Bottling Tips for the Homebrewer

[TrustyOlJohnson]

I am wondering if I should be bummed out or not. I bottled an Alaskan Amber clone last Saturday. I just couldn't wait anymore so I cracked one open tonight. The was a small "fsssht" when I popped the cap. That was the end of any sign of carbonation. I know it is early yet but I expected a little more carbonation. Do I need to worry? It tasted great! Just flat as paper.

EDIT - never mind. I did a bunch more reading and figured out that I really was being a dork trying to drink one of my babies after only one weeks rest in a bottle. Crap I still have three more weeks to go and then some more time in the fridge. What will I do! I know brew another batch so Once i do start drinking this batch I will have other beer coming up the shoot!

I always try one at 1 week, another at 2, 1 at 3 and so on. I enjoy watching how the clarity and carbonation changes.


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[TxBigHops]

I am wondering if I should be bummed out or not. I bottled an Alaskan Amber clone last Saturday. I just couldn't wait anymore so I cracked one open tonight. The was a small "fsssht" when I popped the cap. That was the end of any sign of carbonation. I know it is early yet but I expected a little more carbonation. Do I need to worry? It tasted great! Just flat as paper.

EDIT - never mind. I did a bunch more reading and figured out that I really was being a dork trying to drink one of my babies after only one weeks rest in a bottle. Crap I still have three more weeks to go and then some more time in the fridge. What will I do! I know brew another batch so Once i do start drinking this batch I will have other beer coming up the shoot!

I disagree. You're not a dork at all. You're excited about your "babies" and want to drink one as soon as possible. Not too long ago I started a new thread on this very topic. What I learned is there is no such thing as a standard amount of time to wait before your beer is carbed up and ready to drink. What was your OG? I had a fairly small beer - OG of 1.045 and ABV of 4.2% that I opened at 8 days conditioning and one day in the fridge. Carbonation was fine. Same time schedule with a bigger IPA - OG 1.056 and ABV 6.2%. It was fine too. Don't get me wrong, the beer will certainly get better the longer you let it condition, and it will get clearer if you leave it in the fridge for several days. But you've got plenty more to do that with. Enjoy that first one as soon as possible. I would give it a few more days, then pop another one in the fridge. Only this time, leave it to chill for at least 48 hours. Apparently as it chills the beer absorbs the CO2 that is in the head space at the top of the bottle.

 

[warix]

Thanks for that Tx! Sounds like a good plan.

 

[bornafan]

22 ounces wasted!

Used standard capper gently and the bottle neck just slipped right off.

Bottle was maybe lukewarm from sanitizing bath.

Any suggestions for capping technique?

Ps bottled and capped twelve 22's, five 16.9's, and seventeen 12's with no other issues except for time (1 hour).



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[troglodytes]

This happens to one bottle a batch for me. I reuse commercial bottles I sanitize and have found that the British bottles tend to do this more often. I generally don't have a problem with Sierra Nevada bottles and Belgian bottles as they tend to be a little thicker. I also don't reuse a bottle more than 3 times because I think it weakens the neck a little every time it gets recapped

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[bornafan]

This happens to one bottle a batch for me. I reuse commercial bottles I sanitize also don't reuse a bottle more than 3 times because I think it weakens the neck a little every time it gets recapped

Thank you troglodytes! I started reusing commercial bottles too and believe this was a Lagunitas bottle. I'll heed your advice.


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[bristela]

View attachment 198101

22 ounces wasted!

Used standard capper gently and the bottle neck just slipped right off.

Bottle was maybe lukewarm from sanitizing bath.

Any suggestions for capping technique?

Ps bottled and capped twelve 22's, five 16.9's, and seventeen 12's with no other issues except for time (1 hour).



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I once had this problem, where the top of the bottle came right off. I decided at the time that the particular batch of caps were to blame because they were too stiff. Obviously, if the cap is too stiff then it will just pull the top of the bottle off instead. The ones I had this problem were these Brewers Best:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewers-best-caps-144-discontinued.html

I see they've been discontinued, I wonder why I subsequently switched to these from Austin Homebrew:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/Beer/Caps/Assorted-Bottle-Caps-3-lb.html

I haven't had this problem since. I've reused my bottles countless times too. Obviously, if you try and rush bottling then I suspect this will happen more often. Need to be firm but gentle. Hope this helps.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Ive only had stout bottle necks break. Ive used a wing capper solely and have been told a bench capper fixes the problem. So I picked one up. We shall see


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[MaxStout]

Sometimes you just get a bottle with a minor flaw built in. A hairline crack, tiny bubble in the glass, etc. It's bad enough when you lose some good beer because of it. Wait til it happens to a $30 2L Erlenmeyer flask from pouring hot wort into it, and there's broken glass and a nice puddle of sticky wort everywhere.

