Bottling - Big bottles

[madoIII]

Hi there,

I am thinking about my options to bottle my next brew. So far I have been using standard 330 ml bottles, which do the job just fine.

However, now I am considering getting some 1 L bottles (or bigger?) with two goals:

• Speed up the process
• I like the idea of having big bottles that I can share with other people

Now, the silly question:
Any thing in particular I should consider during the bottling process? For example, I usually add the priming sugar to the beer before bottling. I guess this is ok: a 1L bottle will end up with more sugar, but that's ok because there is more beer that needs to be carbonated??

Lastly, any recommendations for size and model of bottles?

Cheers,
Enrique

 

[chub1]

Hi there,

I am thinking about my options to bottle my next brew. So far I have been using standard 330 ml bottles, which do the job just fine.

However, now I am considering getting some 1 L bottles (or bigger?) with two goals:

• Speed up the process
• I like the idea of having big bottles that I can share with other people

Now, the silly question:
Any thing in particular I should consider during the bottling process? For example, I usually add the priming sugar to the beer before bottling. I guess this is ok: a 1L bottle will end up with more sugar, but that's ok because there is more beer that needs to be carbonated??

Lastly, any recommendations for size and model of bottles?

Cheers,
Enrique

If you batch prime no worries. I have some beer in 1 litre ex fizzy lucozade bottles and they are fine. They are carbed at 2.0 volumes.

 

[Clint]

One thing that springs to mind is if you use a low flocculation yeast ....you will need to pour the whole bottle...into a jug maybe?

 

[The Idiot]

As Clint states, the only real issue with big bottles is that you'll need big glasses (or big jugs, ooh err Missus).

Either that or you can learn to get to the toilet a bit smartish on the odd occasion!

 

[IainM]

I have a 1L stein precisely for this. I now saunter to the John.

 

[Clint]

The big serving receptacles sound interesting. ...

 

[madoIII]

Aha! Thanks for the replies.

I use high flocculation yeast but just out of curiosity, why would one have to pour the whole bottle if using low flocculation yeast?

 

[Ajhutch]

Because the first pour would disturb the yeast so it would find its way into the second glass. If you use something like Notty it would just be a solid mass at the bottom and this wouldn't happen.


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[Ajhutch]

If you batch prime no worries. I have some beer in 1 litre ex fizzy lucozade bottles and they are fine. They are carbed at 2.0 volumes.

That's a good shout because they are a thicker plastic aren't they? I had a crisis when I had no spare bottles or kegs for a brew so the last four litres went into thin fizzy drink bottles. Carbed fine but the oxygen permeability meant dull brown beer.


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[terrym]

Amongst other bottle sizes I use 2 litre PET bottles.
They are obviously quicker to clean and fill at bottling time.
You can tell how they have carbed up (as all PET bottles).
I use them in conjunction with a one litre serving jug.
My experience is that you can take out one litre of beer reseal and the beer is still good for a few days.
If the yeast is low flocculating, by the time you get to the bottom of the bottle it will have clouded up and unless you like yeasty beer you have to leave that behind.
If you do go to larger bottles I suggest you bottle your beer when it is almost clear or better clear. This is done by longer time in the FV or with the help of crash cooling. Less yeast going forward then results in less yeast at the bottom of your bottle and therefore less volume of cloudy beer at the end.

 

[MyQul]

You could also look for 1L Growlers. I have 12 swingtop ones. They were quite expensive but are very good quality

 

[Pavros]

I use some 1 litre fizzy drink bottles with every batch I bottle as it's easier to tell if it's clearing and carbonating. I pour it all into a jug rather than saving the second glass in the bottle.

The largest glass bottles I use are the 750ml Leffe bottles which need a plastic cork stopper and metal cage so I only use them for Christmas type beers which I am going to keep for a long time.

 

[MyQul]

The largest glass bottles I use are the 750ml Leffe bottles which need a plastic cork stopper and metal cage so I only use them for Christmas type beers which I am going to keep for a long time.

I may be wrong but I think you can cap these with the larger spare bell that comes with some bench cappers (like the one I bought from balihoo)

 

[Pavros]

I may be wrong but I think you can cap these with the larger spare bell that comes with some bench cappers (like the one I bought from balihoo)

:thumb: I'm pretty sure that you can but I don't have a bench capper (and you also need larger size crown caps). But the cork and cage looks pretty good if you want to impress people!

 

[Ken L]

If you know someone who drinks a lot of Newcastle Brown, make n effort to become their friend. They are without doubt the best bottles for homebrew.
Failing that, Bulmers cider bottles are good - and student bars generate massive numbers of these.
If you don't over carbonate, either will happily fill a pint glass without the need for decanting into a jug.

I do use the 2L PET bottles nut only for cider.

 

[Doglaner]

I've started collecting prosecco bottles from SWMBO and her mates. They get through a remarkably large number of these....

The labels can be tricky to remove.

I use plastic champagne corks and wire cages from the local HBS and have just bottled my first batch partially into these. Only 4 bottles so far, as a test.

The plastic corks can be reused, although the cages can't.

I'll let you know how they go.

750ml works well as me and Mrs Doglaner often have a beer together, but she prefers a half to a full pint. Also when sharing with friends at dinner.

Dog.

 

[serum]

I cork and cage 750ml bottles and they look really good. Like people say, the second glass will have gunk but good for sharing or gifts.

Malt miller sells corks you can use for beer. You get the nice mushroom effect when they've sat for a while.

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[Ale]

I have a 1L stein precisely for this. I now saunter to the John.

I have one of these as well. I mainly use it for when I use my PB which I have to keep in the garage. Means less trips to top up. Never had any of that horrible lager stuff in it though like in that picture.