Swing Tops?

I am hoping to bottle my first ever home brew this week (Wednesday) and I've got about twelve 16oz swing top bottles with the tops. Are there any special considerations for using these in the bottling process?!

As a quick unrelated question, I brewed Wednesday of last week. I'm not seeing bubbles in my fermentation lock. Bad? I have made sure it's still sealed up too. The rubber stopper assembly they is.

Not really any problems with using swing tops. Make sure you sanitize the cap and gasket really well. Are you planning on bottling the beer you brewed 1 week ago? I would hold up on that. Give it a minimum 2 weeks fermenting before you you bottle. Do you have a hydrometer? You really can't gauge how fermentation is coming along without one.

Upship said:

I am hoping to bottle my first ever home brew this week (Wednesday) and I've got about twelve 16oz swing top bottles with the tops. Are there any special considerations for using these in the bottling process?!

As a quick unrelated question, I brewed Wednesday of last week. I'm not seeing bubbles in my fermentation lock. Bad? I have made sure it's still sealed up too. The rubber stopper assembly they is.

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As the other poster said, one week is at minimum 1 to 2 weeks too early and possibly a month to 3 months early depending on the style. What style of beer is it? What was your OG?

It's a "wit" but I only used the standard brewers yeast out of the kit, no liquid. I'm kinda just going for the quick and dirty first brew recommended by most of the stuff I've read, but it's still in the Carboy so that's not set in stone. OG was 1.44, there is significant sediment though which I imagine played a part in the (relatively high?) reading. I do have a hydrometer yes.

Upship said:

It's a "wit" but I only used the standard brewers yeast out of the kit, no liquid. I'm kinda just going for the quick and dirty first brew recommended by most of the stuff I've read, but it's still in the Carboy so that's not set in stone. OG was 1.44, there is significant sediment though which I imagine played a part in the (relatively high?) reading. I do have a hydrometer yes.

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Check your FG at the very least and make sure you got down to your target. I don't blame you wanting to turn it over quick... But two weeks in the fermentor is usually the absolute minimum.

I would check the gravity now, and then suck it up and let it sit another 2 weeks and take the gravity again, by then you should definitely be ready to bottle but take the 2nd gravity reading just to be sure it isn't stuck or still fermenting.

Thank you all very much for your encouragement. I'll suck it up. How do I go about taking a reading without introducing bacteria?

And in regard to sanitizing the swing tops, bleach and water alright?

Bump

Upship said:

How do I go about taking a reading without introducing bacteria?

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if you have a wine/beer thief sanitize it. What container is the beer in? a carboy or a bucket? if a carboy, slip off the top and take your sample. you'll be fine if its only for a few (30) seconds. if its a bucket pry off the lid and slide the bucket til you can get your thief inside to grab a sample. then re attach the lid. not to difficult.

Now that there is alcohol in your beverage, it will be harder for nasties to get a foothold in it. Your yeasties have grown big and strong. when you get consistent readings for 3 days then you know its done. Rack to a bottling bucket and go! Enjoy your first brew after it conditions (wits are meant to be consumed young) and get started on your next one!

Cough, howtobrew.com, cough... ...I would advise against bleach unless you like the taste of medecine/bandaids in your beer. Bleach can be a proper sanitizer, but there are much better alternatives out there. Save yourself the frustration and pick up some StarSan or Iodophor.

Thanks for the help!!! And the hint, cough. Now, what's a beer thief? And are there any substitutes?

You're welcome. Thief, you can also use a dedicated turkey baster or anything that you can use to take a small sample of wort with.

I've been bottling with swing tops for a few years and thought I'd mention what I do for sanitation...

I wash bottles after I drink them, then store them until the next brew is ready for bottling. I take them out about a hour before bottling and put them in the dishwasher (with the rubber washer taken off) and run them without detergent on the sanitize cycle. It gets super hot and kills anything that might have been alive, then I take the whole dishwasher rack out and carry it to the bathroom and set the bottles in the base of the tub (so spills aren't an issue) and the fermenter in the window sill above the the tub. Mix priming sugar, etc as you always would and then siphon into bottles. I rinse the rubber washers in sanitizer before putting them back on and 'capping'.