 

[mjleslie]

I've always bottled with 1L resealable latch style bottles. Howe sound brewery uses the bottles and also a local cider house uses a 750ml version. I love them and don't think I'll ever switch to regular bottles. Some bottles/caps have been reused probably 10 times and they still hold plenty of pressure

Pros

• Auto releases pressure if you over prime
• 1/3 the number of bottles to sanitize
• No need for capper or caps
• Takes up less space than reg bottles

Cons

• You've got to crack a whole liter for a drink (con for my liver at least...)

 

[SKYY]

Sometimes you just get a bottle with a minor flaw built in. A hairline crack, tiny bubble in the glass, etc. It's bad enough when you lose some good beer because of it. Wait til it happens to a $30 2L Erlenmeyer flask from pouring hot wort into it, and there's broken glass and a nice puddle of sticky wort everywhere.

And just where the heck do you get a 2L ernie flask for 30 bucks?? RIP, ernie.

Has anyone ever used plastic amber screw-top bottles? Most of the ones you can buy come in 500ml.

Like I said before, I always use a clean 16-oz Propel Zero bottle for use as a carbonation tester, and it never tastes different from my beers stored in glass. They also seem to carbonate quicker; probably because there is so much more surface area on the liquid for the CO2 to enter, as opposed to a narrow longneck filled 1" from the top.

Hrm, maybe I should try putting my amber longnecks upside down to see if it results in the same effect?

 

[Hello]

And just where the heck do you get a 2L ernie flask for 30 bucks?? RIP, ernie.

Has anyone ever used plastic amber screw-top bottles? Most of the ones you can buy come in 500ml.

Like I said before, I always use a clean 16-oz Propel Zero bottle for use as a carbonation tester, and it never tastes different from my beers stored in glass. They also seem to carbonate quicker; probably because there is so much more surface area on the liquid for the CO2 to enter, as opposed to a narrow longneck filled 1" from the top.

Hrm, maybe I should try putting my amber longnecks upside down to see if it results in the same effect?

Is this not an "ernie" flask?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005QDP82Q/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[The_Fuzz]

And just where the heck do you get a 2L ernie flask for 30 bucks?? RIP, ernie.

Has anyone ever used plastic amber screw-top bottles? Most of the ones you can buy come in 500ml.

Like I said before, I always use a clean 16-oz Propel Zero bottle for use as a carbonation tester, and it never tastes different from my beers stored in glass. They also seem to carbonate quicker; probably because there is so much more surface area on the liquid for the CO2 to enter, as opposed to a narrow longneck filled 1" from the top.

Hrm, maybe I should try putting my amber longnecks upside down to see if it results in the same effect?

I've used the homebrew-designed plastic bottles before. They are OK if you are consuming within 6 months. I find they start to go flat after that. I didn't get any off flavors.

 

[SKYY]

Is this not an "ernie" flask?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005QDP82Q/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Interesting. I was always looking for pyrex ernies...didn't know you could buy off-brand borosilicate for that cheap. Good to know!

I've used the homebrew-designed plastic bottles before. They are OK if you are consuming within 6 months. I find they start to go flat after that. I didn't get any off flavors.

Also really good to know! I've never aged a brew in a plastic bottle. I'll stick with glass, I think! Thanks!

 

[Genghis]

Bottled my first batch today. The tips I picked up in this thread made things so easy.

Just wanted to drop in and say thanks.

 

[jhmills1981]

When I am creating (brewing, cooking, projects at work, etc.) I am often impatient and want to try out my creation as soon as possible. So I just drank a bottle of brew from my second ever batch. Tastes and looks like I wanted it to. An APA. Nevertheless, it has been only 11 days and was flat. Glad I found this article because I am bringing a lot of the brew to family this weekend for Fourth of July. I will make sure they wait to drink it. Another 2 weeks should be good.

Thanks so much for this post. I know I need to be patient, but it's occasionally hard. Luckily I have a pipeline going now and just have to wait for thus first brew.

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to trying this brew again in a week or two!

