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My drink of choice over the winter months is Real Ale. I buy bottles from the local shop with the metal cap lids. I'll be starting some homebrews off this year. Can I save up my beer bottles and lids. Sterilize the bottles, fill up with my homebrews and then re-cap the bottles?

Im planning on doing, elderflower beer, ellderberry and blackcurrant wine, pea-pod wine, sloe gin, damson and blackberry gin.

I don't know about re-using the caps, but all our beer bottles are pre-loved You can get new caps and a crown capper (better IMO than bashing them) for not much money. Much better than risking leaking beer.

If they're screw-caps, keep and re-use everything. If they're crown-caps, as GA says, throw the old caps away and get yourself a crown capper. You may THINK you have a good seal with a second-hand crown cap, but it isn't possible.

Mike

Thanks, just what i needed to know, save the bottle, buy new caps and tool.

Ta

don't re-use crown caps.
they are cheap...a bag of 144 are 2 dollars US.

Agreed, the act of opening them causes the caps to be deformed and therefore they never seal right again, the screw ones might be ok but I wouldn't bother with them.

If your bottles contained fizzy drinks then they should be fine for beer, even the plastic PET bottles are usable as long as you don't intend to keep them for much longer then 6 months.

Screw cap wine bottles are re-usable. Not sure how much pressure they will hold though... but haven't had one blow on me yet...

Hello!

Elderflower beer? Sounds very interesting...would you care to pass on the recipe please? Looking for a recipe for birch sap beer and am wondering if just maybe this might be compatible...if that's the right word?

Thanks