Bottling Stout

[MatthewJ]

Hello all,

I am fairly new to home brewing, having so far brewed just one batch of cider and one of ale, both from kits. The cider I bottled, but I never added sugar at the second stage of fermentation, so it is like a scrumpy in texture. The ale I put into a keg. I have just started a stout kit today and it is now all in the fermenting bucket. I intend to bottle it, as my keg still has the ale in it, and it will still be in use by the time the stout is ready to be bottled. The bottles I used for the cider were various 500 and 568 ml bottles that I have been saving over the last couple of months. Would these bottles be suitable to bottle the stout in, or would I be best to buy new (unused) ones from a brewing shop? When I bought my fermenting bucket I was told that the bottles the shop sold could withstand greater pressures than those that I have been saving.

I would be grateful of any advice. Thanks,

Matthew

 

[Wez]

Welcome to the forum MJ

If the bottles you have been saving are the nice heavy thick brown glass types you're OK :thumb: Some bottles it's true will not withstand the pressure of secondary fermentation (or priming) these are normally the thin lighter bottles - we call them bottle bombs, so for comparison think Hobgoblin type bottle versus Carlsberg type bottle.

1/2 tsp sugar per bottle will give good results, keep them at room temp for a week after bottling then transfer to somewhere cold.

Hope that helps

:thumb:

 

[Dunfie]

Which shop was that? I think that is awful - they really should know better.

As Wez says - your normal thick brown bottle will do the job. As will the one pint cider bottles (Bulmers, Magners) - I've reused them numerous times and they are great as long as you are just carbonating to normal ale levels.

 

[MatthewJ]

Thank you both for your replies. That's good news as most of my bottles are Bulmers bottles, and I also have some Hobgoblin and Magners ones. That was just what I was told in my local home brewing shop, although the man did confess that he didn't usually work there, he was a friend of the owner. But assuming now that his advice should be ignored, may I ask: if I wanted to make carbonated cider by priming the bottles with sugar, would re-used bottles be able to withstand the pressure if I didn't cap them but perhaps corked them? Or would capping be okay?

Thanks,

Matthew

 

[Wez]

I would have thought that you'll be OK with 1tsp sugar in a 500ml thick glass bottle, a safer alternative is to use the 500ml soft drink PET bottles, they withstand lots of pressure.

 

[MatthewJ]

Thank you for the advice, when you say that you think it should be all right in a thick glass bottle, is that capped or corked?

Matthew

 

[Wez]

Sorry, should have said..capped :thumb:

 

[MatthewJ]

Okay, thank you. I have just one last question: what S.G. should I be looking for as a sign it is reading for bottling? When I brewed the cider that said 998, but the ale was slightly higher, would 998 be a safe S.G. for the stout? The instructions in the kit didn't make it clear.

Thanks for all of your help,

Matthew

 

[Dunfie]

Beer contains dextrins which are sugars that cannot by fermented by the brewing yeast. This means that your beer will not get down to the final gravity that you get with wine and cider. A typical yeast will manage to ferment your beer down to around a quarter of the original gravity. So if you started at 1040 then you might expect to have a final gravity of around 1010. However for us homebrewers this is just a guide and you will find that your final gravity will vary from brew to brew.

When you notice that the activity has stopped take a gravity reading and then the next day take another - if they are the same then it is ready for racking. If it looks like it has dropped another point or two then just leave it another day and try again. Patience pays in this game.

 

[MatthewJ]

Thank you for that information, the instructions in the kit said to take readings over two days, but I assumed there would be a level I should be looking to be around before it was ready to bottle. So thank you for your advice, I've just measured it and it is at 1004, so I shall measure again tomorrow. Thanks,

Matthew

 

[Dunfie]

That does seem low for a beer. I've never seen any of mine go below around 1009 and they are usually in the 1011 - 1013 range. :wha: . Mind you, I haven't brewed a kit for a few years so perhaps it is normal.

I would certainly check again in the morning but if it is at 1004 I would be very surprised if it dropped any lower.

Out of interest - what does your hydrometer read for water? Just incase you have a calibration issue.

 

[MatthewJ]

I checked again on Friday and it still read the same, 1004. I tried it just in water and it read just below 1000, does that sound about right?

Matthew

 

[Dunfie]

I checked again on Friday and it still read the same, 1004. I tried it just in water and it read just below 1000, does that sound about right?

Matthew

Sounds like it has stopped - get it bottled (if you haven't already). :thumb:

Water should be smack on 1000. If it is a couple of points below then you can make the appropriate adjustments when you next brew.