P.S. If anyone has some nice partial grain (I only have a 5-gallon kettle) recipes for floral APAs or IPAs, please message me

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

When I am creating (brewing, cooking, projects at work, etc.) I am often impatient and want to try out my creation as soon as possible. So I just drank a bottle of brew from my second ever batch. Tastes and looks like I wanted it to. An APA. Nevertheless, it has been only 11 days and was flat. Glad I found this article because I am bringing a lot of the brew to family this weekend for Fourth of July. I will make sure they wait to drink it. Another 2 weeks should be good.

Thanks so much for this post. I know I need to be patient, but it's occasionally hard. Luckily I have a pipeline going now and just have to wait for thus first brew.

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to trying this brew again in a week or two!

P.S. If anyone has some nice partial grain (I only have a 5-gallon kettle) recipes for floral APAs or IPAs, please message me

How much priming sugar did you add before bottling?


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[Rootski]

I read a few pages of this thread yesterday and wanted to thank everyone. This helped my bottling session last night a ton! I stopped by NB's store on the way home from work and picked up a few things to make my life much easier. First was a vinator for sanitizing bottles. It saved my back from my previous method of submersion. Next, I grabbed a new bottling cane and about 1 inch of tubing and bottled just like the first post of this thread over the open door of my dishwasher while sitting on a chair. Much better! I also DIY'd a dip tube on the back of the valve. I didn't read the whole thread so maybe someone has already posted this, but I just took about 6 inches of tubing that was exactly the same diameter as the inside of the valve, maybe 3/4", and squashed it in there. I trimmed the other end on an angle that matched the bottom of the bottling bucket, intentionally leaving it rough so liquid would flow. The tube had very thick walls and was naturally curved. I'm not sure if it will stay curved forever or if it will eventually straighten out, but for now it worked awesome! I never had to tip the bottling bucket and there was only a very small amount of liquid left after my last bottle.

Unfortunately I was very disappointed with this saison after having a small taste. I'm not sure what went wrong or if it just needs a little time, but I won't be giving any of this one away just yet.

 

[seamlessvoid]

Zmnoxm


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[SippinSudz]

Hoping someone can answer my question

This is my second brew and it's a Coopers Dark Ale. I'm making it in a Mr.Beer kit(first batch was mr beer American light, tasted amazing btw).

With my first brew.. 2/10 750ml bottles had excellent carbonation. The other 8 had some carbonation.. But lacking that wonderful bubbling we all enjoy. I was a bit curious with it being my first brew and every 1-2 days I would pick the front two bottles up, and without shaking, tilt them up and down slowly to have a look and clarity etc. These were the two bottles that carbonated wonderfully. I'm not sure if I didn't add enoigh priming sugar (Coopers dextrose drops 2 per 750ml) or if I indeed have to "tip" the bottles over and back every day.

I'm using the mr beer brown plastic 750ml bottles.
Thanks!

 

[weirdboy]

First, I would recommend that you "batch prime". That is, prime with the correct amount of sugar for the entire batch all at once, THEN bottle, rather than priming the individual bottles. As an aside, if you are using any kind of granulated sugar to prime, stop doing that and instead use a simple syrup (it is easy to make this, just Google it).

If you are already batch priming with a simple syrup and still getting uneven carbonation, it is most likely because you aren't waiting long enough between priming the batch and bottling. You have to give the sugar time to distribute itself evenly in the beer before you start partitioning it into bottles.

If you are doing all of the above and STILL getting uneven carbonation, it is probably because some of your bottles are leaking CO2.

 

[dkevinb]

Hoping someone can answer my question

This is my second brew and it's a Coopers Dark Ale. I'm making it in a Mr.Beer kit(first batch was mr beer American light, tasted amazing btw).

With my first brew.. 2/10 750ml bottles had excellent carbonation. The other 8 had some carbonation.. But lacking that wonderful bubbling we all enjoy. I was a bit curious with it being my first brew and every 1-2 days I would pick the front two bottles up, and without shaking, tilt them up and down slowly to have a look and clarity etc. These were the two bottles that carbonated wonderfully. I'm not sure if I didn't add enoigh priming sugar (Coopers dextrose drops 2 per 750ml) or if I indeed have to "tip" the bottles over and back every day.

I'm using the mr beer brown plastic 750ml bottles.
Thanks!

How long did you let them carb, and at what temperature? I like to wait 2 weeks at room temperature before refrigerating. I'd say if 2 carb drops worked for 2 bottles it should have worked for all of them. Tipping the bottles will put some of the yeast back into suspension and helps the carbonation some, but you shouldn't have to do it, certainly not every day. Are you sure the bottles were capped tightly (but not so tightly as to crack)?

