Has anyone used mason jars to bottle in? What were your results if so? They are being sealed like when you can, so I'm especially curious if they hold pressure well.
(I know they are clear, and that presents risks as far as light exposure is concerned.)
Mason jars are designed to retain a vacuum seal, not keep outward pressure in. Chances are it may hold the pressure up to a certain point before the actual seal on the lid fails, but the glass itself is not tempered glass, and therefor is not designed to withstand the pressures of bottle conditioning. Bottle conditioning inside of mason jars may easily result in... jar bombs. I would advise against it.
Don't Do It
The Mason Jars can withstand the pressure inside a pressure cooker, because the jars are usually sanitised with lids open (so steam goes everywhere) in the pressure cooker. The pressure is surrounding the glass, on the inside and the outside of the jar, acting ON the glass, the system (within the cooker) is balanced.
With bottling, the pressure of CO2 is HIGH inside the jar and LOW outside the jar, the system is not balanced. Pressure moves outwards smashing the weak unsuitable glass to balance the system.
If you really want to see for yourself, place yeast + sugar water in the jar and place inside a box somewhere of suitable temperature and away from everyone and everything!
Couldn't find the compressive strength of glass compared to the tensile strength of glass, but a mason jar would probably be able to withstand higher pressure acting on the outside (as in canning, or under vacuum) than pressure acting from the inside, even if the compressive and tensile strengths are the same.
As far as the light is concerned, just put the containers in a dark place.
I have actual experience with this... For a period of time I was "bottling" with mason jars off the fridge taps for co workers (the ease of filling is still tempting). I was finding that after about 4 hours unrefrigerated (I don't have any data on long term refrigerated storage) the lid would peak outward and crease about from the center to the band (the part that screws on). The band did seem to keep the sealing compound flush with the rim of the jar enough to keep the beer carbonated, but I assume this would not be true for long term storage. The take-away here is, short term... ok, but your going to toast the lid every time... long term, I wouldnt do it!
It would pop up the lid and let the co2 escape, i was doing kefir, and it didnt hold it, it didnt make a mess but the lid broke the ring, i still drank it bit the lid didnt hold the kefir
I know this is an old thread and I am new here. I have been brewing since 2007. I started off bottling in 16oz. Grolsch flip top bottles because it was easy to get a few cases and have friends enjoy them with you. I started using mason jars 2 years ago because I got tired of cleaning the grolsch bottles. I have bottles many beers and hard ciders in wide mouth and regular mouth jars up to 2.6 volumes. I have never had any grenade on me. It does look weird because the kids will push up and when they are carbed enough they’ll get a kink in the lid. Then it’s time to chill for a week and enjoy. I also use Pasteur champagne yeast to carbonate because it’ll handle a wide range of temps without getting any off flavors. It is also very quick to carb of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
