Bottling in soda 2L?

[tennesseebrewer]

After listening to the archives for the past 3 months I took the plunge yesterday. I did my first homebrew, an Irish Stout. However, my wallet is hurting from buying all of the gear, so I listened to the frugal show. You guys mentioned using 2L soda bottles as a substitute for bottles. My wife is a 3rd shift RN who lives on soda so we have plenty of these things laying around. Has anyone tried using these, and if so, is there anything special I need to keep in mind like the use of priming sugar or the amount of beer I should limit each 2L too? I guess I'm worried the most about pressure.

tennesseebrewer

[Speyedr]

Don't worry at all about the pressure. Aside from kegs, soda bottles can handle more pressure than just abut anything we put our beer in. They were designed to handle high pressure without bursting. Just prime as per the instructions and you'll be fine.

The biggest thing to worry about with these is to clean them out completely and remove all traces of soda, especially odors. If you can still smell it, clean them again. A Stout will hide some of the flavors better than some other styles, but just clean the crap out of them.

Welcome to the fold Brotha!

Rob

[Techie101]

It might even be a good idea to pick up a few 1L water bottles. I know Aquafina from Pepsi Cola comes in 1L sizes, I'm sure there are a few more as well.

[NumbSkull]

You can always do what I did and go around to bars and beg for bottles. You have to tell them you only want bottles that have to be opened with a church key. You will be surprised how many you can get this way. Remember that beer in clear or green bottles will skunk pretty fast if exposed to light. Most soda bottles I have seen are clear or green.

Mort

[bub]

leave 1" from the top and you will be fine... crank down the cap, and as stated above make sure it is clean... then sanitize as normal.
BUB

[Bugeater]

It might even be a good idea to pick up a few 1L water bottles. I know Aquafina from Pepsi Cola comes in 1L sizes, I'm sure there are a few more as well.

Not so great an idea. Since the water in those bottles is not carbonated, the bottles do not have to hold a significant amount of pressure. Thus they use thinner plastic on the water bottles to save on packaging costs.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company