Beer nearly ready for bottling

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stompy

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Beer nearly ready for bottling
« on: January 30, 2012, 15:40 »
Hi all,

Ok, my brew is going strong but within the next week or so i will as far as i am aware need to bottle the beer.

I have never used bottles before only a keg and always used a gas cylinder to add the fizz.

What i would like is advice 101 from someone in the know.

many thanks

Andy

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Kleftiwallah

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2012, 16:52 »

I used to bottle it in bottles ! and crown cap them.  Now I bungs it in plastic fizzy pop bottles with screw caps and a few weeks later when the stuff has cleared, carefully and slowly  decant it into a jug for sharing, and or drinking.     Cheers,     Tony.
I may be growing OLD, but I refuse to grow UP !

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nobby400

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2012, 11:21 »
Andy


  I have been craft brewing for years and always bottle my beer.  The best and esiest bottles are the plasic bottles you get mixers like tonic in or if you like larger bottles coke.  These can be re-used many times, i have been using the same bottles for years with no problems.

  Ideally you need another fermenting vessel of the same size.  You want to siphon your beer into the other sterilized and rinsed out container leaving all the yeast behind.  Don't worry there will be enough yeast in suspension to carbonate your beer.
Mix 80-100 grams of sugar with some hot pre-boiled water and mix with you beer in the new vessel.  This gets over the hassle of trying to get sugar into each bottle.  You are now ready to bottle your beer.

I have a bottling bucket which is another fermenting bucket with a tap at the lowest point to which I attach a tube.  The tube goes to the bottom on the bottle and open the tap and the bottle is filled without getting too much air into the beer.
You can use a large jug and a funnel with a tube attached that reaches the bottom of the bottles and simply poor your beer into each bottle.


A few things you should know about maturing and bottling beer.

You should leave your beer in the fermenting bucket for about 2 weeks.  Even though it appear to have stopped fermenting things are still happening.

Once bottled it depends on the strength of the beer to when it will be ready to drink.  The rule of thumb is 1 week for every 1% of alcohol since you pitched the yeast, with a minimum of 4 weeks.  So that's 2 weeks in the fermenting bucket and 2 week in the bottles.

I hope that helps.

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stompy

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2012, 09:03 »
Thanks nobby,

I have bottled the beer now and added 1tsp of sugar to each bottle (500ml brown plastic pet bottles) useing a small sterilised funnel.

I do have a problem i think though, i tried one last night after the beer had been in there for around 5 to 6 days and it was completely flat?

Any ideas whats happened?

Thanks,

Andy

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nobby400

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2012, 13:29 »
Andy

  Give it time 5 days isn’t enough for it to carbonate.  What temp you storing your bottles at??  You don't want it too hot but normal room temp.  You can tell when they are starting to get pressure by squeezing the bottles.

Are the tops on tight? And do they all feel the same when squeezed? Maybe you had one that hadn’t sealed.

Some people don't even add sugar and let the beer carbonate naturally but this can take a couple of months.

Be patient you can’t make good beer over night   

Feel free to ask questions I have been brewing beer for years and I don't use kits but make it from Malted Barley and hops just as the micro breweries do.

Paul

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stompy

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2012, 14:24 »
All the tops are on tight.
I was storing them in a room with a temprature around 21dgrs but they are in the loft now and thats around 15dgrs.

All the bottles feel the same too.

Andy

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nobby400

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Re: Beer nearly ready for bottling
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2012, 13:42 »
Like i said give them time.

How long was the beer in the fermentor?? did you use any finings or preseritives like campden Tablets ?

Paul



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