I know nobody likes reviving old threads, but I didn't want to post a new one.
Wouldn't it stand to truth that after opening the bottle, you could squeeze the air out of it and re-cap/refrigerate it with no air in it and lose little/no carbonation?
Not really. Did you ever open a two day old bottle of soda? Generally flat, but maybe with some fizz.
Another issue is just the act of pouring it can mix up some sediment, as well as oxidize it.
In any case, would a careful/quiet pour, a good squeeze, and tight capping at least keep the stuff better longer? I mean I've used growlers before and you get maybe a day or two out of those at best, but you're basically capping a fresh load of oxygen right on top if it. The advantage I saw with plastic was just that you could squeeze that air right out and maybe keep things good for a few more days.
Just a thought.
The CO2 will escape from the liquid if you don't keep it under pressure. It isn't just about oxygen.
Soda bottles can work fine. But absolutely stay away from plastic bottles from root beer. The taste persists in the plastic like crazy and will trash the beer.
I'm pretty new to brewing but have a little bit of experience in brewing in plastic bottles. I started out brewing in brown PET bottles. Lately I only brew in glass. One batch I brewed I used plastic and glass. I noticed they both tasted slightly different. I can't really describe the flavor difference, but the beer in the glass tasted better to me. There wasn't a big difference but it was noticeable to me
Hope that helps.
Dan
Then squeeze the sides to make the beer come up just to the lip and screw on the cap - this eliminates all air and gives the bottle room to handle the carbonation pressure.
I read stuff like this and then think, "why the HELL didnt I think of this?!" so simple yet very effective..that is a very cool idea!
I don't think it would have much affect on carbonation. Once a small amount of CO2 is generated the bottle will be "unsqueezed" and you'll be right back where you started.
2L isn't really very much anyway- only about 3-4 beers, right?
Well, yeah, after it is already carbonated this is true- but the quote from edwort is referring specifically to the bottle conditioning phase, before it is carbed. It allows expansion room without having to leave any head space at all, so you get zero chance of any oxidation.
Here's his two beer fridges.
Wow... he must have a raging club soda habit to have enough bottles!
Wow... he must have a raging club soda habit to have enough bottles!
I'm sure for conventional beer sugar levels plastic soda bottles are fine. But I'm about to start my next batch of hard cranberry lemonade, and my last attempt had almost no sweetness to it. I have no access to a keg, so bottle carbonating is my only option, and many of my friends are lactose intolerant, AND I despise the taste of splenda. Quite restrictive eh?
I heard that soda bottles can withstand pressures up to 100psi, and also that most yeasts will go dormant long before this point (somewhere around 50-60psi, enough to blow a glass bottle). So if I simply backsweetened with plenty of corn/cane sugar, then bottled and let it carbonate, would the extra sugar stay there, unfermented, sweetening the batch? Or has there been a case of plastic bottle bombs?
Thanks for the incredibly fast response, Yooper! I'm going to experiment with a bottle of water sugar and yeast with high levels of sugar and see how that fares over a few days of fermenting (filled nearly to the top), but I'll probably end up refrigerating the finished product.
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