Bottling homebrew is not a difficult procedure but is often disparaged as one that is tedious at worst and boring at best. But to thousands of people who brew their beer at home, bottling represents the only option for packaging their finished beer. Here are the basics of how to bottle your homebrew
The key to breaking the tedium is to get your system down to a science; the more you go through the bottling steps, the more familiar they become, and then you can begin to anticipate your next move.
Here are some handy tips to keep in mind (the finer details will follow below):
- Have the appropriate number of bottles on hand.
- Sanitize everything that comes in contact with your beer.
- Use the correct amount of priming sugar and “bulk prime” your beer.
Choosing Bottles
Bottles come in all sizes and shapes and levels of quality, here are some things you should consider.
Your homebrew bottles should:
- ...be the thick, returnable type or those sold by homebrew equipment retailers.
- ...be made of colored glass (the darker the better). Beer is damaged by light; tinted glass protects against light damage.
- ...not have a twist-off opening.Bottle caps can’t seal across the threads on twist-off bottles.
- ...be of uniform size. Having all your beer in bottles of the same size and shape makes capping and storing much easier.
The American brewing industry continues to package beer -albeit in limited markets- in a variety of 7, 12, 16, and 22-ounce and quart-size returnable bottles; check with your local beer retailer. A few European brewers package their export beer in reusable bottles; the popular 17-ounce Weizenbier bottles are well suited to your needs.
A 5-gallon batch of beer is the equivalent of 640 ounces. Using larger bottles is another way to expedite the bottling process, as well as reducing the drudgery of the bottling process. The more beer the bottles can hold, the fewer bottles you need.
Sanitize Your Equipment
Everything that comes in contact with your beer holds the potential to contaminate it; make sure you sanitize all of it, not just the bottles. This list may include the following items:
- Bottling bucket
- Racking cane (for siphoning)
- Transfer tubing (for siphoning)
- Bottling tube
- Bottle caps
For more information about sanitizing homebrew equipment, click on this link: http://beer-brewing.suite101.com/article.cfm/cleaning_and_sanitizing_your_homebrew_equipment
Ready for Prime Time
In order for homebrew to carbonate, additional sugar needs to be added to the beer just before it gets bottled. What little yeast is left in suspension will consume the newly added sugar and produce the necessary CO2 in your beer. The most important thing to remember is to use the correct amount of sugar. Too little and your beer will be flat, too much sugar and your beer will gush or your bottles will explode!
Note: never bottle a brew that is not completely done fermenting. Always verify this with a hydrometer reading. Click on http://marty-nachel.suite101.com/learning-how-to-use-a-hydrometer-a91360
The type of sugar typically used to prime homebrew is dextrose, or corn sugar, but you may also choose to use dried malt extract (DME). The proper dosage for a 5-gallon batch of beer is ¾ cup of dextrose or 1-1/4 cup of DME. Do not use white table sugar (sucrose) as it will leave a tart “apple-y” flavor in your beer.
Finally, the best way to prime homebrew is by the bulk method -rather than the old fashioned one-bottle-at-a-time method. Bulk priming is much easier and much more accurate. Simply dissolve the sugar of your choice in about a cup of water and bring to a boil in a saucepan. When this has cooled, pour it gently into your beer while it is in the bottling bucket. Gently stir it in with a sanitized utensil (racking cane, bottling tube, etc.). Set up your bottling apparatus and away you go!
Marty Nachel - Marty Nachel is a freelance writer, a published author, a certified beer judge and an award-winning homebrewer. His book titles include ...
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