bottles vs jugs

Atrus · 07-29-2006, 10:16 PM

Looking into getting into brewing. I do have a general question - I plan on brewing the standard 5 gallons at a time. Most of the time, my friends and I will be consuming more than 1 beer at a time. Do you find it more labor and cost effective to bottle, or to use 1 gallon jugs? I'd just like to hear your experience before I place my order.

I was all about bottling, but the more I think of it, it might be good for me to get a case of bottles, and jug the majority. It'd be nice to be able to have a few bottles, but like I said, a lot of the time, it's a friend or two over, drinking a few pints. Are there any issues with carbonating in a jug? Not sure on the name of the method, but I was planning on doing the standard of forcing cabonation using sugar prior to bottling.

Thanks in advance! My buddy and I are excited to get going on brewing (I have a basement to ferment and age in, he doesn't, so my house will be the brew house) The plan is to start out small, and then get another 2 or so sets of fermenting jugs and carboys so we can have 2-3 blends on hand at any given time.

Dark_Ale · 07-29-2006, 10:36 PM

There are several small kegging options. They have their ups and downs. What ever works for you, but for the first batch I would just bottle it. Make sure it turns out ok. Then if all goes well look into kegging and bigger jugs, you can also get bigger swing top bottles also. This is just my opinion but, if this is your first batch make an ale that you like. I would'nt use the canned malt. Order the malt extract that they have to weigh and seal in a plastic bucket for you, hops, yeast, and you may want to consider yeast nutrient since your using extract. Thats all you need except for cleaner and sanitizer. Most of the time you can tell the brew shops what you want to make and they will get you pretty close. If you want to use one gallon jugs it would probably be ok, as long as it did not leak but I would research how much priming sugar to use, Someone correct me if I am wrong, I dont keg yet, but to force carbonate, you have to get the beer very cold then hit with with co2 and shake it around a bit. Force carbonating has nothing to do with priming sugar.

Atrus · 07-30-2006, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark_Ale

Someone correct me if I am wrong, I dont keg yet, but to force carbonate, you have to get the beer very cold then hit with with co2 and shake it around a bit. Force carbonating has nothing to do with priming sugar.

Sorry Dark Ale, my terminology probably wasn't right. I meant to say I intended on carbonating using the sugar method, not using any type of CO2 tank or anything. I know that works in bottles, I assume it'd work just as well in a gallon jug, but I figured I'd ask here for peoples' experiences. What you said makes sense, maybe I'll just go for 48 bottles.

Dave R · 07-30-2006, 03:45 PM

I'll probably get shot for this, but I still use 2 liter pop bottles, cleaned and sanitized. Just put your priming solution in a bottling bucket and then rack from Primary to bottling bucket keeping the end of the hose under the beer as it flows in. The beer will automatically get mixed as it enters the bucket. Then use the spigot on the bottling bucket and a bottling wand and fill the 2 liter bottles. It takes 10 bottles for 5 gallons and after 3 weeks in a dark closet, they will be carbonated. I have about 50 bottles so that I can have more than one brew conditioning at a time.

Eventually I will go to kegs, but for now, this works great for me. I always pour my beer into a glass anyway, so that's why the 2 liter bottles.

**david_42** · 07-30-2006, 06:49 PM

Very few gallon jugs can handle the pressure of carbonation. Many homebrewers use 22 oz. bottles, rather than 12's. Half the work. It's enough you can split it, but not so much you can't have something else. The main advantage of smaller bottles is you can have several different ales in a session. You'll find it isn't like BMC where you just burn through a case.

The main case against soda bottles is oxygen leaks through the plastic, but homebrew rarely lasts long enough for that to be a problem.

dumbj · 08-06-2006, 08:25 PM

im pretty new by all standards here, but id just thought id add something. my first couple of batches i used the 2/litre pop bottle method. i added 2 Tsp of corn sugar to each for carbonation and had very good carbonation in 2 weeks. it actually turned out much much better than i expected for a first try out, and the taste was alot better than some home beers ive had in the past. i think this is mostly due to cleanliness, as im a bit of a clean freak. but thats just my 2 cents. thanx fer the cool forum here btw, it has been priceless in ym latest hobby.

jar · 08-07-2006, 03:44 AM

I just bottled my first batch today. I did a case of 12 0.5L swingtops and the rest in 12oz. I see myself aquiring more and more swingtops. My LHBS carries them in 0.5L, 1L, and 2L sizes. I think future batches will probably be a few 2Ls, a few 1Ls, a 12 pack or so of 12oz and the rest 0.5L swingtops.

bigbrohog · 08-07-2006, 04:52 AM

I'm fairly new to brewing myself, but I've helped my brother brew quite a few batches. I recommend the Party Pig if you don't want to deal with bottles. It holds 2.25 gallons, and it fits right in the fridge. It doesn't need CO2 as it uses a special pressure pouch to keep the pressure up...and you don't have to drink it all at once. It will last in the fridge quite awhile. I've found that the main advantage of bottles is in the presentation. People might think its a little sketchy if you start pouring them a beer from a 2 liter plastic coke bottle. BUT...if they don't see you pour the beer, they won't be able to tell the difference. I have also found that wine bottles (Arbor Mist twist caps...not corked bottles)work well too. They are a little more classy than 2 liter plastic bottles, and they are easier to keep clean. We usually do a combination of Party Pig and either beer bottles or wine bottles. The only difficulty in using both is the priming sugar. The Party Pig needs less sugar to carbonate than the bottles do.

Noldar · 08-07-2006, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jar

I just bottled my first batch today. I did a case of 12 0.5L swingtops and the rest in 12oz. I see myself aquiring more and more swingtops. My LHBS carries them in 0.5L, 1L, and 2L sizes. I think future batches will probably be a few 2Ls, a few 1Ls, a 12 pack or so of 12oz and the rest 0.5L swingtops.

I have 36 .5L swingtops (thanks to a lovely wife) and that has made bottling a snap. It take me roughly 2 hours for a bottling day, that includes cleaning, sanitizing, bottling, cleaning secondary, ect. I'm going to go on a drinking binge over the next month and get some more Grolsh swingtop to add to my on going collection.

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