Bottling questions

[Brew2xist]

Hey guys,

I've got some questions about bottling.

I set up my first fermentation (ginger beer) a week ago and I think I'm ready to bottle.
My first reading was 1.060 and after 7 days it's reading 0.960. The airlock has stopped bubbling 2 days ago and I think I'm ready to bottle.

I have my swing top 500ml bottles ready and I'm not really sure how to go about it? I have read way too many horror stories of exploding bottles and want to know all about how much priming sugar too add to the bottles and when my brew is ready to bottle?

If anyone has any tips for bottling, please share! I'm really nervous about this and don't want to screw it up.

This is the recipe I followed
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3826

Thank you guys!

Richy

 

[strange-steve]

First of all I'd give it another week for the yeast to clean up after itself and to make sure fermentation is complete.
Around 5g/liter will give you a fairly lively carbonation which is probably what you want for a ginger ale.
Also with a FG of 0.960 that'll be very dry, have you tasted a sample?

 

[Brew2xist]

First of all I'd give it another week for the yeast to clean up after itself and to make sure fermentation is complete.
Around 5g/liter will give you a fairly lively carbonation which is probably what you want for a ginger ale.
Also with a FG of 0.960 that'll be very dry, have you tasted a sample?

Awesome, I will give it another week to clean up :)

Ok, will the 5g/liter of sugar give me a safe amount of sugar so they won't explode or will I still need to refrigerate after a week?

I did try it today and it's very dry, I was hoping to combat it with some non ferment sugar? Do you have a suggestion?

Thank you for your help :)

 

[strange-steve]

Yeah that'll give you a safe level of around 2-2.5 vol/CO2 which will be fizzy but not explosive. Prime then give it a couple of weeks warm to carbonate.
To back sweeten with non fermentable sugar you can use splenda or lactose. Probably the best way is to take a known quantity sample and add the sugar until it's to your taste then scale up to full volume.

 

[dandanni84]

Can plastic bottles from orange squash for example be used as long as they are properly cleaned?

 

[MickDundee]

Can plastic bottles from orange squash for example be used as long as they are properly cleaned?

Not orange squash, but Coke bottles etc will last you a couple of brews.

The reason for squash bottles not being suitable is that they are not made to handle carbonated liquids and therefore are unlikely to withstand the pressure of carbonation.

 

[houseofcole]

I have some of the flip top bottles... if they over pressure they just lift and let the gas out.
Screw top bottles and mini kegs however like to explode and leave a sticky mess all over the garage.

 

[houseofcole]

Can plastic bottles from orange squash for example be used as long as they are properly cleaned?

Yes, I use these for making cheap cider.

 

[dandanni84]

Will go for coke bottles then don't fancy beer exploding all over the garage!!! Is it best to leave in pressure barrel or bottle?

 

[terrym]

Will go for coke bottles then don't fancy beer exploding all over the garage!!! Is it best to leave in pressure barrel or bottle?

You can use any bottles that have held a 'fizzy' drink, but do not use bottles that have been used for unpressurised liquids. I use PET bottles that have previously held supermarket sparkling water.
You can use a PB as well as bottles, but unless you have brew fridge or similar you will not be able to chill your ginger beer to serve it, but more importantly you will be limited on carbonation level by the design pressure of the PB which will safely only take about 90-100g sugar to prime 23 litres or so of beer.

 

[The Idiot]

If you check around the lower end supermarkets you'll often find carbonated water at a lower cost than buying PET bottles from a supplier. With glass bottles a level tsp (5g) per litre as suggested is unlikely to cause any issues. However, if you don't sanitise them or get wild yeast into the bottles when transferring, it might be different.

Definitely leave it for another week, two if you can wait, as the yeast won't have finished yet. The sugars might be gone but they'll still be munching through various nasties and turning them into better tasting things!