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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> General Forum --> Chitchat --> Shipping beer - a review

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CentralCalBrewer
Fresno, CA
89 Posts


I put together a quick retrospective on some of the packages I received for the BrewUnited Challenge[1] .

Of the nearly 300 bottles I've received in the last few weeks, I only had 2 or 3 total broken bottles. So even the really bad packing jobs (which I didn't take pictures of) got pretty lucky.

A few observations:

  • Small boxes kill beer. The only brokens I got where in the smallest fedex/usps boxes. They just don't provide any protection.

  • I hate tape. Especially duct tape.

  • I know have a very large collection of zip top bags to use some how. Thanks!

  • Always individually wrap you bottle in bubble wrap AND place in it's own zip top bag.

  • Rubber bands are superior to tape when shipping (inside the box anyway).

For everyone that entered the BrewUnited Challenge or the reddit comp (as those beers are coming in now), good luck!





Posted 34 days ago.

KidMoxie
Charter Member
San Elijo Hills, CA
405 Posts


Just in time for the /r/homebrewing imgur ban! Great writeup, relieved not to see any of my bottles in the shame-shots ;)

I think the important thing when shipping is that you don't give the bottles any room to move around; they can't crash if they can't move (unless they get crushed).




Posted 34 days ago.

Necropaw
Charter Member
Central WI
608 Posts


At least i didnt use packing peanuts!

Plenty of bubble wrap, though.




Posted 34 days ago.

rdc4687
Charlotte, NC
9 Posts


So you drank them all an have our scores ready now.... right?  Ok, maybe wishful thinking... 



Posted 34 days ago.

vinpaysdoc
Charter Member
High Point, NC
321 Posts


Yes, a lot of ziplock bags in that last one........

Rubber bands rule!




Posted 34 days ago.

CentralCalBrewer
Fresno, CA
89 Posts


There were a lot of really cool packaging... Someone using these very tight HP bubble chamber things that I am going to save as long as I can...

There were a few times where I was amazing nothing broke... 






Posted 34 days ago.

testingapril
Charter Member
Atlanta, GA
595 Posts


Those HP bubble chamber things I think come off laser printer cartridges, and they are awesome.

I use a crapload of shipping tape when I ship. Like KidMoxie said, if they are stuck together, they can't bang into each other. so each bottle gets bubble wrap layered, then taped to it's neighbor, then the next one is added on and so-on and so-forth. Then the whole bottle pile gets several wraps of bubble wrap and encased in tightly wrapped tap to make a bubble wrap and tape sarcophagus. I plan for my bubble wrap to be completely worthless when unpacked. It needs to be sliced to the core to get to the bottles, then they should peel out easily.

I just unpacked a box that was packed with masking tape, and that was much easier to deal with than packing tape, and I don't really see any disadvantages to using it, so I might switch to using that on the inside.




Posted 34 days ago.

gruuk
Queens, NY
36 Posts


Well, now I know what I should do in the future regarding shipping bottles. Two of the three boxes I sent were definitely on the small side.




Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


Box in a box is the way to go. I went with:

Bottle --> label w/ rubberband --> ziploc --> bubble wrap (no rubber band or tape) --> all bottles wedged into 12-pack box with bubble wrap to fill gaps --> tape up box --> plastic bag --> into bigger box with bubble wrap on all six sides --> tape that box.




Posted 34 days ago.

davidg
Kula, HI
137 Posts


I don't know what this HP bubble wrap is, but for my bottles I sent to you I used this bubble wrap where you can't seem to pop the bubbles.  It's this air tube that goes through each, if that makes sense.  If that's the wrap you're describing, I wish I had more of it.  



Posted 34 days ago.

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