Side by Side Comparison of: Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies vs Chefs Star®

I have bought these in the past. Great bottles for home brewers.

Excellent bottles. Arrived in great shape.

Great price and extremely well packaged. Bought these to bottle my first home brew. Fun experience. Will be buying more from this seller.

The bottles I received are shaped slightly differently than what's pictured (straight neck instead of bulged) but the bottles are thick and sturdy and appear to be of extremely high quality! They look like they will be great for my homebrew and they were packaged very well for shipping. Plenty of bubble wrap and cardboard dividers between each bottle. The box itself will be great for storing the beer once it's bottled! It also came with bottle caps, which isn't described in the product specifications. I got it from the Reed's seller, if that makes any difference. I expect other marketplace sellers might not include the caps.These are definitely a must for a homebrewer. Not as nice as the flip-top bottles but cheaper and bigger than twelve ounce bottles, which makes bottling a lot quicker, and easier to clean as well.

It's a lot faster filling and capping 22 oz. If you're a fast drinker you won't have any problem. Some don't like because the beer gets warm before they finish.These came packed in a nice cardboard box with dividers and plenty of bubble wrap. Actually, each bottle was bubble wrapped as well. Will definitely be ordering more...

There's not really much to say about these bottles. They're 22 ounce bottles. They're high quality & they came well packaged & all of them were in tact. The bottles I received were all separated by a cardboard divider & wrapped with a piece of bubble wrap. It was pretty well put together, & all my bottles survived shipping. The price is WAY cheaper than my LHBS & I don't have to drive an hour to get them. Can't beat it IMO. Good stuff. Cheers!

These are great bottles, able to hold a heavy CO2 load. I used mine for making homemade sodas: I fermented pineapple juice with a champagne yeast (which has proven to be quite an explosive mixture in the past) and these bottles performed well under pressure! However, if you dare to try your own pineapple soda in them, I would recommend only a 24 hour ferment max and venting your brew daily to prevent overflows! Otherwise, the next guest you have over for a drink will get to watch as their pineapple beverage turned volcano paints your walls and their face. That is how good these bottles are at bottling in pressure. Enjoy!

I used these to bottle up some small batch (1 gallon) mead. This was my first brewing/fermenting and bottling experience, and I think it went really well. I'm anxious for six months or so to pass so I can see how the mead ages (and the bottles hold up). The seal seems to be nice and secure, with no serious difficulty getting them closed.

Made this purchase on a whim, as I had my first batch on homebrew beer nearly finished. The flip top makes bottling the beer a breeze and the quality of the parts are all great. Nothing feels cheap or weak, If I ever needed to I would purchase this again.

I'm new to brewing my own kombucha and have learned a lot about carbonation in fermented beverages in a short time. These bottles can definitely withstand the pressure. I have had bottles almost shoot to the ceiling when I opened them and that tells me they are pretty tough since they did not explode or break. I still have a lot to learn about this endeavor but it helps that I don't have broken glass as a result of my mistakes. Great product :) Thank you!

I do NOT understand any of the hubbub about problems with these bottles. They were shipped promptly, arrived safely via UPS, and had 12 bottles and 12 capping apparatuses to go with them. Yes, the capping parts were hard to clamp down after installation, but they're new, and stiff, and I'd really rather have them clamp tight and seal than be loose and uncertain. The bottles were clean, and there was no odor or discernible "grease" or such stuff, on the metal capping cages. Nonetheless, I'm running them through the dishwasher to clean and sanitize them before filling with my latest batch of PRECIOUS limoncello. I'm no qualms at all about them being a good choice for the job.

Ordered these on a Friday and got them the next Wednesday in great shape, not a single crack/chip/anything wrong with these bottles.One reviewer stated that they are not the authentic things, I can verify though that they are. The reviewer stated that since "E-Z Cap" was not raised in the glass where the neck meets the body that they were not authentic. The EZ-Cap has never been there and is in fact raised on the bottom of the bottle.I used these almost immediately after getting them and sanitizing them to drop my Chocolate Milk Stout in them for conditioning. The seal is fantastic and I have not had any of them turn into "beer bomb", the glass seems very solid. 99% of the time I would hit up my local HBS for these but I had an Amazon gift card and thought I'd give ordering something like this on Amazon a shot. Glad I took the gamble and glad the bottles are as great as they are.

I find it much easier to wash, dry, bottle, and store these bottles over the 12oz kind. One was broken during shipping.

Bottles are fine but one was broken

bottles were great but one was broken in the 2 cases i ordered, though considering that it was only one and it was ~$2 delivered, i did not complain or ask for refund, it was the delivery and not the supplierthese work great for beer due to the volume they hold, u reduce the number of bottles required when bottling

These bottles are great and save so much time when bottling your home brew. 12 bottles with hold about 2 gallons. Bottles were packed great and arrived in perfect condition. The shipping took longer than I expected, but I was in no hurry.

All twelve bottles arrived unbroken and with caps that had to be installed (not hard at all). Caps are similar to what is pictured, but a cheaper orange plastic seal than what appears to be the rubber red ones in the photo. However, they still provide an adaquate seal that has kept my bottles well carbonated for about 2 months now, no issues.Glass is thick and the shape is a bit unique which I like, I can easily tell them from others' bottle when a few of us get together.Easy cap in the title is a little misleading. Once on, and ESPECIALLY if you're using them for something like homebrewing (carbonation pressure and when you pull them from the fridge the condensation amplifies the issue), they can be pretty challenging to open the first few times. The metal piece you have to pull to open them it tight and sits too close to the bottle to really get any grip on.Overall, they have some areas I don't like, but they were also some of the cheapest on here. I don't think I'd pay any more than the $25 they cost at the time... because once you hit $30+ they definitely are better options. For price and time being, they will work for my needs.

