How many fill cycles can typical bottles handle?

[oshucks]

I've been bottling in various styles of commercial 12oz bottles that I've collected. For the first time in a couple of years, I've experienced a handful of bottle bombs this summer. While they were likely a tad overcarbonated, the survivors didn't seem bad enough to explain why some exploded.

Call me cheap, but I'm not too motivated to buy new bottles for every batch. But maybe they DO need to be retired after some number of cycles.

Is there a practical limit to the number of times bottles can be refilled?
Is there any real difference between the 12oz bottles from the LHBS and commercial bottles (I've been mostly using bottles from Firestone-Walker)?
What about for 22oz bombers?

Thanks

[bikefoolery]

I've yet to have a bottle bomb, but generally retire bottles after about 4 uses. They get given away to friends, and then recycled. I use the dish washer heat dry to help sanitize in addition to a hit with starsan, so I get concerned about heat stress causing weak bottles.

Heat cycles can wear out glass. I drink enough commercial Firestone Walker beers to build up a collection of bottles. If your on the Central Coast, let me know, my wife would like me to give away a few cases of cleaned 'recycled' bottles ready to be refilled. I use PBW soak to get them clean followed by a warm water wash. They are free for the pickup in case boxes.


Cheers,
The Fool

[LanMan]

I'll refill my bottles until they refuse to hold beer any longer!

Or I get my kegging system on line

[oshucks]

Yeah, I hear you. Bottles that actually HOLD beer are a lot more fun than the ones what don't...

I'm actively working on getting the kegging system through the capital committee. I figure I'll wear her down through persistence. But the kegerator and all that goes with it is another topic for another thread. One that I'm really looking forward to!

'preciate the input!

o'shucks

[foomench]

I haven't had bottle bombs from bottle overuse, but I do use the dishwasher for heat sanitation, and I've had several bottles break when capping. I do think they get brittle. But I've just lost a few this way, and I'm not counting how many times I've reused them.

[maxwell]

Sierra Nevada bottles seem to be significantly less durable than other brands in my experience. I had enough problems that I stopped using them. New Belgium bottles and anything brown and imported seem to be the best/most durable. I hate the FW bottles because the damn labels are so hard to remove. Do you have a trick for that? I don't keep track of number of fill cycles on a given bottle but certainly still have bottles that have seen a couple dozen fills.

Max