oxidation at bottling?

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Joe028

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I don't really know if this will be a problem or not, but thought I'd post here to see what you folks had to say. I was bottling my second batch this past weekend, and as I was doing so I noticed bubbles in the beer and siphon hose as I was bottling. It was almost as if a small head was forming in the beer bottle as I filled it up. I didn't notice this when I bottled the first batch. I did use different equipment to bottle this time and I'm wondering if that is the problem.

I put together a 5 gal. cooler with a ball valve like shown on that extensive and very informative thread about partial mashing. I used that to bottle because my bucket was in use as a primary fermenter for my third batch. Is it possible that the valve on my 5 gal. cooler is aerating my brew? This may have even happened last time I bottled and didn't notice it, or it may be totally normal, I'm just not sure.

Joe
 
Yeah, and much worse if you use Star San to sanitize your bottles, which is a foaming agent, and you don't rinse. I have to fill the bottles once, till the foam gets to the top, then wait until the foam subsides, and refill to the right level.
 
thanks for the quick answers....stay tuned for more questions as they arise!
 
There's a lot of worry about oxidation, but most homebrew isn't around long enough to oxidize. Barleywines are aged for months or years and the oxidation give sherry-like notes to the brew.
 
Remember that even the un-pressurised beer in a fermenter has about one volume of CO2 in it. So, probably when bottling, you foamed up just as if you opened a room temperature bottle of beer. And your hoses and valves are not 'balanced' like a keg system to prevent the foaming.
 
Are you using one of those bottle-filling wands, or opening and closing the ball value for each bottle? The wands are nice because the hose stays completely filled with beer, and you are forced to release it at the bottom of the bottle. I would imagine that you'd be more likely to get air in the hose if you're opening and closing the value each time. I've never noticed any foaming or quasi-head to speak of when I've used the wand.
 
I am using the wand, but i do see how opening and closing the valve may introduce air if i wasn't using the wand. I think everything is going to be just fine after reading a little more about it.

On my first batch I didn't notice it though. Even though it has been in the bottle for oh atleast 4-5 weeks it still has little to no head on the beer. It is carbonated and tastes like beer (which was my only goal for my first batch), so I can't complain. It was a Baron's American Light kit.

The batch that my initial question was about was a modified recipe out of Papazian's book. That is the one with the bubbles and what not, maybe I just might get a beer with a little foam on top when it pours! That would be nice!

Joe
 
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