Bottling beer

[kevron]

Hi all,

I was thinking of bottling my next batch of beer, but before bottling I will have the beer crystal clear, what I would like to know is do I prime the bottles with sugar or do I add something else to make the beer carbonate

[Bribie]

Even though the beer may look crystal clear there are almost certainly enough viable yeast cells to kick it off. Maybe a better idea to use glucose (dextrose) instead of sugar. I always try to bottle 'bright' and have personally never had problems carbing up. I usually invert the bottles a few times after a few days to see what's happening and there is nearly always a very slight sediment developed which I swirl into the brew, then it's off like a rocket in most cases

Here's one on bottling day itself. Excuse sad ALDI pop bottle

[kevron]

thanks for the reply guys,

Ive always used a pressure barrel or cornies, I was wanting to use bottles so that I could maybe take a couple out on day trips in a cool box when the weather gets warmer , what worried me was moving the bottles with yeast in the bottom, as you know it goes cloudy if its moved about to much, I think I'll split the bottles into two batches and see which method works best

nothing wrong with ALDI Bribie its cheap and cheerful

[Bribie]

Mate if the cornie is nice and cold there's nothing wrong with carefully decanting off into some cool and preferably wet bottles to minimise foaming, and cap them immediately. We have a monthly club meeting with about fifty members and the guys who turn up with bottles filled out of cornies, you wouldn't know that they aren't bottle conditioned until you see the lack of sediment. Gas levels are well suitable for a picnic quaffing session I don't do draught myself but the keggers seem to have no problems with this at all.

[garwatts]

thanks for the reply guys,
what worried me was moving the bottles with yeast in the bottom, as you know it goes cloudy if its moved about to much,

Always take a good supply of my bottled beer away in my motor home - it travels very well but seems to disappear very quickly

[Chiltern Brewer]

I've mainly had positive experiences with maturing in cask/keg before bottling...

Typical I'll mature in cask/keg for a month or so depending on the OG. I've found that longer that two months can mean that the yeast doesn't pickup (I don't re-seed the yeast). However I've also matured strong beers for longer periods before bottling and they have then picked up perfect condition in the bottle (given time). I prime with either malt extract and/or sugar solution and always give the bottles at least 6 weeks to condition.

This means it can be nearly 3 months from brewing to tasting the beer! BCA has a distinct taste and is worth the effort IMO. However I now fill two cornies per brew so bottle less, but when I do decide to I bottle one corny and while the bottles mature I drink the other.

I am sure that the yeast strain plays a big part in the level of sucess, for the record Wyeast Thames Valley (1275) has always worked well for me. I've also used some of their other English strains over the years with good results.

[kevron]

hi Chiltern Brewer,
when you put the ale in the cask to let it mature for the month would you use a little C02 to gas the cask up to protect the beer from air

[Chiltern Brewer]

With cornies I find that ~25psi is enough to seal the kegs, and as I'm not interested in forced carbonation I don't leave the gas (widget cylinder) connected. When I used plastic kegs I usually didn't bother with injecting C02, but would perhaps gently vent a bit after a day or so on the assumption that this would purge the air from the keg (given that C02 sinks). I think if you are careful how you fill your kegs - I connect tubing to the FV's tap and run it to the bottom of the keg - you don't have to be too worried about a little air in the ullage (headspace) of your keg oxidizing your beer. Personally, I find cornies better for maturation - less ullage, better at holding pressure, no chance of light struck beer - but not as convenient as a keg with a bottom mounted tap when it comes to bottling.