It felt like I was solving a puzzle just to get the caps on. However now I'm brewing second ferment kombuchas like a pro.

I would give five stars but one of my bottles were broken. Other than that they are exactly what I was looking for to bottle my kombucha. Thank you so much.

These are wonderful bottles for kombucha. One of the swing top kids was not bent correctly and does not provide enough pressure for the lid and carbonation escapes, otherwise, I would have given 5 stars.

The bottles are exactly what I was looking for. Bails come in a bag and need to be attached but they snap on easily. 4 stars instead of 5 because 3 bottles broke in transit. 4 stars instead of 1 because the company got back to me as soon as they got my message and credited me for the broken ones.

Very well made bottles, handles 2 1/2 cups of Kombucha with room for flavoring, the lids that came with the bottles had a few hickups but the vendor stood behind his product to make the purchase worth my while.

Bottles are fine, a bit wider round the bottom than your typical store bought grolsch. The problem lies with the seals - I received orange plastic seals, not silicon or rubber as pictured, and they fail to seal well though brand new which has been a waste of a few batches of brew and sucks. Wish they'd show authenticate pictures and descriptions, but you'll get what you get and from reading the descriptions clearly vary.

Ok

I ordered these twice. The first time one of the flup-tops was missing. The second order I returned because two of the bottles were broken.

Just received my purchase for this - it came with the orange easy cap tops. I was not very happy. These don't hold a seal as well as the red caps that are advertised. The beers I've made with these orange caps have come out flat. I'm returning this. Hope if you order it that you get the red tops. They work much better and open with a beautiful champagne pop.

I have to say that what you choose to use these for may result in how well they work for you. I bought these for juicing/storage. I love the bottles & style. HOWEVER, the neck is to small - which makes it hard to find the right funnel and it makes it impossible to clean them (even after soaking in vinegar / bleach and denture cleaner). After a few uses the metal that holds the cap on became loose & wont stay in the holes no matter how much I try to bend them in. SO unfortunately over all I'd say stick to mason jars or find bottles with a wider neck, which is disappointing because they really are neat bottles.

They do not even list the type of materials, the type of rubber or plastic they use in the cups. They do not even say where it is made. I think customers deserve to have the information. The box or the bottle say nothing.

Some of the bottles in the box were broken when they arrived. I had to bottle my beer asap though so I had to use what I had

the bottle is great, it seal pretty well for my kombucha, but unfortunately they have miss 1 bottle inside the box.I should have check the box but I didn't, now I am paying 11 bottle for full amount, and I have pass the time windows to do exchange or refund.other than that to be honesty the bottle is really nice.

The quality of the swing top was disappointing. The top layer of the metal is chipping off. The rubber part to seal the bottle is made of cheap plastic. For the same price go buy the Italian swing top bottles. Much better quality.

I received these bottles in a timely manner with everything intact and complete. I used these for bottling beer. I bought 1 case of 12 and over the course of 5 bottlings only 3 still hold carbonation, I lost 2 beers on my first go with these! Overall, the construction compared to a grolsch bottle is lacking. The metal cage is thinner and the seal does no feel as tight when closing the bottle. The white plastic part of the cap feels cheap as well. I have yet to lose a Grolsch bottle after a similar amounts of bottlings. I do no suggest using these for brewing beer.

The metal on the lids rusted after the second batch of beer. They were never left sitting in a wet location so there is no reason for them to rust other than poor quality. Very disappointed!

The bottles are nice, but not for beer brewing. We've done two batches now and most of them end up flat. Most of the caps are not air tight, usually only two of them ever actually work. Also, the necks of the bottles are so fat, that a normal bottle capper will not work on them. You are better off buying 12oz bottles and capping them yourself if you are brewing. Maybe we will find another use these...we will see.

The bottles come with the tops off so you can't tell how they go on. There is no directions included either. It would be nice to know how to attach the caps.

The bottles came with no 38mm lidsWhat good are they without the lidsThe description stated comes with six 38 mm screw on lidsI want the LIDs

I ordered 12 bottles. I received 12 bottles. I received zero caps. Thanks.Maybe give the guy filling orders a quick period of instruction on his duties, or a sobriety check.

The glass is decent quality but if you are brewing and want carbonation these are not for you - The caps don't create a strong enough seal and all of my kombucha ended up flat!

Caps are useless for homebrewing as they don't create a strong enough seal for bottle conditioning. Every beer ended up flat.

4 bottles arrived to our house broken and we could not use them. After my husband and son bottled the beer, the lids were difficult to use and 3 of the bottles EXPLODED, beer everywhere. Lids were broken. I do not recommend this item.

Glass bottles all appear good. The plastic tops that come with the bottles do not seal tight. All my beer in two separate batches are flat. I have had to buy other ceramic tops and installed them on these bottles in order to make a good seal. Pretty worthless if I have to buy more expensive caps just to use the bottles correctly.

Great bottle, sturdy construction, but there are only 6 bottles per pack, not the twelve bottles pictured on the product page or implied in the name. Amazon fixed the problem, but please beware when purchasing that you are likely to get 6 bottles + 6 caps = 12. Not 12 bottles + 12 caps.