The Bottling Process

[ToyCar]

Hello happy brewers,

My green neck lager is at 1.008 SG, so I'll be bottling it within the week hopefully

I used x10 2 litre bottles of water for my brew, and was planning on reusing the bottles to put it in now for 2-3 months. The lids of the bottles were closed straight after I emptied them into the barrel, so I don't think they would be infected. Will they be suitable?

Also, I don't really know how much sugar to put into each 2 litre bottle. How much should I use?

This might be insane, but can I use caster sugar? (Straight from a bag in the kitchen)

Cheers :drink:

 

[rpt]

If the water bottles used to hold fizzy water then you can use them. But since you used the water to make the beer I am guessing they were still so won't be suitable as they are unlikely to have been designed to hold pressure. Caster sugar is fine.

 

[Leeds Chimp]

If the water bottles used to hold fizzy water then you can use them. But since you used the water to make the beer I am guessing they were still so won't be suitable as they are unlikely to have been designed to hold pressure. Caster sugar is fine.

i use the 2l water bottles no problems.......

 

[alanywiseman.]

Only bottle in bottles that used to contain fizzy drinks. Caster sugar is perfect for priming.

 

[bobsbeer]

The lids of the bottles were closed straight after I emptied them into the barrel, so I don't think they would be infected. Will they be suitable?

I would steralise them before use. While they have been closed up, when you emptied them air will have got in. That air can also carry bacteria. So unless you are using straight away after emptying them, then sterilise before use. The phrase 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness' was probably coined by a brewer.

I am assuming you want to carbonate in the bottles, so as Alan has said, if they were fizzy water bottles they should be fine, if not you will end up with balloons, and I doubt the cap would take the pressure.

 

[Aleman]

2L PET Bottles used for sparking (OR STILL!!) water will be fine for carbonating . . . I took a Still PET Bottle up to 150psi before chickening out.

Glass is a completely different story!!!!!

 

[bobsbeer]

I took a Still PET Bottle up to 150psi before chickening out.

. :lol: :lol: They may be able to hold the pressure but when full of beer they are likely to spray beer all over the place as you release the cap, and collapse back to normal shape. But I may be wrong as I haven't tried it. :lol:

 

[aamcle]

I've carbonated Bitter in a Asda still water bottle it worked as well as any other pet bottle.


Aamcle

 

[LeithR]

One of our original questions what how much sugar to prime the bottles with. As a rule of thumb 1/2 teaspoonful per 500ml or 1 pint so per 2Lbottle you'll need 2 teaspoonfuls for ales. Fir lagers I seem to recall its a bit higher around 1 teaspoonful per 500ml. You may want to experiment with this depending on your taste and how fizzy you like your lager.

 

[alanywiseman.]

2L PET Bottles used for sparking (OR STILL!!) water will be fine for carbonating . . . I took a Still PET Bottle up to 150psi before chickening out.

I stand corrected

 

[ToyCar]

Thanks a lot for all the advice once again!

I'll go and buy some 2 litre plastic bottles that had fizzy water in to avoid any exploding / infection problems in the future

One of our original questions what how much sugar to prime the bottles with. As a rule of thumb 1/2 teaspoonful per 500ml or 1 pint so per 2Lbottle you'll need 2 teaspoonfuls for ales. Fir lagers I seem to recall its a bit higher around 1 teaspoonful per 500ml. You may want to experiment with this depending on your taste and how fizzy you like your lager.

Good idea, I'll try out different amounts in each bottle to see what I like the best

 

[LeithR]

Priming on a per bottle basis is tedious The easier way is to use a bottling bucket and prime into the bucket (Boiled and cooled water into your sugar then into the priming bucket before transferring the beer). This helps to ensure that each bottle gets the same amount of priming. If you want to experiment with priming then start out priming with the least amount of sugar and fill a few bottles then add a little more priming sugar and fill a few more bottles and so on.