I've bottled out of the Mr. Beer LBK by putting sugar in the bottles, by putting boiled sugar water in the LBK, and by racking to a bottling bucket and bulk priming. The last method worked best for me.

 

[SippinSudz]

Let them carb with two coopers drops straight from the fermentor at a slightly lower temp than what it fermented at. I fermented beside my rear of my fridge at about 22°C so I imagine the bottles rested upright(should I lay them on their side??) in about 20-21°C

 

[dkevinb]

Let them carb with two coopers drops straight from the fermentor at a slightly lower temp than what it fermented at. I fermented beside my rear of my fridge at about 22°C so I imagine the bottles rested upright(should I lay them on their side??) in about 20-21°C

That should be just about the right temperature. You do want them upright so the yeast settles to the bottom of the bottle. How long did you wait?

 

[SippinSudz]

Ok I'll leave them upright, some bottles had yeast settle, some had very little.

I chilled my first teo on the 14th day, and they were yummy. Perfect beer I must say. Then slowly threw a bottle in the fridge over the course of another 2 weeks. All the exact same flavor, with little/some carbonation.

I filled most of the bottles almost to the top, I'd say about an inch from cap. The two with lots of carbonation were filled 3/4 as they were the last bottled, and first in line to come out of my cupboard.

 

[dkevinb]

Ok I'll leave them upright, some bottles had yeast settle, some had very little.

I chilled my first teo on the 14th day, and they were yummy. Perfect beer I must say. Then slowly threw a bottle in the fridge over the course of another 2 weeks. All the exact same flavor, with little/some carbonation.

I filled most of the bottles almost to the top, I'd say about an inch from cap. The two with lots of carbonation were filled 3/4 as they were the last bottled, and first in line to come out of my cupboard.

That all sounds fine, other than the fact that some had yeast settle and some didn't. One trick I've heard to find out if you might be leaking CO2 is to bottle as normal, then put a balloon over the top of the bottle and fasten it around the neck with a rubber band. If it inflates your caps are leaking. I've be surprised if all eight of what must be new bottles are leaking, though.

 

[SippinSudz]

That's a good plan. I saved all my caps that I've used. Do I need new caps? Say they weren't leaking etc.. Can't i reuse my caps?

With my original brew, I did tighten them down as hard as I could. I'm not a little girl either.

It's a piss off, but they were ok to drink. Not gonna dump my first, delicious somewhat bubbly beer lol.

Wish I had just a few extra bucks to invest in some 750ml pop top style where the stopper remains on the bottle with the wire tightener.

 

[dkevinb]

That's a good plan. I saved all my caps that I've used. Do I need new caps? Say they weren't leaking etc.. Can't i reuse my caps?

With my original brew, I did tighten them down as hard as I could. I'm not a little girl either.

It's a piss off, but they were ok to drink. Not gonna dump my first, delicious somewhat bubbly beer lol.

Wish I had just a few extra bucks to invest in some 750ml pop top style where the stopper remains on the bottle with the wire tightener.

You can certainly reuse the caps if they're not cracked. I bottle in the 500 ml Mr. Beer PET bottles and have reused them many times.

 

[user 163849]

I will be bottling my first batch in a little over two weeks. I have only read about half the posts to this thread but feel like I now have a good idea of what to expect.

Yesterday I actually bottled a couple of six packs of water as a test run. Took some pictures during the testing but with all the background clutter in my garage shop those pics are all bt worthless. So today I draped a couple of drop clothes over my welding screens to block out the clutter and set everything back up just to get a decent picture of what I am using.

Obviously work flow is left to right with clean bottles on the tree and ending with capped bottles on the hand cart. The elevated bucket is my bottling bucket while the one under it is just a drip "tray". My capper seemed to want anchoring so I mounted it on the metal stand that usually supports a small metal shear.

 

[SuliBrew]

I will be bottling my first batch in a little over two weeks. I have only read about half the posts to this thread but feel like I now have a good idea of what to expect.

Yesterday I actually bottled a couple of six packs of water as a test run. Took some pictures during the testing but with all the background clutter in my garage shop those pics are all bt worthless. So today I draped a couple of drop clothes over my welding screens to block out the clutter and set everything back up just to get a decent picture of what I am using.

Obviously work flow is left to right with clean bottles on the tree and ending with capped bottles on the hand cart. The elevated bucket is my bottling bucket while the one under it is just a drip "tray". My capper seemed to want anchoring so I mounted it on the metal stand that usually supports a small metal shear.

