I have written earlier that beer bottles of brown glass work well for
small seed storage. Finding good stoppers has been a bit of a
challenge. Regular wine corks typically expand too much upon
extraction. There is a new wine bottle cork that is shorter and less
expansive than traditional corks and has a wide plastic top. This
makes it easy to insert or extract the cork stopper. Such corks may
now be found on some 1.5 liter wine bottles. They fit beer bottles
perfectly. The challenge, of course, is producing the appropriate
balance of bottles and stoppers. Truth be told, production outpaces
need.
Cooks who use dry herbs can use such stoppered beer bottles for both
herb storage and daily use. What made me think to write this post is
my current task of making my version of Italian Seasoning, a flavor I
use in many personal recipes. I am today, March 6th, taking advantage
of the fact that rosemary grows year-round here in Phoenix, my basil
plants have survived the mild winter and are producing modestly, and
oregano is on the rise.
Beer bottles and other colored bottles may be used as aggregate in
concrete mixes used for concrete countertops, walkways, decorative
containers and the like. For those who do not have a nearby recycling
center, broken glass can always be used as part of the aggregate in
concrete mixes for footings and foundations.
Wear seriously good eye protection when smashing bottles of any kind.