About to start bottling

[mmorley]

Hi

I'm going to start bottling my first brew later on this week (will be 14 days in primary), and i was just wondering if anyone had any hints for me, instead of going for 750ml glass bottles, i've got in a load of 330ml bottles. so if any of the bottles blow i wont have a lot of waste? I'm going to soak the bottles in bleach just to make sure they are clean then rinse until i can't rinse anymore, just to make sure there isn't any bleach left.
Which is better, co2 tablets or a teaspoon of sugar?
Is there away to stop the bottle from going bang ?

 

[Arneba28]

What kind of beer you making. If your water is clean and not suspect of nasty stuff then rinsing after bleach will be fine. I like Iodophor as a sanitizer. No rinse so it great.

Its really up to your preference on carb tabs vs bottle conditioning and priming, I have always bottle conditioned and really like the results. If you are doing a 20-21 liter batch then 3/4 Cups dextrose will be fine and nothing will explode(most likely)

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

You can stop the bottles from going bang by making sure your initial fermentation is finished with your hydrometer.

 

[mmorley]

Its really up to your preference on carb tabs vs bottle conditioning and priming, I have always bottle conditioned and really like the results. If you are doing a 20-21 liter batch then 3/4 Cups dextrose will be fine and nothing will explode(most likely)

I think i will try the conditioning first I how should this be done, because if i add it and stir the sediment up? how can you add it

 

[Seawolf]

I think i will try the conditioning first I how should this be done, because if i add it and stir the sediment up? how can you add it

I think what you're asking is how to add priming sugar without stirring the sediment?

Use a separate bottling bucket. Add boiled priming sugar (3/4 cup sugar in two cups water typically) to bottling bucket, siphon beer into bucket, stir gently with a sanitized spoon, and fill sanitized bottles.


I've done this many times without any exploding bottles.

 

[camiller]

...siphon beer into bucket,...

It is also important not to start the siphon with your mouth. I usually fill the siphon hose with sanitizer and keep one end covered with my sanitized thumb while attaching the other end to the racking cane. I then run the sanitizer and first few ounces of beer into another container, move the hose to the bottling bucket and let it go.

 

[zoebisch01]

Don't individually prime the bottles, it can lead to inconsistent results and then you can get overcarbonated individuals. Add all the solution into the beer, gently stir and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then siphon into bottles. If you take care not to mix up the sediment on the bottom, then when you bottle it the majority of the sediment remains on the bottom of the bucket. Anything that does manage to get into your bottles is really not a big deal and will settle out over time.

 

[mmorley]

Thanks for the hints, but i thikn it might of got infected over night

I might be wrong (seeing as i am new to this), but last night, it was at a nice 22'C and it looked like it had a good head of bubbles, but this morning it was at 19/20'C with very little bubbles so i check it and it was sitting at 1018. which in my mind it is still good because fermentation is still happening. I'm trying to warm it back up to 22'C (hot water bottles and blankets) just to see how it is, and will give it a few more days to see if it drops down to 1010 -1008 before i look at bottling

 

[Laurel]

It sounds like you just have slow fermentation. If there's a krausen, you shouldn't even think about bottling. Wait til the gravity drops to what your kit says it should be at, or else you will have bottle bombs.

Heating it back up will do nothing but hurt the beer. I'd leave it alone.

 

[waterse]

Overnight is not long enough for signs of an infection to show up. It sounds like your just still fermenting. If you have not reached the expected final gravity then you must not bottle yet, your risk of bottle bombs is greatly increased if fermentation is not complete.

 

[BierMuncher]

19 to 22 Celsius is a fine range. Two weeks is insufficient for complete fermentation. Give it another 10-14 days.

You really need a second vessel to which to move the beer before you bottle. I don't believe you can get a thorough mixing of your priming sugar solution in the primary without stirring up the yeast bed.

 

[mmorley]

19 to 22 Celsius is a fine range. Two weeks is insufficient for complete fermentation. Give it another 10-14 days.

You really need a second vessel to which to move the beer before you bottle. I don't believe you can get a thorough mixing of your priming sugar solution in the primary without stirring up the yeast bed.

Thanks, i'm going to go out and buy another vessel today. Then prime in that vessel.