Bottling

[Will333]

Any bottling tips would be appreciated!

Do you need to dry the bottles after cleaning and sterilising?

How much sugar to prime an ale and a larger?

Any advice would be greatly received!

[Jim]

There's a brief guide on the site here to get you going.

There's no need to dry the bottles. Unless you're using a no-rinse sanitizer (e.g. Starsan) you will need to rinse the bottles out with clean water though.

[lord groan]

Don't dry 'em , no need, and you run the risk of letting bugs back in. If you haven't discovered Starsan yet then do a forum search and read up on it, I wash my bottles after use, use a spray bottle to squirt 3 sprays of Starsan solution in, then put on a plastic bottle cap and put them away in storage until I bottle the next batch. When it comes to bottling time I flip off the plastic cap, drain, then 1 more spray of Starsan, no rinsing needed, then for ales I put in about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and fill it up, I don't make lagers but I believe people use about 1 teaspoon of sugar for the extra fizziness of lagers.
The joy of not having to wash and sterlise 40 bottles is fantastic.

[Will333]

Thanks very much for the replies.

What temperatures should keep the bottles while conditioning?

[orlando]

Thanks very much for the replies.

What temperatures should keep the bottles while conditioning?

Well you are in effect fermenting again so something similar around 18-22 is fine.

[Jim]

Thanks very much for the replies.

What temperatures should keep the bottles while conditioning?

Well you are in effect fermenting again so something similar around 18-22 is fine.

But of course only for about 5 days at that temperature, then store for several weeks at least at cellar temperatures of 12C to 14C or thereabouts.

[Charles1968]

Some bottling tips:

* after you pour a home brewed beer, rinse out the bottle thoroughly with cold water - it's easier than leaving the yeast to dry and then having to wash it later.
* use a bottle rinser, a little bottler and a bottle tree
* use a no-rinse sanitiser
* prime with dry sugar, a funnel and a measuring spoon - quicker than batch priming
* use dark bottles to protect from Skunking in daylight
* never remove labels from glass - complete waste of time
* use an indelible marker on the lid to label beer

[Rick_UK]

Batch priming is definitely quicker, easier and more consistent in my experience.

Investing in a bench capper is a good idea - much quicker and easier than other types.

Starsan is the game changer though!

Rick

[Charles1968]

Batch priming is definitely quicker, easier and more consistent in my experience.

Rick

Dry priming 50 bottles takes about 3 minutes and consistency is good if you use a measuring spoon. Batch priming adds at least 30 minutes - as well as boiling and cooling the sugar you have to siphon the whole volume, which means extra equipment to sanitise and then clean up. You do have the advantage of measuring your priming sugar more precisely though.

[Fuggled Mind]

Batch priming adds at least 30 minutes - as well as boiling and cooling the sugar you have to siphon the whole volume, which means extra equipment to sanitise and then clean up

I never cool the sugar. When syphoning 18L of beer onto 250ml of boiled DME and water I don't think the temperature change is noticeable and carbonation is always good. There is no that much extra work either as I use two FVs to sanitise the bottles and kit. When the first FV is empty, I clean and sterilise it. Whilst getting everything ready I usually boil the caps and sugar


It's not the only way to do it but it works for me.

Cheers

Jason

[Charles1968]

Batch priming adds at least 30 minutes - as well as boiling and cooling the sugar you have to siphon the whole volume, which means extra equipment to sanitise and then clean up

I never cool the sugar. When syphoning 18L of beer onto 250ml of boiled DME and water I don't think the temperature change is noticeable and carbonation is always good. There is no that much extra work either as I use two FVs to sanitise the bottles and kit. When the first FV is empty, I clean and sterilise it. Whilst getting everything ready I usually boil the caps and sugar


It's not the only way to do it but it works for me.

Cheers

Jason

I suppose everyone's set-up is slightly different so will affect what works best. I do sometimes batch prime if I have to rack from a tapless FV to my bottling FV, since I'm racking the beer anyway. However I usually ferment in the bottling FV so I can skip racking. I prime with a 2.5 ml spoon, which works for my 330 ml bottles. Measuring the exact amount of sugar is obviously easier if you want between 2.5 and 5ml per bottle - with batch priming you can get it spot on but with a spoon you have to heap the sugar and guess.

[Rick_UK]

Batch priming is definitely quicker, easier and more consistent in my experience.

Rick

Dry priming 50 bottles takes about 3 minutes and consistency is good if you use a measuring spoon. Batch priming adds at least 30 minutes - as well as boiling and cooling the sugar you have to siphon the whole volume, which means extra equipment to sanitise and then clean up. You do have the advantage of measuring your priming sugar more precisely though.

I just weigh the sugar into a pyrex jug of boiling water, zap in microwave for 1 minute and put straight into bottling bucket before starting the transfer. No sense in cooling it as already stated.

Would it not be easier to use a large syringe and solution of priming sugar for priming one by one?

I may have to get my stopwatch out and do some testing this weekend! Or maybe I need to get out more ....

[Flamenco]

I too have gone over to Starsan - bottles get rinsed immediately after pouring and stored in a box. When box is full - they all go in dishwasher - and when out I squirt Starsan in each, swirl it around a little and cover them all with large piece of clingfilm. Box goes into garage. On bottling days, I transfer FV contents into 2nd FV plus priming sugar.
Whilst 2nd FV is being sterilised - I put in a pyrex jug in case I need to mix priming sugar in hot water before adding to FV.
Tip bottle contents out first onto old towel and fill and cap each bottle using a little bottler. No rinsing. No phaffing about. So far I have not a single bottle tainted except perhaps one which hadn't been cleaned properly in the first place.
The point of this post is that I didn't see anything like this when I started and had to invent it myself. There may well be other posts with this procedure, and if so apologies - I'm not claiming any copyright!

[Charles1968]

Would it not be easier to use a large syringe and solution of priming sugar for priming one by one?

I think trying to stop a syringe plunger at exact points 50 times would be a non-enjoyable experience. You can't go wrong with tipping spoons of sugar in a funnel.

The other advantage of skipping racking is less exposure of beer to oxygen. Oxygen is the main enemy at bottling time, probably does more harm on average than infections.

I may have to get my stopwatch out and do some testing this weekend! Or maybe I need to get out more ....

I will time my next dry prime for comparison, including preparation (opening sugar bag, microwaving funnel & spoon to sterilise) and clean up (chucking spoon & funnel in dishwasher).

[Scott-ayling]

I've started using carbonation drops I feel 1 in a 500ml bottle is perfect carbonation for my taste and it is so easy , its a bit dearer than normal sugar but I feel ill stick with using them , I got a load of bags cheap when on sale in tesco