Kegger scared of Bottling!!!

chaz1975

I would love to try Bottling my beer , but i've only ever kegged it which i've been happy with so give me some advice re: brewing , conditioning , priming and give me confidence to try it

HBO_Staff

There are many reasons to bottle, and we are big fans of bottling brews, although not the work involved as it is easier to just syphon over into a keg. You do of course have to ensure that your bottles are cleaned with a steriliser as with all your other brewing equipment. There are a couple of ways to transfer it over from your fermenting vessel, the old trusty syphon tube, this is easier if you use something like a 'pinch valve' which stops and starts the flow, or we always use and strongly recommend a 'little bottler' - possibly the best couple of quid you will spend, especially if filling a lot of bottles. The little bottler is fitted to your fermenting vessel before starting, and consists of a tap with a clever tube attached. It is one handed filling, you simply open the tap, and then press the bottle onto the tube and let it fill the bottle. To stop the flow, simply lower the bottle. You can also fill the bottle to the top, because as you remove the tube the liquid it displaced is the right amount to leave as an air gap under the cap.

The priming is the same as with a keg, just put the recommended amount of sugar in, either in the form of brewing sugar, enhancer, spraymalt or ordinary sugar. You can use carbonation drops for ease, they are very popular and look like boiled sweets, you simply pop one or two into each bottle and seal it up, and it primes the brew in the usual way. The main advantage is it is quick and easy, and they fit through the neck of the bottles easily without spilling priming sugar everywhere.

Just leave the bottles somewhere warm for a few days to kickstart secondary fermentation and then transfer somewhere cooler for a few weeks to condition and clear. You can of course pop your bottles in the fridge if you want to serve the brew chilled which is a big advantage on a hot summers day (if we get any).

For that professional look we like crown cap bottles, you can fit the metal crown caps to the bottles with a bottle capper, and they are opened with a bottle opener in the usual way. We have PET plastic crown cap bottles which are much cheaper, lighter and safer as they wont smash if dropped