I also noticed that these plastic bottles were fairly pricey, if I wanted a dozen branded plastic bottles it would cost me well in excess of £5, and then if bought online I would have to factor in delivery.
So I did a little research on what a PET bottle is and found that PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate (...easy for you to say!!), and they are sometimes referred to a PETE bottles too. Basically it is a type of plastic that lends itself well to being recycled, and because it can take quite a lot of pressure make it great for fizzy drinks, beer and even champagne bottling.
I also discovered that the green or brown plastic bottles are often more desirable as they filter UV rays (sun light) preserving your better. This is also often the case with the glass bottles too. And often the coloured bottles will control a premium price when compared to clear plastic bottles.
As mentioned before PET bottles are great for fizzy drinks, and can often be bought far more cheaply with branded fizzy drinks in them. Simply use then sanitize the bottle and re-used for your brew. I find the green plastic lemonade type bottle ideal.
I have also used bottled water bottles to house my brews in, and these can be bought very cheaply, they are still PET bottles and are great but often clear, which I don't find makes a difference as I condition my home brew in a dark room (brick built shed) concealed in a cardboard box, so there's very little chance of getting sunlight in to them etc.
The reason I like to use PET bottles is sometimes, depending on your brew, the pressure can build up so much in the bottle it explodes. If your using a glass bottle this can be more dangerous and the clean up job more hassle, so I PET bottle most brews or wines that I carbonate.
As for the prices of the branded 'beer' bottles it just seems to me to be a bit of a rip off, but if you can pick them up do so as they generally are good quality and can be used time after time. :)
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