by warra48 » Monday Feb 14, 2011 5:25 pm
The only modern currently available equivalents are, I think, the Coopers longnecks. Brilliant bottles, and probably the best available longnecks for homebrewers.
Some time ago I went to the trouble of weighing individual bottles to see how much glass was in each. I'm now going from memory as to my results:
The lightest were the current xxxx bottles, and I won't use them because they are just too light.
The current VB, Carlton, Tooheys bottles are OK, with about 20 to 30% more glass than the xxxx bottles. I use quite a lot of them, and find them good to use.
The best are the Coopers longnecks, with about 40 to 50% more glass than even the VB and Tooheys bottles. Best of all, the Coopers are genuine roll tops, not screwtops.
I don't know how the 650s compare. I do know that the 650s are produced purely to supply the homebrew market. The bottle manufacturers can't supply 750 mil bottles to HB shops, because the major breweries own the patterns etc etc on those bottles, and won't let them be used for anything other than their own requirements. Hence the 650s, which is not a commercially sold available size.
The Coopers bottles are designed to be used for refilling with homebrew but, of course, to get them, you first need to buy them filled with Coopers' product!