Well now, I started collecting bottles back when I was in college. The ivy-covered halls of higher learning where I was receiving my enlightenment was in a primitive part of the country where preachers and bootleggers kept the county dry. At the time I had a 50 gal. brewery in the attic of the fraternity house and bottles were an essential part of the overall operation. In the autumn of my life I have scaled back to a 20 gal. brewery but still collect and fill bottles with continued vigor and enthusiasm.