mad tom bottles

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:54 pm

this may be a no brainer, but I just realized that the mad tom bottles are great for anyone saving up to bottle a home brew - the clear plastic labels peel off perfectly leaving almost nothing behind.

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:35 pm

Jeff, if you're short on bottles, I have an embarassing number of 750 mL belgian style bottles (think Unibroue, Chimay, Floreffe, etc.). They are de-labelled, probably just need a quick wash and can be sanitized in your dishwasher with the hot dry cycle engaged. I can give you enough to bottle a batch. I have the belgian corks and hoods too.

I keg my beer. I just keep enough bottles for competitions, the rest are gathering dust.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:07 pm

cannondale wrote:Jeff, if you're short on bottles, I have an embarassing number of 750 mL belgian style bottles (think Unibroue, Chimay, Floreffe, etc.). They are de-labelled, probably just need a quick wash and can be sanitized in your dishwasher with the hot dry cycle engaged. I can give you enough to bottle a batch. I have the belgian corks and hoods too.

I keg my beer. I just keep enough bottles for competitions, the rest are gathering dust.

I was thinking about my unibroue bottles because I was wondering how to cork them...is it hard? That sounds very intriguing...I'm going to PM you...

Also, it sounds like a lot of you just keg your beers...is that where I'm heading?...I'm sure it is, but I only ask, because my wife will want to know where I'm going to keep the keg in our relatively small 1960s style back split..

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:28 am

For unibroue bottles you either need to be able to cork & cage, which uses a champagne style cork, or a capper that can handle the 22mm Belgian caps

Cale · Post by **Cale** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:31 am

icemachine wrote:For unibroue bottles you either need to be able to cork & cage, which uses a champagne style cork, or a capper that can handle the 22mm Belgian caps

I think Unibroue is cork-only. At least I'd be impressed if you managed to wrangle a cap around that bulbous top.

Flying Monkeys are my go-to bottle. The labels comes right off with just a hot water soak. I'd like to use Grand River bottles, as they're built like a tank, but those labels are the devil. I've done overnight oxyclean soaks on them and half the time I still need to scrub hard to get them off.

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:56 am

Cale wrote:
icemachine wrote:For unibroue bottles you either need to be able to cork & cage, which uses a champagne style cork, or a capper that can handle the 22mm Belgian caps
I think Unibroue is cork-only. At least I'd be impressed if you managed to wrangle a cap around that bulbous top.

Flying Monkeys are my go-to bottle. The labels comes right off with just a hot water soak. I'd like to use Grand River bottles, as they're built like a tank, but those labels are the devil. I've done overnight oxyclean soaks on them and half the time I still need to scrub hard to get them off.

All this bottle and label talk brings back bad memories...

Yes, the 750's are cork & hood only. The 29 mm euro caps fit on bottles like La Chouffe and other champagne type bottles.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:02 pm

cannondale wrote:
Cale wrote:
icemachine wrote:For unibroue bottles you either need to be able to cork & cage, which uses a champagne style cork, or a capper that can handle the 22mm Belgian caps
I think Unibroue is cork-only. At least I'd be impressed if you managed to wrangle a cap around that bulbous top.

Flying Monkeys are my go-to bottle. The labels comes right off with just a hot water soak. I'd like to use Grand River bottles, as they're built like a tank, but those labels are the devil. I've done overnight oxyclean soaks on them and half the time I still need to scrub hard to get them off.
All this bottle and label talk brings back bad memories...

Yes, the 750's are cork & hood only. The 29 mm euro caps fit on bottles like La Chouffe and other champagne type bottles.

My mistake, I don't do the euro caps, and assumed they would fit. The Mad Tom's easy peel labels are great, but the glue on the Muskoka seasonals are a bitch. Still its worth it for a 750ml swingtop.

I found with the sticky labels that after a hot soak, for 20 minutes or so, that scrapping with the backside of a knife works pretty well. The Charlevoix bottles that are the same shape require less effort.