Looking for empty crates, Auckland CBD-ish

[Sarah Mohawk]

Hi all,

Looking to collect a decent amount (6+) empty crates w/ bottles to expand my brewing operations out of bottling in 330ml..though readily available they take a long time to bottle and clean, and a pain for storage too.

Any leads on places that will still sell empties in 2016? (no one I know of sells crates in AK city) Do you have some crates to sell/swap for art or homebrews/just for the favour of removing from your premesis?

Trademe is a bit of a frenzy these days.

Cheers!

[Kevin Sharp]

I'm not in AKL so I can't help you, directly, but I have spent a lot of time sourcing bottles so here's what I found ...

Most breweries have switched to using one way glass. These are bottles that aren't designed to be refilled and they're not really strong enough for bottle conditioning beer. If you can find a locally produced beer in reusable bottles then ask about bottles and cases at the brewery. I've dealt with several small breweries in the South Island and they've all been enormously helpful. If all your local breweries use one way glass then then you could see whether other Jaffas on the forum are interested in splitting a pallet of bottles with you (approx 1600 bottles maybe). The glass distributors are in Auckland so you're at an advantage there. Then you just have to find a brewery that uses similar sized bottles and beg some cases off them.

[Mark Weusten]

Pt Chev Bottle-O. 8 bucks a crate