Bottling?

[Delmol]

Decided to bottle my first batch of Cooper's Real Ale last night.

After taking readings over the course of a few days it finally settled on a reading (Can't remember off the top of my head)

Added some sugar to the bottles, gave a shake and have left them to do their thing.

I checked a few bottles this morning and they are quite firm, a lot more so than I was expecting them to be (considering they were left for less than 12 hours!)

I was under the impression that carbonation would take a while (~2 weeks) and would be a good few days before I'd feel any real pressure.

Yet my bottles already seem about as firm as a bottle of pepsi would be in a shop.

I'm just worried I might have some bottle bombs on my hands!

 

[Graz]

How much sugar did you put in, what size bottles (500ml?) and how warm is it where you left them?

Given the current heatwave (subsiding fortunately as I hate heat) if you left them somewhere at ambient the yeast could have been quite active and quickly munched through the sugar producing all the CO2 they are going to.

 

[Delmol]

How much sugar did you put in, what size bottles (500ml?) and how warm is it where you left them?

Given the current heatwave (subsiding fortunately as I hate heat) if you left them somewhere at ambient the yeast could have been quite active and quickly munched through the sugar producing all the CO2 they are going to.

All 500ml bottles filled to within half inch of top and added approx half teaspoon of sugar to each one.

Heat has probably speeded up the carbonation by a lot, just wanted to double check just as it seemed a little too quick!

 

[Dutto]

All 500ml bottles filled to within half inch of top and added approx half teaspoon of sugar to each one.

Heat has probably speeded up the carbonation by a lot, just wanted to double check just as it seemed a little too quick!

I agree that the unusual temperatures of the last few days will have speeded up the carbonation process; but "Half in inch (aka 12.25mm)"?

I've never used PET bottles but that seems very close to me so I would move the bottles to a place where a bottle or cap failure would do no damage. :thumb:

 

[Delmol]

I agree that the unusual temperatures of the last few days will have speeded up the carbonation process; but "Half in inch (aka 12.25mm)"?

I've never used PET bottles but that seems very close to me so I would move the bottles to a place where a bottle or cap failure would do no damage. :thumb:

Maybe my measurements are a tad off, 12.25mm does seem very close. More like an inch or so then I'd say. :whistle:

I made sure there was adequate room so that shouldn't be too much of a problem :thumb:

I'll move them to a safe location and keep an eye on them over the next few days and see how they go. :pray:

Either that or I might be in for a bollocking...

 

[Graz]

Sounds fine if you have left around an inch or more headspace, half a teaspoon of sugar would not normally cause any problems, my suspicions would be that they've just carbed up really quickly due to the heat.

If you're concerned try refrigerating one, then open it (outdoors just in case!), and try it to see how carbed it really is. You can then either drink the rest young or put some more sugar in to reprime and stick it back with the rest.

 

[Cwrw666]

Don't worry about the head space you've left in your bottles - half an inch to an inch is fine, that's what I aim for when I'm bottling and don't have any problem. The pressure in a bottle is from the total amount of gas produced, which is controlled by the amount of priming sugar. Most of the gas is actually dissolved in the beer, not sitting in the head space.

 

[cheapbrew]

I fill mine to within an inch of the top then squeeze the bottle til beer is up to the top and then screw the lid on, I like to see the bottles reform to their proper shape when carbing up.
PET bottles can get rock hard and 'usually' when over pressurised the caps bow and leak rather than bottles exploding, there are some pics somewhere of bowing caps and dribbling bottles.

 

[Bigcol49]

. . . bowing caps and dribbling bottles.

Sounds like a music hall act to me :grin:

 

[rubby]

You didn't post any picture or I didn't find any one. But never the less it should be a good taste to experience.

 

[Delmol]

Thanks to everyone for the solid advice - thankfully all was well!

I decided to crack one open last night, for 'elf and safety testing of course :whistle:

They're pretty carbonated, but could still do with a few more days (no head just yet)

I'll keep them for a few days and see how they get on, then add more sugar if necessary.

Crisis has been averted! :party:

 

[Delmol]

Sounds fine if you have left around an inch or more headspace, half a teaspoon of sugar would not normally cause any problems, my suspicions would be that they've just carbed up really quickly due to the heat.

If you're concerned try refrigerating one, then open it (outdoors just in case!), and try it to see how carbed it really is. You can then either drink the rest young or put some more sugar in to reprime and stick it back with the rest.

Decided to take the plunge and try one.

It was carbed to a point, we had some bubbles!

But no head just yet so a few more days to carb up I think :)

 

[Delmol]

Don't worry about the head space you've left in your bottles - half an inch to an inch is fine, that's what I aim for when I'm bottling and don't have any problem. The pressure in a bottle is from the total amount of gas produced, which is controlled by the amount of priming sugar. Most of the gas is actually dissolved in the beer, not sitting in the head space.

Good to know, just my first time bottling and the last thing I need is beer exploding all over the house.

SWMBO wouldn't be best pleased...

I fill mine to within an inch of the top then squeeze the bottle til beer is up to the top and then screw the lid on, I like to see the bottles reform to their proper shape when carbing up.
PET bottles can get rock hard and 'usually' when over pressurised the caps bow and leak rather than bottles exploding, there are some pics somewhere of bowing caps and dribbling bottles.

This sounds like quite a good idea - might even make your beer keep for longer if there's hardly any oxygen inside the bottle?

 

[Delmol]

After roughly a week the bottles haven't exploded yet - so that's a good sign!

But it turned out rather nice, nice and bubbly with a small head on top.

Head retention isn't great, lasting in the region of 30 seconds before disappearing.

Next time I may try with a tad more sugar!