Plastic bottles for beer?

[NickW]

Hey guys,

I've got some beer brewing at the minute, and I need to bottle it. It's going to get drunk by the end of the month.

I'm contemplating putting them in plastic 2l bottles that used to cheap pop from asda.

I know you guys are going to tell me to get a shiny cornelius keg!! But is it a decent option for up to a month storage?

(Please say yes :lol: )

Cheers : ,

crE

 

[Aleman]

PET Bottles are fine for short term storage.

2L bottles may be a problem, as in order to not disturb the sediment you need to pour it all in one go . . . So Either use a Jug . . . Or get a Damn Big Glass . . . Although that leads to its own problem. I bottled my Coopers lager in 1.5L Grolsch bottles (I have a 1.5L Glass), but that is nearly 3 pints of a 5% beer in one go . . . I realise now that it was a bit of a mistake . . . but one I am going to be sure to make again :lol:

 

[NickW]

Hey Aleman!

I dont quite understand what you mean.

Why do you need a big glass.. why cant it be syphoned into the 2l bottles?

 

[BrewStew]

he's on about when your ready to drink it. if you half pour a bottle conditioned beer and there's a layer of sediment in the bottom, this gets kicked back up when you stand the bottle upright again when you've finished pouring... so you need something big enough to take the full volume of the bottle it was conditioned in so you dont have to stop pouring

i'm sure you'll figure it out for yourself when you pour your first pint from a bottle

 

[NickW]

Ah - why is there going to be sediment at the bottom? Is the beer not cleared first? - You never see sediment in commercial beers.

 

[Aleman]

You do if they are bottled conditioned

Of course If you bottle Carbonated clear beer then you are unlikely to get a sediment, but if you go for bottle conditioning you are relying on yeast to do the work . . . hence the sediment

 

[BrewStew]

You never see sediment in commercial beers.

that's because commercial (non bottle conditioned) beers are filtered... a process which also happens to knock some flavour out too

 

[NickW]

Ah! I'm doing a bitter kit you see.

It doesnt say it in the instructions - but do you think I should rack it twice so I dont get any sediment?

Or should I just learn to drink 2l of beer all in one go :lol:

 

[BrewStew]

if you rack to secondary and leave it a while before bottling, there wont be much yeast left to produce CO2 and carbonate it in the bottle.

just a word of caution; the more you rack, the more risk of oxidation and infection.

 

[NickW]

Bah, I didnt think of that.

Guess I'll be be siphoning my beer out the 2l bottles into my pint glass Hopefully that should keep the sediment in place.

Still umming and aaring about a cornie :wha: As with my beers and ciders, I intend to take them round to friends houses etc.

But I guess I could just tap it from the cornie into a bottle and be off.

Hopefully I'll be able to afford one soon!

 

[BrewStew]

if my beer's in cornies and i want to take my own drink to parties i use plastic flagons. the ones with the saftey cap i get them from my local pub for £1.50 and they hold 4 pints :thumb: , and fill them up straight from the tap they hold their pressure all night, but wont for much longer. either that or i fill a load of 2L PET bottles from the tap... again same problem though, but at least there's no sediment and it's good for the night :thumb: