Bottling Query from a Newbie

[Telford_QPR]

Hi all

My IPA has settled at 1014 for a few days after just over 2 weeks in the FV and so I am hoping to bottle over the weekend but have a couple of queries I'm hoping someone can answer.

1. Sanatize bottles - I am planning in rinsing / cleaning these with a bottle brush and then leaving for at least 30mins in a buckets of diluted bleach. I will then give a really good rinse and let dry. Am I ok to rinse with tap water or should I use boiled water. Also, do these need to be complely dry as I dont have a bottle tree so this may take some doing?

2. Conditioning - Seems I need to keep these in the warm for a couple of weeks. Due to lack of room, I was thinking of putting these in the loft. This will be slightly warmer than room temperature, will this be ok or is there an upper temperature to avoid?

3. Explosion - How likely is this to happen? I will be using 1/2 tsp per bottle and part of the reason for thining about using the loft is to minimise damage should this happen but is the warmth going to make this more likley?

Cheers in advance for assistance :

 

[Baz Chaz]

1. Sanatize bottles - then leavefor at least 30mins in a buckets of diluted bleach. I will then give a really good rinse and let dry. Am I ok to rinse with tap water or should I use boiled water. Also, do these need to be complely dry as I dont have a bottle tree so this may take some doing?

I pretty much do as you're thinking, I rinse in tap water and invert in a clean crate while setting up to bottle, bottles aren't totally dry prior to filling

2. Conditioning - Seems I need to keep these in the warm for a couple of weeks. Due to lack of room, I was thinking of putting these in the loft. This will be slightly warmer than room temperature, will this be ok or is there an upper temperature to avoid?

I keep mine at room temperature for a week (reasonably constant) then cooler for storage, you don't want to get over warm before moving to cool storage.


3. Explosion - How likely is this to happen? I will be using 1/2 tsp per bottle and part of the reason for thining about using the loft is to minimise damage should this happen but is the warmth going to make this more likley?

Not had any bottles explode, had one or two lively when opened :!: Hope all goes OK :thumb:

Personally I find batch priming a lot easier than priming individual bottles :

 

[Telford_QPR]

Thanks Baz - much appreciated as I'm sure a lot of the more experienced on here get asked the same questions in a lot of different ways!

I think I need to get myself another bucket so I can create a bottling bucket and batch prime but until then, I will use a funnel and the wife !!

Cheers

 

[Sussex Hopburner]

I put my bottles in the cupboard that has the tumble drier in it.

It can get pretty warm (upto 30'c) and I find this gives it a bit of a kick start. I leave them for about 2 weeks then into the shed for as long as I can bear!!

I have yet to have a bomb.

 

[Telford_QPR]

Do you need to syphon into a bottling bucket? I only have the FV and was going to bottle straight in from here - I'm worried this may now have too much sediment. Should I hold off and get a new bucket tomorrow?

 

[Sussex Hopburner]

You can do either.

Does your syphon have an "end" that prevents sediment being sucked up?

Mind you, can't hurt to have an extra FV- suggest you get one with a tap, making bottling much easier. :thumb:

SHB

 

[Baz Chaz]

Brupacks bottling stick ..... it's the dogs danglies for bottling, one of the little bits of kit that I wouldn't be without :thumb:

 

[Telford_QPR]

I have a bottling stick but....cant figure out how it works - tried it with water and cant seem to get a flow going :hmm:

 

[timbim]

Fill the stick with water before attaching to the tap.

 

[Yorkslad]

I dunno if this is wrong or not but when i bottle i sterilize my bottles and rinse them the same time as bottling, so my bottles are still wet(ish) inside. This has never gave me a bad batch or had any problems with off flavoured beers. I use milton as my sterilizer now as it works 110% and doesn't leave any smells or after tastes.
I dont worry too much about bottles been slightly wet inside as everything is sterilized.

 

[timbim]

What do you rinse them with, boiled water or water straight from the tap? If it's straight from the tap it could contain some bacteria or other such microorganisms that could spoil your brew. I'm far from convinced that that's likely, I'd like to see any research into it, I want to try growing some agar plates from tap water to see if there's anything in it.

As regards any steriliser being left in the bottle, if you've rinsed it even if it's still damp then you won't have anything like enough to taste.

Tim

 

[Baz Chaz]

I dunno if this is wrong or not but when i bottle i sterilize my bottles and rinse them the same time as bottling, so my bottles are still wet(ish) inside. This has never gave me a bad batch or had any problems with off flavoured beers.

Likewise, I've had one bottle so far that had a 'taste' to it which I obviously hadn't rinsed properly but other than that no probs :thumb: when I rememner what a couple of breweries were like and how they brewed their ales I don't worry just as much :? Thinking Mitchells @ Lancaster and Hartleys @ Ulverston

 

[Telford_QPR]

Bottling session finished and seemed to go ok albeit with a couple of hitches. Firstly, managed to get the bottling stick working ok until I got down to the last few bottles - will use the trick of filling with water next time. Wife wanted a go at capping which ended with a smashed bottle and brew on the floor and we didn't finish until 12.30am but I now have 36 bottles in the cuby under the stairs (loft was actually only circa 10C).

Going to leave indoors for a couple of weeks and then move to garage.

Have now purchased next kit to start brew number 2 tomorrow!

Cheers for all the help guys :

 

[Yorkslad]

Timbim i use hot tap water to rinse the bottles after sterilizing, i don't have to rinse as the sterilizer bottle says i don't have to, but i do anyway as i am very careful to make sure evrything is 110% clean. I dont go overboard with worrying about infections as every brew iv done has been perfect. I use the tap water to fill my fermenter so i will use it to rinse also, its perfectly safe :thumb:

 

[Yorkslad]

Wife wanted a go at capping which ended with a smashed bottle and brew on the floor

This is why my fiance gets locked in the living room while i play in my brewing room :rofl:

 

[Telford_QPR]

Been 8 days in the warmth so decided to crack one to see what was happening. Tastes was ok, certainly not spectacular but didn't expect this as still need to get into the cold and about the right level of fizz for my liking. Couple of questions though:

Head retention - There was no head to retain! Is this due to lack of sugar (which may give me more fizz) and is there anything I can do for either this brew or future brews to help this?

Cold - I can get a few bottles in an outdoor fridge, would this be better than the garage?

Cheers

 

[BigYin]

I always bottle condition for a month minimum :thumb:

If you haven't got a great head on the beer it just makes it easier to pour - far better that than the other way around :lol:

I don't like beers to gassy at all, so I always prefer to verge on the side of less sugar is better :drink: