop the top." Don't need a glass for that.

 

[EbonHawk]

A lot of breweries use stainless for a few main reasons: Stainless doesn't break, it's stackable and saves space, and yes it's impervious to light. No reason to have to have darkened rooms to store stuff in that's in clear glass bottles. Can you imagine trying to have covered pallets to load kegs into trucks? It's just not feasible.

But homebrewers aren't limited like that. I've been storing brewed beer in clear glass bottles for 2 decades. The first time I have one that's "gone bad", I'll let you guys know.

 

[jeffpn]

I converted my old dark room into a homebrew storage area.

 

[Head First]

I converted my old dark room into a homebrew storage area.

Nice. Should hold a fairly even temp too.

 

[jeffpn]

I was kidding. I just thought it fit in well with the light discussion. And who uses dark rooms anymore??

 

[GernBlanston]

I was kidding. I just thought it fit in well with the light discussion. And who uses dark rooms anymore??

You got to be fairly old to even know what one was.