Brew: Scavenging for Bottles

After having to consume an unhealthy amount of Grolsch in order to have swing-top bottles for my first brew, I decided I will need another way to get my hands on these hard to find bottles. I tried going to the Beer Store to see if I could rummage through their returns in search of the elusive swing-top. Only a couple of Beer Stores were open to the idea, most said that it was against the rules for them to give untreated bottles back to customers. From the Beer Stores that did let me scavenge it appears as though other people are as interested in keeping their swing-tops as I am, since there were none. I was nearly at the end of my rope and ready to give up and pay an exorbitant amount of money for liter Grolsch style bottles from Home-Brew Supplies in Brampton until I found the perfect solution. My employer, Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy, stocks birch and spruce beers at his Gilead Cafe. These bottles have swing-top lids affixed to them by metal brackets. I've been getting dozens of these from Jamie for next to nothing, the deposit price, and now have plenty of bottles for my home-brew.

For cleaning these bottles I purchased a fancy doodad from a wine making store at Queen and Ossington. This bottle cleaning contraption rigs up to the sink and blasts out any undesirable gunk in the bottle. This is particularly useful for getting out any settled yeast left over from former beers, or the inevitable cigarette buts left from parties past.