NEIPA stratification in the fermerter

[Agentgonzo]

Hey Neale,
Does filling so close to the top of the bottle not increase chance of the cap shooting off during carbonation? I was going to fill close to the top when bottling next but was wondering about possible issues.

Apparently not. I haven't tried it though, but there is a thread where someone did this to reduce oxidation and it helped a lot.

Here it is Test Results from Bottling using Oxygen scavenging caps and reduced headspace in bottles

 

[Neale]

Hey Neale,
Does filling so close to the top of the bottle not increase chance of the cap shooting off during carbonation? I was going to fill close to the top when bottling next but was wondering about possible issues.

Hi Jabber, there is a chance of bottle bombs if you fill too close to the top. I have had one bottle explode since I started topping up. I went into my 'fridge' while the bottles where conditioning at 20°C and found beer all over the bottom. I only found the exploded bottle when I started picking the bottles up. It turns out the bottom of the bottle had separated from the sides in a fairly clean 'cut' all the way round but the bottle was still upright supported by the other bottles. I have bottled hundreds of bottles like this now though, so I can only assume that either this particular bottle had some damage or I double primed it or I had filled it a bit too close to the top.

I usually fill to approximately 5mm from the top. I first squirt a sugar solution from a syringe into each bottle, then I fill with a bottling wand directly from my FV, pull the bottling wand out and carefully top up from a pre-filled beaker, then cap straight away.

I know some people push the bottling wand against the side of the bottle to top up but I found that the beaker is much easier.

If you are concerned about bottle bombs I would suggest filling and capping as described above then depending on where/how you condition the beer, maybe put a box or towel over the bottles so if you do get a bottle bomb you wont run the risk of glass flying everywhere. My conditioning fridge has a lip at the front so I didn't get any beer leakage onto the floor but if thats a risk maybe also put the bottles on something to catch any leaks.

I have recently made an IPA and bottled three tiny 200ml bottles to test if there is a significant loss of flavour/aroma over time. I have filled one bottle to the normal bottling wand height, ie large air gap, and two to 5mm from the top, and capped one with an oxygen scavenging cap and one with a standard cap. I'll open them in a few months time and see if I can notice any difference. I'll post the results when I do.

 

[Jabber1]

Hi Jabber, there is a chance of bottle bombs if you fill too close to the top. I have had one bottle explode since I started topping up. I went into my 'fridge' while the bottles where conditioning at 20°C and found beer all over the bottom. I only found the exploded bottle when I started picking the bottles up. It turns out the bottom of the bottle had separated from the sides in a fairly clean 'cut' all the way round but the bottle was still upright supported by the other bottles. I have bottled hundreds of bottles like this now though, so I can only assume that either this particular bottle had some damage or I double primed it or I had filled it a bit too close to the top.

I usually fill to approximately 5mm from the top. I first squirt a sugar solution from a syringe into each bottle, then I fill with a bottling wand directly from my FV, pull the bottling wand out and carefully top up from a pre-filled beaker, then cap straight away.

I know some people push the bottling wand against the side of the bottle to top up but I found that the beaker is much easier.

If you are concerned about bottle bombs I would suggest filling and capping as described above then depending on where/how you condition the beer, maybe put a box or towel over the bottles so if you do get a bottle bomb you wont run the risk of glass flying everywhere. My conditioning fridge has a lip at the front so I didn't get any beer leakage onto the floor but if thats a risk maybe also put the bottles on something to catch any leaks.

I have recently made an IPA and bottled three tiny 200ml bottles to test if there is a significant loss of flavour/aroma over time. I have filled one bottle to the normal bottling wand height, ie large air gap, and two to 5mm from the top, and capped one with an oxygen scavenging cap and one with a standard cap. I'll open them in a few months time and see if I can notice any difference. I'll post the results when I do.

Hi Neale,
Thanks, that's brilliant information, I'll get a helper (the wife) to do the bottling straight away. There's a lot of helpful tips to minimise the risk of oxidisation issues and keep the quality as good as possible.
Although as I always say, I've made 20ltrs of beer and I'll get used to the taste no matter what it's like

 

[Neale]

Hi Neale,
Thanks, that's brilliant information, I'll get a helper (the wife) to do the bottling straight away. There's a lot of helpful tips to minimise the risk of oxidisation issues and keep the quality as good as possible.
Although as I always say, I've made 20ltrs of beer and I'll get used to the taste no matter what it's like

No problem and good luck.

Why not bottle a couple with a large air gap as well then you can see what difference it can make.

 

[Jabber1]

No problem and good luck.

Why not bottle a couple with a large air gap as well then you can see what difference it can make.

That's a plan

 

[Jabber1]

No problem and good luck.

Why not bottle a couple with a large air gap as well then you can see what difference it can make.

Hi Neale,
2 weeks since bottling, nothing exploded and have tasted a couple of the. I used a auto-siphon and bottling wand this time and bottled as soon as I filled them. Far better than previous brews but still not as good as it should be I think.....

 

[Neale]

Hi Neale,
2 weeks since bottling, nothing exploded and have tasted a couple of the. I used a auto-siphon and bottling wand this time and bottled as soon as I filled them. Far better than previous brews but still not as good as it should be I think.....

2 weeks is still pretty young, hopefully it will improve after a few weeks conditioning, but I'm glad the technique seems to have helped. The big test is if it still tastes the same after a couple of months. If it does then the reduced headspace has worked.

I sometimes keep a bottle for maybe 6 months to see if any hop character remains or to see if there are any signs of oxidation. So far I have seen a reduction in hop character but no significant signs of oxidation even after 300 days.

 

[Jabber1]

2 weeks is still pretty young, hopefully it will improve after a few weeks conditioning, but I'm glad the technique seems to have helped. The big test is if it still tastes the same after a couple of months. If it does then the reduced headspace has worked.

I sometimes keep a bottle for maybe 6 months to see if any hop character remains or to see if there are any signs of oxidation. So far I have seen a reduction in hop character but no significant signs of oxidation even after 300 days.

Cool will do, I've a few with a larger gap left at the top also so I'll see what they taste like see if there's much difference. Thanks for the advice again