[gmac]

Over a month ago, I contacted my local wine shop where I bought bottles before and asked for 96 bottles to do my NHC round 1 entries.  The Canadian contest has to be there by April 5.
They told me that they could get them but that the bottle place was closed for a week to update their computer system.  So I waited a week and went in the shop and they said "Oh yes, we'll get them for you".

(Bet you can see where this is headed).

I called late last week and I was told that the girl who does the ordering was out.  I called Monday and was told that they were on order and would arrive today.  Then, at 4:30 today I got a call that they didn't arrive and no explanation as to why.  But, regardless I have 12 beers ready to bottle on Sunday to ship Monday and no bottles and no where to get any (busy all day tomorrow and I can't get out of it even if I found some).  PO'd doesn't even begin to explain my mood this evening.

So, good luck to you all.  I guess I won't be entering the NHC Round 1 this year.  I only have two beer bottled but I really wanted to shoot for the "Rookie of the Year" award that is only open to first time participants in the Canadian contest.  So, I want to send more than 2.  Guess I'll be ready for next year and I've got a year to find a reliable supplier.

[punatic]

Buy full ones, empty them, retask them.

I have NEVER bought bottles for bottling my homebrew.  Nearly everything I bottle goes in Sierra Nevada or Dogfish Head bottles.  Extra bonus points for bomber bottles (although they are to big for competition).

[ccfoo242]

Yeah what's the cheapest beer you can get? If you have Costco up there, they have their own brand of beer sold here for $17 per 24, not much more than empty bottles.

[dzlater]

I once got a case of empties that were returned for the deposit at my local store for the price of the deposit.
You could try that at a store or bar.

[gmac]

Buy full ones, empty them, retask them.

I do this as much as I can but I needed about 65 bottles and I certainly didn't have that many. 

As for the cheapest beer we have up here...good one.  Clearly you've never bought beer in Canada   Problem I have is, very very few of the breweries up here use pry-top bottles.  The only ones that do are our few craft breweries and you're looking at 50+ dollars for 24.  So, I don't buy much.

Whenever I'm in the States, I always bring back a case of DFH partly because I like the beer but also for the bottles.

I'm not really comfortable with the idea of buying back empties that I didn't drink.  Sort of grosses me out thinking about what I'm washing out of the bottles....ew!

[ccfoo242]

Well that sucks! 

[jeffy]

I try to pick up empties at the finish of local homebrew competitions.  I usually get three or four cases and wash them out with a jet bottle washer and hot water as soon as possible.

[euge]

These days I only buy pry-offs and I also avoid brands that have difficult to remove labels- especially foiled bottles.

Too bad about the LHBS not stepping up. I'm sure it was just one of those things that wasn't meant to be at that point in time.

[punatic]

Soaking in an oxyclean solution removes bottle labels nicely (and any fuzzies that may have grown inside the bottle too).

[gmac]

These days I only buy pry-offs and I also avoid brands that have difficult to remove labels- especially foiled bottles.

Shorts in Michigan is by far the worst I've encountered.  I think they're stuck on with some sort of mutant toad slime, then varnished, welded and laminated before getting baked on.  I've tried soaking them in Oxyclean, TSP, bleach and a mild phosphoric acid bath - not concurrently - hoping that maybe pH was the trick.  Not coming off.

[Mark G]

How many bottles does the Canadian comp require? In the US, it's only one for the first round. Or are you shooting for the Ninkasi and the rookie award.

[tonyp]

These days I only buy pry-offs and I also avoid brands that have difficult to remove labels- especially foiled bottles.

Shorts in Michigan is by far the worst I've encountered.  I think they're stuck on with some sort of mutant toad slime, then varnished, welded and laminated before getting baked on.  I've tried soaking them in Oxyclean, TSP, bleach and a mild phosphoric acid bath - not concurrently - hoping that maybe pH was the trick.  Not coming off.

another beer is Mad Anthony, the labels are impossible to remove without scrubbing each one with a metal brush or steel scrubbing pad, its ridiculous.

[Hokerer]

another beer is Mad Anthony, the labels are impossible to remove without scrubbing each one with a metal brush or steel scrubbing pad, its ridiculous.

add Blue Mountain and Weyerbacher to that list.  Takes a small thermonuclear device to get those labels off

[erockrph]

Here's a list I've been compiling in a thread on the Northern Brewer forums. Might be appropriate here to some extent:

By the way, thanks for starting a post about whose labels are easy/hard to peel. I've been looking for a list like this. Here's what we have so far:

Easy to peel: Samuel Smith, Red Hook, Sierra Nevada, Samuel Adams, New Belgium (warning - possible cracks), Bell's, Guinness Draught (11.2oz bottle), Three Floyds, Goose Island, Schells, Deschutes, and I'll add Bass Ale, Ommegang and Saranac here

Hard to peel: Brooklyn, Summit, Founders, Firestone, Shorts, Mad Anthony, Blue Mountain, Weyerbacher and I'll add Dark Horse and Harpoon

[garc_mall]

A lot (if not all) Rogue beers are silkscreened, so are H.U.B. Beers, and the new belgium lips of faith . They are impossible to remove the labels