I've never had a bad batch and it beats the hell out of sanitizing individual bottles. Just wash the tub when you're done. Your wife will appreciate it.

I've been using the swing top bottles for most of my brews (the other's go into Belgian bottles)... Since I don't have a dishwasher (other than my own two hands) I simply wash them out as I empty the bottle (it's not difficult to get them clean) and store them until bottling day. I have a bucket of StarSan mixed up and simply fill the bottles in the bucket (submerge them, letting them fill up) and then drain them out. I have a sanitized bottle tree right next to me for the bottles to go onto...

During the bottling process, I'll use either a towel saturated with StarSan, or my spray bottle filled with StarSan, to sanitize the gaskets before capping each filled bottle.

I really do like using these bottles, since it means I don't have caps to worry about having, crimping on, and more stuff to toss out per batch. If you compare the cost of the consumable items with the swing top bottles with capped bottles, the gaskets pay for themselves within two fillings. Since you get at least 5-6 fillings out of each gasket, you end up saving money there. I've not compared prices against the 12oz bottles (just the bottles) but I like having ~36 bottles for a 5 gallon batch, compared with the ~48 with 12oz bottles. Plus, all my beer glasses are designed to hold a pint, not 12oz...

For pulling a sample of the brew for testing, you can also use a stainless steel baster... You can try the normal sized one, found in many stores, or you can get one of the long ones found at many HBS... I would go with stainless steel over plastic here mostly because you won't need to worry about scratching it and then having infection risks. Personally, I'm using a glass wine thief to pull my samples. I sanitize the thief, and the hydrometer test tube before pulling the sample. It's nice having a bucket of StarSan mixed at all times. Plus, the spray bottle filled with it comes in handy a lot.

Well I got a plastic baster today and just took a sample - 1.015! The recipe calls for between 1.007-1.012 so I'll keep tabs on it the next few days and hopefully bottle sometime this weekend. This StarSan everyone keeps talking about, it sounds like black magic! You can spray it on the gaskets just before bottling, and sanitize bottles just prior to bottling without rinsing? If that's correct I'm getting some this weekend!!!

Give it another week... Don't just trust the gravity readings to tell you the brew is actually ready for bottling. Taste is just as important (if not more so) than reaching the FG of a brew.

I'll second the above and add that the hydrometer tells you when it's SAFE to bottle, not READY to bottle. Almost all homebrew can benefit from a little bit of time on the yeast. Also the StarSan is no rinse and takes 30 seconds (per the inventor) of wet contact time to sanitize the surface of your bottles/etc... ...the stuff is great, just don't fear the foam!

I just mix up a bucket and dunk all the bottles/gaskets in it, then fill from my bottling bucket every 4-5 bottles stopping to latch the gaskets.

So I should be tasting the samples as well? Man I've never been so impatient about something before! I'll tough it out though.

Well StarSan is on the shopping list this weekend! Thank you both, again!

Yep taste your samples, but don't get too worried until you've got the finished product. This gives you an idea of what beer tastes like during different stages of fermentation. I remember being antsy about my first couple, no I just let them sit 3-4 weeks before I even think of touching them.

Glad to be of assistance.

Tasting the brew is very important in determining when it's really ready to be bottled. That's after it's reached it's FG... Tasting it will tell you if it's good to be bottled, needs another week (or several) or if you want to add a flavor element to the brew. Otherwise it's like banging a hot woman in the dark, with your eyes closed... Sure, it will be good, but being able to see what's going on makes it all the better. :rockin:

Upship said:

So I should be tasting the samples as well? Man I've never been so impatient about something before! I'll tough it out though.

Well StarSan is on the shopping list this weekend! Thank you both, again!

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Yes, taste your sample. There is no reason to waste it. Don't pour it back in the fermenter, don't take the chance of putting bad stuff in your brew.

StarSan is the best. I always have a spray bottle at the ready.

Awesome, I'll taste some this afternoon when I take a sample.