Bottling Tips for the Homebrewer

[UglyDude]

Thanks Mods, I am honored that this thread has been stickified.



Over the last year I've posted bits and pieces of this in various threads when people asked for bottling advice. I end up getting a lot of questions about my process, so since we have so many new people joining this site in a post holiday fit of brewing enthusiasm, that means really soon there are going to be a bunch of new bottlers stepping up to the plate.

First off, you may hear a lot of people recommending kegging...In fact there is a strange phenomenon on here that inevitably when someone asks a question about bottling some overzealous (and probably new) kegger will jump in with HIS answer, which is something like "Bottling sux, you should keg." Like the thought of kegging beer is so foregin to new people or established brewers that despite the fact that this section of the forum is called "Bottling and Kegging" that perhaps we who bottle are total idiots who perhaps need to be told that such a thing exists.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/carbonation-kraeusen-how-9685/[/b]

Thanks, [I hope you are still here to read this... yours is a pretty old post!]
This is an awesome post! I wish I had seen it 2 years ago!
although I have joined the ranks of the kegger, (mostly because I dont always want 12oz every night, but sometimes just a taste) I have decided to bottle and keg most batches, this way I can take a 12-pack with me to watch a game with a friend, give it away as a gift etc, plus I can enjoy the draught beer at home.

I see no reason to judge or promote 1 form of storing/serving over the other, I enjoy both

I raise my glass or bottle to you! and thanks for sharing your knwledge!

 

[kdpshsu]

It's been a month since I bottled. My bottles are still overflowing upon opening. I'm about to pop them all open and pour them all down the drain. Somebody talk me off the ledge.


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[berts]

It's been a month since I bottled. My bottles are still overflowing upon opening. I'm about to pop them all open and pour them all down the drain. Somebody talk me off the ledge.


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sounds like you need to get anther brew on as soon as possible to forget about this disaster and sanitize well this time

 

[hairless_mac]

I'm curious why would there be brew coming out of the top when opened. Here are some ideas of mine. But be warned they are just that ideas. The first when you bottled are you leaving about one inch head space in the bottle? Second of course the obvious are the bottles being shaken up before popping the top? I've brewed several brews and have bottled a lot and have never had a single bottle of brew pour out when I popped the top. Hopefully you didn't pour any brew to its death down the drain.


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[kdpshsu]

I used too much sugar and they're over carbonated. It tastes good however sadly some from each bottle is wasted. I used regular sugar instead of dextrose and didn't scale it down. Chalk it up to the learning process.


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[hairless_mac]

Hey that's part of the experience. I have some rook mistakes to but that's the what's it all about. I didn't know about the sugar though but now I do


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[SKYY]

Does anyone else use one or two 12-16-oz PET bottles when they're bottling 12-oz glass ambers?

I've done this since day one of my brewing career, and I think it's awesome. I always fill up the plastic bottle exactly halfway through the bottling process, and cap it with its screw-top lid. As the beer slowly carbonates, I use it to tell how well the carbonation is going. All you have to do is squeeze the plastic to tell how much CO2 pressure is in there. When it becomes almost rigid, you know that your bottles are ready to cold-condition and drink!

 

[MedicMang]

Does anyone else use one or two 12-16-oz PET bottles when they're bottling 12-oz glass ambers?

I've done this since day one of my brewing career, and I think it's awesome. I always fill up the plastic bottle exactly halfway through the bottling process, and cap it with its screw-top lid. As the beer slowly carbonates, I use it to tell how well the carbonation is going. All you have to do is squeeze the plastic to tell how much CO2 pressure is in there. When it becomes almost rigid, you know that your bottles are ready to cold-condition and drink!

I am not putting down your method but you really should just forget about them for 2-3 weeks. A beer may carb in 4 days but that doesn't mean that it is ready. I find my beer kinda "green" until about week 3. Again though, to each their own.


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[TrustyOlJohnson]

I used too much sugar and they're over carbonated. It tastes good however sadly some from each bottle is wasted. I used regular sugar instead of dextrose and didn't scale it down. Chalk it up to the learning process.


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Store and serve it real cold into frozen mugs. It will affect the taste (lessen it) but will also reduce carb. And enjoy! No need to pour it out!!


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[BrewCityBaller]

Store and serve it real cold into frozen mugs. It will affect the taste (lessen it) but will also reduce carb. And enjoy! No need to pour it out!!

Won't chilling it down allow more CO2 to dissolve into the beer???

I thought cooler liquid dissolve gas more easily.

