how much to fill bottle

So, I'm about to bottle my first two batches of beer. How full do I make the bottles?

chemist308 said:

So, I'm about to bottle my first two batches of beer. How full do I make the bottles?

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About an inch to an inch and a half from the top should be fine. That's how I do mine, and haven't had any exploders yet.

chemist308 said:

So, I'm about to bottle my first two batches of beer. How full do I make the bottles?

Click to expand...

If you're using a bottling wand, fill the bottles right to the top. When you withdraw the wand, the perfect amount of headspace will be left.

BlindLemonLars said:

If you're using a bottling wand, fill the bottles right to the top. When you withdraw the wand, the perfect amount of headspace will be left.

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and fill until all the foam is out of the bottle. I put the bottles on a cookie sheet because some beer always spills out. Good luck!

RichBrewer said:

and fill until all the foam is out of the bottle. I put the bottles on a cookie sheet because some beer always spills out. Good luck!

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Same here. I fill until all the foam is pushed out. I lose maybe six ounces or so doing it this way. No big deal.

BlindLemonLars has the correct answer.

I sanitize my bottles in the dishwasher. I'll put my bottling bucket on the counter, then fill the bottles on the dishwasher's open door. Easy clean-up... just close the door!

I actually liked to wind up with about a half inch of space left in my bottles. The space that commercial breweries leave is largely due to a number of circumstances that don't apply to homebrewers. I don't give a flip if I have exactly 12 oz. of beer in my bottle, but I do care if I have more oxygen in there than I need to.

No bombs, either, in my career.


TL