One thing I found helpful was another table before the bottle tree. I just use a folding picnic table. Just line up the bottles on the table. That way you have your bottles right there at arms reach ready to be moved to the bottling wand. I found that prep and cleaning afterwards takes more time than the bottling itself.

 

[ncbrewer]

i found that prep and cleaning afterwards takes more time than the bottling itself.

+1

 

[user 163849]

I decided to try the dip tube on my bottling bucket today. In order to install the 3/4 inch pvc elbow in my priming bucket it was necessary to cut the vertical down portion off even with the bottom of the horizontal leg of the elbow. This resulted in leaving only one ounce of water in the bucket after the cutting. Polishing the edges with a heat gun resulted in almost an additional ounce being left. I think that is still good enough.

 

[SevenBirch]

Excellent tips Revvy. I had seen your dip tube idea and I got a plastic 90° barbed fitting like this:

It fits perfectly into a drilled stopper and is the perfect height.

I do have 3 questions though-

1. I do notice that when I bottle there is a pocket of air in the spigot due to the change (increase) in cross sectional area from the dip tube to the spigot. I don't get air in the bottling wand as another poster mentioned, but it does appear turbulent in the spipot as the beer moves through it. Any thoughts on this? I saw your suggestion about running sanitizer through it first but wouldn't that have the same issue?

2. Does it matter when you add your priming sugar to the water? i.e. cold or boiling?

3. How much should the priming-sugar-water-mix cool before it comes in contact with the beer?

I use the same elbow for my dip tube on bottling bucket, although I hade to cut mine off a bit to get the right length. I wanted to also say that since it fits the standard size drilled stopper hole the 3/8" barbed elbows also works perfect for a 3/8" tube on primary for blow off hose, or just use as an airlock. So plus one on your idea. A 3/4" threaded elbow to just screw on the spigot is just as cheap and easy, but I already had #2 drilled stoppers and barbed elbows I use for airlocks.

 

[SevenBirch]

QUOTE=laradactyl;6393902]I will be bottling my first batch in a little over two weeks. I have only read about half the posts to this thread but feel like I now have a good idea of what to expect.

Yesterday I actually bottled a couple of six packs of water as a test run. Took some pictures during the testing but with all the background clutter in my garage shop those pics are all bt worthless. So today I draped a couple of drop clothes over my welding screens to block out the clutter and set everything back up just to get a decent picture of what I am using.

Obviously work flow is left to right with clean bottles on the tree and ending with capped bottles on the hand cart. The elevated bucket is my bottling bucket while the one under it is just a drip "tray". My capper seemed to want anchoring so I mounted it on the metal stand that usually supports a small metal shear.[/QUOTE]


What is that your priming tank is sitting on? I want one. Looks like a jack of some sort?

 

[user 163849]

I picked that up at the Harbor freight store in Garland Texas back in the early 90's. I think it was labeled as a transmission repair stand. I have never seen another one like it in the store nor in a catalog. I call it my assembly stand and with it's adjustable height and swivel top it is hard to beat when working on anything that will fit on top. Minimum height is 29 inches and it maxes out at 47 inches. Weight capacity is unknown but I know it can lift considerably more than I can.

My porter might have to stay in the primary an extra week or so as I have been scheduled for surgery Monday morning to remove my chemo portacath. I'll be glad to get rid of it but may have to give my sholder some time to heal before I'm up to capping/handling 50 bottles of beer.

 

[ol-hazza]

A

Is it a gusher if it doesn't hit the ceiling?

 

[cannman]

There is so much material here to read!

So is there a problem keeping oxygen absorbing caps soaking in SanStar through the bottling process, pulling them out one at a time as needed?

 

[Beer is good]

There is so much material here to read!

So is there a problem keeping oxygen absorbing caps soaking in SanStar through the bottling process, pulling them out one at a time as needed?

That's what I've always done.

 

[user 163849]

I bottled my first batch yesterday, using many of the hints from this thread. It went really well. It took me three hours and twenty minutes including rinsing/sanitizing 54 bottles, set up, bottling, and cleanig up. Oh, and drinking that half bottle. I ended up with 51 1/2 bottles with probably three or four ounces of loss to a dripping bottling wand. I'm very happy with that and really appreciate all who contributed to this thread. With a little reading and preparation bottling did not seem like the huge chore that many keggers make it out to be.

 

[unionrdr]

I prefer to just dunk my o2 barrier caps in Starsan right before putting them on the bottles to crimp. I like to make sure the o2 barrier doesn't get activated sitting in sanitizer. Crimp caps then tilt the bottles to activate the caps.