 

[farmskis]

I can not say for sure but I know that if you are carbonating with co2, such as with a keg, then the lower the temp the more dissolves holds true since you are using the gas. But with bottling and using the yeast production to carb. chilling it will slow the yeast production of co2 and reduce the carb a bit.

 

[MaxStout]

You want to keep the bottles warm during the conditioning phase, to allow the yeast to produce CO2. After conditioning is complete, you cold-crash the beer to drive more of the CO2 into solution.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

You want to keep the bottles warm during the conditioning phase, to allow the yeast to produce CO2. After conditioning is complete, you cold-crash the beer to drive more of the CO2 into solution.

Lots of great things happen during conditioning including the yeast consuming the fermentable sugars you added at bottling day. The yeast get active again and continue clean up minute traces of fermentation byproducts that were not cleaned up in the primary, After the initial robust phase of primany fermentation. Sharp flavors become smooth. "Green" flavors disappear and the beer jus gets better. This is especially noticable in yeast strains with low attenuation. When u cold crash it, the yeast fall out of suspension and clarifies. The yeast cake also solidifies.


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[SKYY]

I am not putting down your method but you really should just forget about them for 2-3 weeks. A beer may carb in 4 days but that doesn't mean that it is ready. I find my beer kinda "green" until about week 3. Again though, to each their own.


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Not all bottled beers are carbonated at 3 weeks. I have an imperial stout that's been bottled for 5 weeks now, and it's still flat.

The plastic bottle has been slowly getting harder to squeeze. When it's extremely hard to compress the bottle, I know that my glass bottles have had enough CO2 dissolved to be ready for cold conditioning.

 

[MedicMang]

Well ya... I am currently having trouble carbing a Barleywine. Most smaller beers take 3 weeks max. I have an IPA that carbed and tasted great after 5 days. I am excited to drink one once three weeks hits and see how much better it is though.


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[Scottie61]

Folks,

Looking back on this long and great thread at the different subjects covered:

• A great informative post from Revvy, as usual! I also like to bottle my beers.
• Usually I allow about 10 days for carbonation to build and that's usually enough for my brews, although I understand conditioning goes on beyond that (my patience does not! ). My Oatmeal Stout was bottled on 3-12, and was pretty carbonated less than a week after bottling. My excitement usually makes me sample one (or more) just to check progress...
• I dump my boiled priming sugar water right into the bottling bucket from the stove and *thoroughly but gently* stir it in. My bottles have always been carbonated consistently. I don't think it is that hard to mix thoroughly without aerating.
• Bought myself a vineator(sp?) paired with a couple fast racks, and man, what great, simple inventions for saving time!
• A subject close to Revvy's heart from another thread -- this stout was the first I've done as 3 weeks in primary and direct to bottling, and it's a good brew. No 'secondary.'

Scott

 

[Yesfan]

......[*]Bought myself a vineator(sp?) paired with a couple fast racks, and man, what great, simple inventions for saving time!................

I keg now, but still bottle if my kegs start getting low and/or if I want to move my beers a little faster. Man, I love my Vinator and Fast Racks!

 

[Temptd2]

Phew! OK, so I just finished all 80 pages. Do I get a gold star now?!

KOTC found this thread early on in our brewing so thankfully, a lot of the methods contained herein were employed with our first bottling.

Recent additions have been the dip tube and the Vinator. LOVE both.

We bottled one we call "Evil Twin" - blonde lager-like ale - yesterday, can't wait to try it, tasted great when sampled from the hydrometer tube yesterday.

We have a London brown porter in the conditioning bin and it was NOT ready at 2 weeks, no surprise, it's now been in there 3 weeks, tried one the other night which had a lovely head and pretty good carbonation. Letting it ride til Friday this week, then it will be tested one more time before deciding it's DONE and moving it to storage.

We're just about a year into brewing now and this forum has been invaluable. This particular thread is an amazing read and I have copied and pasted quite a few tidbits from it for future reference when we might be tempted to think it's taking TOOOO LONG! to carbonate a brew!

Thank you to all who contributed here. What a great resource.

 

[SKYY]

It's been 7 weeks since I've bottled my imperial stout, and the carbonation doesn't seem to have increased at all. I've roused the yeast cakes at least 3 times over the past month, and nothing.

Should I crack open each bottle, add a pinch of dry ale yeast, and re-cap? Or should I keep rousing the bottles every week even though it doesn't seem to be working?

I did this with a stuck barleywine a year ago, and the beers ended up re-carbing and being drinkable, but there was a slight vinegar/acidic taste to them (very slight; it was still really good).

 

[warix]

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!

 

[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...)