Is it rare? How can I use it? Origins, color varieties, and value explained. Photos and interesting information about sea glass and the brown glass and bottles that sea glass comes from are found below.
When you find a piece of brown sea glass, you can be pretty sure it came from a beer bottle. 
Not 100% sure, but with the popularity of beer over the centuries and the use of brown glass of different shades for beer bottles, you can be ALMOST 100% sure that brown sea glass came from a beer bottle. The other uses, of course, would include medicine bottles and few others. Why is beer almost always associated with brown glass? Here's a little background. Bottled beer has been in use since as early as the 16th century. Beer bottles come in various sizes, shapes and colours. Dark glass prevents light from spoiling the beer. However, lighter coloured bottles are often used for marketing reasons. 
Above you see a group of brown shards. Brown Sea Glass comes in many shades or hues, from palest amber or straw colored to very dark reddish-brown 
Put the same brown pieces in a little water, as in this photo, and the colors really come out. For that reason, you might want to rub a few drops of a light oil such as rosemary or another herbal oil on the surface of your dark brown pieces. The oil can be removed easily with a little dish detergent. The main reason beer has been and still is made in brown bottles of varying shades is to protect it from light exposure. The other uses, of course, would include medicine bottles and few others. Lightstruck beer or skunked beer is beer that has been exposed to ultraviolet and visible light. This exposure causes a reaction with the hops (which are added to beer to achieve the right amount of bitterness). However, when exposed to ultraviolet rays, the reaction with the hops produces a compound that is very similar to a skunk's natural defenses! In some cases, such as Miller High Life, a hop extract that is nonreactive is used to bitter the beer so it cannot be "lightstruck". Why brown and not another common color? Bottles with dark brown glass give some protection to the beer, but green and clear glass offer virtually no protection at all. Go from Brown Sea Glass to Sea Glass Color Chart BEACHES! Tell us about your favorite beach for seaglass collecting, beachglass, beachcombing...whether it's in your back yard or the other side of the globe. Sea Glass Fountain - From Craft Ideas Red sea glass! Is it rare? Where can I find it? Take a look here
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