Once the homebrew is bottled there’s no going back and reversing the process without headaches, so you better bottle right from the first try.
We all know food-grade plastics are used in cooking and they are perfectly appropriate for brewing purposes, but how about actually bottling your homebrew in a plastic bottle?
Plastic (PET) bottles can be used in homebrewing, but they are not ideal because they offer less protection compared to glass bottles. Any homebrew looks better in glass bottles too which is a big plus because lots of satisfaction lies in the presentation.
Let’s see what are the biggest issues with plastic bottles and why you should rather stick to the glass bottles, but let’s also see the advantages of plastic bottles because there indeed are a few.
| Pros of plastic bottles | Cheaper than glass bottles Won’t break if you drop them Can be used for testing carbonation levels |
| Cons of plastic bottles | Clear-colored plastic bottles don’t offer light protection Most plastic bottles leak after some time Sensitive to the heat Not aesthetic by design |
| Pros of glass bottles | Thick and aesthetically pleasing Come in many shapes and sizes Best protection and seal |
| Cons of glass bottles | Don’t know the carbonation levels before you open it Glass can be dangerous if broken |
Plastic bottles are less durable
When you throw a plastic bottle into the concrete it won’t break compared to a glass bottle, but in the long term, it doesn’t mean they are more durable.
Most homebrewers reuse their bottles after each brew because it doesn’t make sense to buy fresh new bottles every time. This would mean unnecessary costs in the long term and you would run out of storage space.
Glass bottles can be easily cleaned and are super resistant to scratches, while plastic bottles are harder to clean because the sediment and dirt sticks to the walls, and the odds of scratches are high.
Most scratches in plastic bottles are not visible but the germs will gladly build a household in them and infect your homebrew.
It’s also not possible to kill these nasty germs that hide in micro-scratches with sanitization solution because the cracks are too tiny, and the germs will hide in there and take their time to do bad things while you let your homebrew condition.
The second thing is the heat, plastics are less forgiving than glass when exposed to the heat, especially when quickly cooled down again.
Repeat this process a couple of times or screw the temperature tolerance once and the plastic bottles may end up unusable.
Plastic bottles offer worse seal and protection
PET bottles are made of plastic and plastic is likely to have leak issues over time which is the reason why most drinks like sodas are consumed quickly and not conditioned in bottles for months.
It is difficult to achieve a strong seal on PET bottles, so the concern is that with time the Co2 may evaporate and leave your brew flat. This might not be a big deal for intendedly flat homebrews like mead, but every beer will be ruined by this.
Moreover, if there are any issues with the seal there’s a possibility of oxygenation of your homebrew which can spoil the brew completely.
To avoid this issue, you can buy special sealed PET bottles which are intentionally made for beers.
These PET bottles do not have the traditional leak issues of common plastic bottles and are a better choice if you want to bottle in plastic.
However, if you need to order special plastic bottles it means that you can also order regular glass bottles for a similar price.
Plastics can release toxic chemicals into your homebrew
I’ve already mentioned how the heat can destroy the plastic bottle and make it unusable, but an even bigger concern is health.
Plastics can release toxic chemicals at high temperatures, and this is yet another reason why sodas packed in plastic bottles are held in fridges and are meant to be consumed quickly.
Moreover, when you reuse the bottles it means that at some point they were probably exposed to higher temperatures and it could be enough to make the plastics release some toxic chemicals or at least become weakened and release them the next time you condition your brew.
This issue is solved when you use food-safe-grade plastics that are meant to be reused or exposed to higher temperatures for the purposes of brewing or pasteurization.
However, most common plastic bottles you see are not meant to be reused and as a matter of fact, such a claim is written on the label on the back of a bottle.
Don’t use clear colored bottles
The way the bottles are colored means much more than just aesthetics and you should really pay attention to this. You can read about dangers the light has on beer in my dedicated article.
Brown and green bottles offer protection against light and UV and this feature is completely nonexistent in clean-colored bottles.
Most plastic bottles are clean colored and this makes them a worse choice for bottling of any homebrew by default, but this particularly applies to homebrews like beers that contain hops.
You see, hops are sensitive to the light and the sunlight exposure can evoke terrible skunky aromas in your beer.
Moreover, the yeast that is present in all homebrews is also not keen on the light and continuous exposure can cause unwanted chemical reactions and inhibit the unpleasant aromas in your homebrew.
Brown is the best color for bottles offering the best protection while green is the second one.
So, if you can find colored plastic bottles you won’t have to worry about this problem. In another case, be extra careful where you store your homebrew in clear colored plastic bottles.
Use plastic bottles to predict carbonation levels
One feature of plastic bottles is that you can observe the process of carbonation because as the bottle stiffens it means more Co2 is created.
For a long time I only used glass bottles for my beer, but now I also always fill one plastic bottle so I can track the progress as the natural carbonation occurs.
This way I can optimize the time for conditioning and never waste bottles of beer by opening them too early.
This can be particularly helpful in cases when you worry about over-carbonation (you accidentally added too much sugar or there’s unfermented sugar still in a brew) because you can move bottles to a fridge or pasteurize them to stop the yeast from further Co2 buildup.
When you bottle your brew in your plastic bottle it will be soft, but once the bottle becomes hard as a rock you know it won’t end up flat.
How long will homebrew last in plastic bottles?
Your homebrew may start to deteriorate after 2-3 months in plastic bottles unless you use quality plastic bottles with perfect seals and respect the storage conditions such as temperature and light exposure.
A high-quality plastic bottle made for homebrewing should preserve your homebrew for a long time, so there probably won’t be any difference between glass and plastic.
However, I never held my homebrew in plastic bottles for years, so I am still going to advise you to use glass bottles for long conditioning and storage times.
Can plastic bottles affect the taste of homebrew?
Plastic bottles shouldn’t affect the taste of homebrew unless you use a plastic bottle with a poor seal, expose them to high temperatures at which plastic releases toxic chemicals or reuse the cheap non-reusable plastic bottles. So, your homebrew should taste just as good from a plastic bottle as from a glass one.
There’s something deceiving in a visual department though. If I were to pour you my finest mead from an uninteresting plastic bottle and the same mead from a fancy glass bottle, you would choose a second one 9/10 times.
Final take on
Personally, I would only use a plastic bottle for purposes of testing carbonation levels, for experimenting or if I run out of glass bottles.
Reusing plastic bottles which are made for one-use-only is obviously not a good idea and the other issues such as a poor seal, difficult cleaning and poor aesthetics do not play into its favor.
I mean you can buy those special PET bottles with stiff seals to mitigate the problem of your brew going flat, but other issues are still there.