alanwelam
Well-Known Member
I'm about to bottle a Belgian quad ale I've brewed. Heard that bottles sometimes can't handle the pressure that Belgians use (up to 5 vol of co2). What's the max I should consider with bottles?
Bottling pressure max?
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BigB
Well-Known Member
Thats a loaded question because we don't know what bottles you have, how old they are, how many times they've been used, etc. IMHO, I probably wouldn't go over 3 volumes. Granted the carbonation of authentic Belgian beers can be nice, but I don't think its worth the risk of injury or at the least of destroying your bottles combined with a mess to clean up. The Belgians know that their bottles are designed for their beers... you would be just guessing.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
If you use actual Belgian bottles, you shouldn't have any issue. I've been using them for my brews for a while now. You don't cap them, you cork them and then fit them with cages (to really prevent the corks from coming out)... IMO, it adds a touch of class to a brew when you have a bottle with a cork in it. :rockin:
These are the bottles that I'm talking about... You'll want to get some corks, cages, and cage tool too... MidWest has some instructions for using Belgian bottles, probably a good idea to read them before you start...
I've found that I can set my floor corker to the correct depth using an used cork, that I drilled out to fit over the plunger. I cut the length so that I can use it as a good guide. You want to leave 1/2-3/4" of the cork outside of the bottle. Then fit the cage over it and secure it. It only took me a few bottles to get the depth set properly.
BTW, get the cage tool... I used a screwdriver the first time I used Belgian bottles. The metal top of the cage is SHARP... I was bleeding before I even knew it. Luckily, I didn't get any into the bottles, and I noticed it early enough to not be concerned.
These are the bottles that I'm talking about... You'll want to get some corks, cages, and cage tool too... MidWest has some instructions for using Belgian bottles, probably a good idea to read them before you start...
I've found that I can set my floor corker to the correct depth using an used cork, that I drilled out to fit over the plunger. I cut the length so that I can use it as a good guide. You want to leave 1/2-3/4" of the cork outside of the bottle. Then fit the cage over it and secure it. It only took me a few bottles to get the depth set properly.
BTW, get the cage tool... I used a screwdriver the first time I used Belgian bottles. The metal top of the cage is SHARP... I was bleeding before I even knew it. Luckily, I didn't get any into the bottles, and I noticed it early enough to not be concerned.
There is really no easy answer. Part of the issue is that there is no easy calculation between volumes of CO2 and PSI. A lot of factors come into play like temperature and such.
Also atmosphere and volume of co2 are not quite the same. This thread will give you a headache to try to figure it out. http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11358
To compound the issue champagne bottles ARE rated in PSI and can hold iirc 90psi.
Different BEER bottle manufactures make different thicknesses of bottles, which are going to be able to hold different volumes of co2. Have you noticed that some of the commercial beer bottles are heavier than others? And that the ones you buy from the LHBs are often so thin you'd swear they were made of candy glass?
And trying to find direct ratings for the bottles on line is near impossible.
A THICK walled 12 ounce industry standard longneck should hold between 3.5-4 volumes of co2. But I wouldn't comfortably put more than 3.5 in them since you can never tell really the pedigree.
And it's really the same with 22 ounce or pints, they all vary in thickness. So you also don't really want to push your luck too much. IF you are carbing something around 3 - under 3.5 volumes of co2 you can comfortably put them in your better beer bottles (and I have) but over that I would go with belgian bottles or champagne/sparkling cider bottles.
So I would just make sure I had plenty of the "right" type of bottles before I bothered bottling them. Go pick up some nice belgian 12 ounce beers and drink them up and keep THEM as your back up when you run out of champagne bottles. That's what I do, I have a box where I chuck any champagne/cider or belgian beer bottles in, and I save those for high carb things.
Also atmosphere and volume of co2 are not quite the same. This thread will give you a headache to try to figure it out. http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11358
To compound the issue champagne bottles ARE rated in PSI and can hold iirc 90psi.
Different BEER bottle manufactures make different thicknesses of bottles, which are going to be able to hold different volumes of co2. Have you noticed that some of the commercial beer bottles are heavier than others? And that the ones you buy from the LHBs are often so thin you'd swear they were made of candy glass?
And trying to find direct ratings for the bottles on line is near impossible.
A THICK walled 12 ounce industry standard longneck should hold between 3.5-4 volumes of co2. But I wouldn't comfortably put more than 3.5 in them since you can never tell really the pedigree.
And it's really the same with 22 ounce or pints, they all vary in thickness. So you also don't really want to push your luck too much. IF you are carbing something around 3 - under 3.5 volumes of co2 you can comfortably put them in your better beer bottles (and I have) but over that I would go with belgian bottles or champagne/sparkling cider bottles.
So I would just make sure I had plenty of the "right" type of bottles before I bothered bottling them. Go pick up some nice belgian 12 ounce beers and drink them up and keep THEM as your back up when you run out of champagne bottles. That's what I do, I have a box where I chuck any champagne/cider or belgian beer bottles in, and I save those for high carb things.
You can find a lot of champagne and sparkling cider bottles can take standard crown beer bottle caps. I save those to use for higher carbed beers and ciders.
Martinelli's sparkling cider takes standard crown caps, and can be found in 3 packs relatively cheaply, and it's actually not bad fizzy N/A cider.
Martinelli's sparkling cider takes standard crown caps, and can be found in 3 packs relatively cheaply, and it's actually not bad fizzy N/A cider.
