Bottles

[Dro]

I prime with sugar cubes. Ones I use are Domino's Dots. They are equivalent to a half teaspoon of table sugar. These are also small enough to fit through most bottle neck openings.

One is perfect for a 500ml bottle. Drop it in, fill, cap. I put them in a bowl where I will be filling and drop the required number in the bottle just before filling.

These things are fast and easy.

I know some people that still just measure a half teaspoon of sugar per bottle and drop it in with a funnel.


All the Best,
D. White

Brilliant idea. Thanks a lot. A great help.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Yes - I will second that.

Want to use PET Bottles just for Wherry and have garage to keep them in the dark

Then learnt a bit more with the Dominos Dots - will follow that up as well

Cheers all

 

[Barley Rubble]

I have 24 of the Leffe Blonde 750 ml bottles which equates to 18 litres. I would like to use these for bottling but they have a larger cap size 28 or 29. I can't seem to find this size and in any case my hand held levered capper only takes the regular 26 mm caps. I remember that Leffe Blonde used to come with a cork stopper with a wire champagne style wire wrap. Could I use cork stoppers in lieu of caps? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Barley.

 

[MmmBeer]

I have 24 of the Leffe Blonde 750 ml bottles which equates to 18 litres. I would like to use these for bottling but they have a larger cap size 28 or 29. I can't seem to find this size and in any case my hand held levered capper only takes the regular 26 mm caps. I remember that Leffe Blonde used to come with a cork stopper with a wire champagne style wire wrap. Could I use cork stoppers in lieu of caps? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Barley.

With most bench cappers, you get two heads, one is 26mm for standard bottles and the other is 29mm. Like most owners of bench cappers, I have never used the 29mm one. If you have a google you will find the 29mm caps for sale online as well.

 

[Barley Rubble]

With most bench cappers, you get two heads, one is 26mm for standard bottles and the other is 29mm. Like most owners of bench cappers, I have never used the 29mm one. If you have a google you will find the 29mm caps for sale online as well.

Ah. Hence why I must invest in a bench capper! Good to know the 29 mm caps are available, but what about using cork stoppers for home brew beer in the meantime?

 

[MmmBeer]

Ah. Hence why I must invest in a bench capper! Good to know the 29 mm caps are available, but what about using cork stoppers for home brew beer in the meantime?

The 29mm caps are most commonly used on champagne and sprkling wine bottles. made using the traditional/champagne method.

The wine is fermented, then bottled with additional sugar to start a secondary fermentation in the bottle and sealed with a 29mm cap. Once this has finished, the bottles are tilted cap down for the yeast and sediment to fall into the neck, the neck is then frozen so that the sediment is encapsulated in a plug of ice, the cap is then removed and pressure forces the ice out and a mushroom cork with wire cage fitted.

It is therefore likely that you would need a champagne style cork to stopper the bottles. Sorry for the longwinded reply.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Like I said, they to use champagne style corks with the wire cage fitted and they were sometimes a devil to get out. Somewhere along the line they have now decided to go with plain gold 29mm caps. Maybe because of cost?

 

[Barley Rubble]

I've got some tapered stoppers made from natural cork. I might just try one and see how it goes with my next brew. Alternatively save up for a bench capper!