First lager brew - Ran out of bottles???

[MRD]

Hi,

I've made my first batch of lager, problem is now I have ran out of bottles whilst bottling it up.

I need to know, can I leave the left over lager in the barrel then put it into the bottles once they have been drank, then add the sugar etc as you would do normal or will the beer in the barrel go bad?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[GlentoranMark]

Go out and buy some cheap cola from Tesco's or Sainsbury's @ 20p for 2L and put your beer in those. Remember to prime 4x the amount.

I still use 500ml Pepsi bottles, I go to Subway Sandwiches twice a week an get a free bottle. Their much easier to look after than using glass bottles and caps.

 

[MRD]

ah ok, that makes more sense. Does the lager need to go in the fridge as soon as its been bottled or can it stay under my stairs then be chilled a few hours before drinking it?

 

[Sandimas]

After bottling, leave them in the warm (18C or higher) for 1-2 weeks to carb up. You can then put them into the fridge or a cool place.

Put them there straight away and you'll have flat lager :shock: Time needed in the warm for secondary fementation to occur.

 

[MRD]

Thanks for this, would it be ok to leave some of the bottles after the 2 weeks out of the fridge. Would this just make the beer warm or would it have any effect on this.

I know I sound like a complete newbie on this, but I really am!!!

Thanks

After bottling, leave them in the warm (18C or higher) for 1-2 weeks to carb up. You can then put them into the fridge or a cool place.

Put them there straight away and you'll have flat lager :shock: Time needed in the warm for secondary fementation to occur.

 

[Sandimas]

The idea of bottling is to do a small amount of secondary fermentation to generate the gas in the beer, after the main fermentation has finished. So you add a small amount of sugar during the bottling process to re-start fermentation and keep it in the warm for a further 2 weeks, after which it's pretty much complete. Cooling it helps the beer absorb the CO2 to make it fizzy.

So yes, you can leave them out of the fridge, they may even carry on generating a little bit of gas, but you'll get better fizz in your lager by refridgerating them for a few days after the 2-week secondary fermentation stage. You'll get much better lager if you can leave them in the fridge untouched for 10-12 weeks, as lager can take a while to come good.