Simple Tip for Bottlers

Thought I would pass along a simple tip for telling when your bottled batch is ready to drink: Fill 2 or 3 clear glass bottles when bottleing. This way you can monitor the conditioning by looking at the beer. I use Newcastle Brown clear glass bottles as I drink a lot of this stuff. When the beer is clear, priming fermentation is done and the beer is ready. Not necessarily at it's peak, but it should be carbonated and ready to at least sample. The rest of the batch gets bottled in standard brown bottles as per usual. Make sure you store the clear glass bottles in the dark as you don't want to skunk your beer by exposing it to UV radiation (sunlight or flurorescent bulbs).

I actually did the same when I bottled. One corona bottle and at least one PET (plastic) bottle. The plastic is nice because you can feel the firmness which is a direct indicator of carbonation.

Amen to both ideas, guys!

I have a few Sam Smith's 12 oz bottles I use for that purpose as well. Of course, I don't mind sampling a bit early either.

Good Idea.

Got any tips for passing the time while I wait on the bottles to ripen?

j/k - I'm sure you guys can come up with all kinds of colorful recommendations, I just wanted to relay of how EAGER I am to get these next few days over with.

bluehen said:

Good Idea.

Got any tips for passing the time while I wait on the bottles to ripen?

j/k - I'm sure you guys can come up with all kinds of colorful recommendations, I just wanted to relay of how EAGER I am to get these next few days over with.

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Yup. Start on your next batch, relax and hava...etc. Time goes by amazingly quickly.

bluehen said:

Good Idea.

Got any tips for passing the time while I wait on the bottles to ripen?

j/k - I'm sure you guys can come up with all kinds of colorful recommendations, I just wanted to relay of how EAGER I am to get these next few days over with.

Click to expand...

Go through every section of this forum and start reading the threads from oldest to newest. That should take you about 6 months. Your beer will be hitting it peak right about then.