Bottles.

[Ben-Harrison]

Hi,

I have just started my first ever Brew last night, I went for a Fermentation bucket & IPA kit from The Range and picked up Muntons Beer Enhancer from wilko instead of using Dextrose Powder.

Im going for the bottle up option and just taken delivery of 48 Glass flint bottles - does anyone know if it will be a problem as these are clear bottles? and all the kits I have seen have brown or green bottles.

Thanks in advance for your help and tips :thumb:

 

[Joeyriles]

Hi Ben,

You're going to want to keep these bottles out of direct sunlight for the duration of their being filled with beer. This is due to a process called 'skunking' which makes your beer taste pretty rough and would be a shame after you've gone through all the pain and suffering of bottling up x40.

Other than that, sounds great!

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Hi Ben,

You're going to want to keep these bottles out of direct sunlight for the duration of their being filled with beer. This is due to a process called 'skunking' which makes your beer taste pretty rough and would be a shame after you've gone through all the pain and suffering of bottling up x40.

Other than that, sounds great!

Cheers Joey - I will keep them in a carbord box they were delivered in I think in my garage which will be cool and dark as there is no windows in it. Guess this will be ok then?

Ben

 

[Joeyriles]

It certainly will, yes. :-)

 

[Just]

I use brown cider bottles for my brews for the reason of preventing skunking. However keeping clear bottles in the dark is fine too and you can see what's going on in each at any time. I always have a couple of clear glass bottles in each batch to check progress.

 

[simon12]

Just make sure they can handle the carbonation pressure or they will explode.

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Just make sure they can handle the carbonation pressure or they will explode.

How do I know what pressure they will take? I bought off Ebay - they were used for cider originally.

Can I test them?

 

[Mutley]

I use Newcastle Brown, Old speckled hen & Stella cidre bottles and never had a problem. Prefer clear personally so I can see the clarity & the sediment before it gets into my glass

 

[brooklandbackyardbrewery]

its odds on they will be ok, just a level teaspoon of priming sugar per bottle , if you can, use one plastic 500 ml fizzy water or pop bottle then when its gone hard to squeeze you know its ready.

 

[Hopping_Mad]

You might consider a couple of old PET (the type of plastic) food grade pop bottles too such as Coke and 7Up (other fizzy drinks available!!!).

They have a bit if squeeze and give in them initially when filled, but when the beer is fully carbonated, they go hard. You can tell if the batch is carbonated properly!!! I usually drink these first to test the conditioning once I know they are carbonated.

 

[simon12]

If they were used for cider they should be fine (unless it was flat cider).

 

[Ben-Harrison]

its odds on they will be ok, just a level teaspoon of priming sugar per bottle , if you can, use one plastic 500 ml fizzy water or pop bottle then when its gone hard to squeeze you know its ready.

I have bought a bag of about 80 Maxale priming drops will these be ok?

Think I will try a couple of PET bottles and do the squidgy to hard test :lol:

After the full fermentation time shall I transfer it to the other FV I have as it has a tap on the bottom, some people advise to dissolve the priming drops in water and do a batch prime - can I transfer this to the bottle then?

 

[brooklandbackyardbrewery]

Never used them myself but dont see why not, they must work, loads of people say they're ok, myself i would just add to each bottle. You can transfer to another fv (secondary fermenter) for a while, it helps clear the beer. the yeast will drop to the bottom so you dont get so much in the bottles, and the only difference is because there is not so much yeast in the bottle it just takes a bit longer to condition (get fizzy) but you dont get so much rubbish in the bottle of the bottle. :drink:

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Never used them myself but dont see why not, they must work, loads of people say they're ok, myself i would just add to each bottle. You can transfer to another fv (secondary fermenter) for a while, it helps clear the beer. the yeast will drop to the bottom so you dont get so much in the bottles, and the only difference is because there is not so much yeast in the bottle it just takes a bit longer to condition (get fizzy) but you dont get so much rubbish in the bottle of the bottle. :drink:

Cheers, what's the best way to move from the original FV to the secondary FV as the one its in at the moment is just a FV Bucket with a push on lid - no tap or hole in lid just a bucket & lid.

Should I use a syphon into the secondary FV for extra clearing.

 

[cheshirehomebrew]

I dont use priming drops as i prefer to control the amount of priming sugar, and you cant to do that with the drops as they are a set amount and size.

after the utter ball ache of bottling 40 pints ish the teaspoon of sugar in each is of no matter really

 

[beerhunter]

as long as fermentation has finished and you don't over-prime, your bottles should be ok.

 

[beerhunter]

way-hey! senior member, back of the shed!

 

[brooklandbackyardbrewery]

only way to do it is with a syphoning tube, try not to disturb the trub in the bottom of the FV and make sure the other end is on the bottom of the secondary FV so as not to introduce any air into the wort, or as little as possible anyway. Don't forget, when you've bottled it to put the bottles in a warm room until the plastic bottle gets hard. Dont put them in your dark cold garage or they will take months and months to gas up

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Cheers Guys, I really appreciate all the help and sorry for all the questions.

So I put my hops pellets in Wednesday night and instructions say to leave 3 days which takes me to Saturday.

Now is this when I should taste test it as instructions just says to see it is sweet and if it is then needs further fermenting - how long should I leave it for? I have checked every morning and night and it has sat at a constant 20 so I would of thought it should be ok.

If I transfer to the secondary FV via a syphon how long should I leave it in the FV no2 ? Or do I bottle up after transferring to FV no2 - is this just a way of not picking any of the stuff from the bottom of FV no1.


Again sorry for the newb questions :?

 

[Joeyriles]

There are different strokes for different folks. Some like to transfer to the secondary, batch prime and bottle immediately. I personally transfer, add finings and leave for about a week in a cold area to get as much sediment to drop to the bottom as possible. My reasoning is: I want my beer as clear as possible and, though you'll always have some sugar/bits of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, it's better if there isn't also a load of crud from the primary FV in there, too.
Case in point: my most recent IPA is crystal clear and tastes 'cleaner' that the same kit I made a year ago by directly bottling from the primary.

That being said, it's a broad church!