9
votes
Can I re-use swing top bottles?
These are called swing-top bottles, and they're fine for re-use as long as they originally contained a carbonated drink like beer, and the glass has no chips or cracks. The usual advice regarding re-...
- 8,978
7
votes
Accepted
How to remove Corona bottle printing?
I just wanted to let you know, in case anyone else could find this useful.
Hydrochloric acid alone worked perfectly, the bottle was put into it for less than 20 minutes, and after that it was rinsed ...
- 241
6
votes
Accepted
Steam sanitation of a stainless steel fermenter and bottles
"How safe would that beer be?"
If it's steam coming from a commercial appliance (presumably a dish-washer or some other such food-grade device) it wouldn't be any less safe than eating off a dish ...
- 6,377
5
votes
Accepted
Moving bottles with sediment
Here is a neat article about the Beer clarification process: Clarification of Beer: Advanced Brewing .
The article is about beer, but they derive a rough formula estimating it will take about 88 ...
- 66
5
votes
Moving bottles with sediment
Depends on how well settled the sediment is to begin with. The key is to keep the bottles upright so that the surface of the liquid remains in the confined space in the neck. Assuming normal flat ...
- 36.2k
5
votes
Bottle conditioning mistake
I take it from the title that you added the priming sugar and bottled the beer, then put it in the fridge?
If that's the case, you'll probably be OK. Just let the beer come up to room temperature and ...
- 8,978
5
votes
Sediment in my bottles
There are two ways to get carbonated beer in bottles: natural conditioning, and force carbonation.
Natural conditioning is a process in which a small amount of fermentable sugar is added to the beer ...
- 8,978
5
votes
How to remove Corona bottle printing?
Soak in StarSan.
Mix starsan as you would normally. Submerge bottles and soak for a day or so. Use a stainless steel scrubber (ball of stainless steel for cleaning pots/pans) to scrub off the paint.
...
- 18.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Can I reuse a bottle that had a sour lactobacillus beer in it?
Bacteria like to hang out in soft surfaces like rubber and plastic, which for us usually includes things like buckets, hoses, and o-rings. Also any metal fittings for your valves, etc.
Glass bottles ...
- 3,317
3
votes
Accepted
Testing specific gravity before bottling
You won't be introducing that much oxygen by opening the fermentation bucket to simply take a gravity sample, unless you go stirring it up or something.
- 10.1k
3
votes
Accepted
Lager got warmed when doing secondary fermentation
You should be fine. The results are really to lager strain dependent. That said, I have made several lagers that were great and ready to drink without a true lager phase. (Not to say they didn't ...
- 36.2k
3
votes
Sediment in my bottles
To build on what tobias said:
In both scenarios, if the beer is not crystal clear before bottling, the amount sediment in the bottles will be greater. You can reduce, but not eliminate, sediment in ...
- 600
3
votes
How to salvage bottled beer that failed to carbonate
It could be that there was an insufficient amount of active yeast in the beer when you bottled it. You could try this:
Uncap each bottle
Add two or three grains of dry yeast
Recap the bottles
Keep ...
- 8,978
2
votes
Accepted
How long can bottles be considered sanitized?
First, it's unnecessary, as you concluded, to do both of those things. Each individual step (dunk in sanitizing solution OR running through the dishwasher, sans detergent) effectively sanitizes the ...
- 6,377
2
votes
How to salvage bottled beer that failed to carbonate
You can also try storing the bottles upside down for a week or two. I have had great success with this in the past. I assume it has something to do with the smaller area for the yeast and sugar to ...
2
votes
Bleed pressure from swing-top bottle?
During secondary fermentation (bottling stage, aka 2F) of kombucha brewing, there is a correlation between sugar as an input and carbonation as an output. If you increase the sugar in the 2F ...
- 21
2
votes
Flavoring Cider at bottling
The advice given to me by a professional cider brewer was to put the fruit flavouring in at the last possible moment i.e. At bottling. Use natural fruit pressed and filtered. I have put a small amount ...
- 21
2
votes
Flavoring Cider at bottling
Are you making still cider or sparkling cider? If you are making sparkling cider than your plan should work since the amount of sugar is negligible. If you are making still cider, you might get a ...
- 3,002
2
votes
White film at top of bottle
Looks like pellicle from some organism. Probably a wild yeast or a souring bacteria. It shouldn't be harmful, but can sure ruin a beer.
You got a lot of headspace there and oxygen for things to ...
- 18.4k
2
votes
Accepted
I put my bottles to ferment for carbonation in a cold place - is the yeast dead?
IMHO the yeast is not dead but might be dormant. As has been asked in the comments above - there is no mention of priming sugar added to the brew before (or while) bottling. If the fermentation went ...
- 5,611
2
votes
Bottle labeler suggestions
I can suggest a small Zebra printer.
There are many models that can print on removable labels of 1" up to 4" wide. It usually comes with a software that allows you to design a label and print as ...
- 4,736
2
votes
Bottle labeler suggestions
For fancy reusable labels you could try Grogtags.
With those you design it on their website then they print and ship to you.
Not a label maker, but its the only thing I could think of that's like ...
- 36.2k
1
vote
Accepted
What possible reasons cause a (pale) beer to fail to carbonate in the bottle
Possible causes of uncarbonated beer after bottle conditioning:
Insufficient priming sugar in the bottle, or no carbonation drop in the bottle. (I've made that mistake myself occasionally, thinking ...
- 2,238
1
vote
How to remove Corona bottle printing?
I used 5 tablespoons one step cleaner and instead of water I used white vinegar and put about 3 tablespoons of powdered citric acid for good measure. I did add water to top up level to cover over the ...
- 11
1
vote
Moving bottles with sediment
I make bottle conditioned beers all the time and have never (touch wood) had a problem with them clouding up during transportation. Unless you are hauling the over dirt tracks in the back of a truck ...
- 6,993
1
vote
Accepted
Bleed pressure from swing-top bottle?
What you're describing is a "gusher infection", wild yeast that can consume normally unfermentable sugars like dextrins. Usually leaves a beverage with little body and other issues.
In beer ...
- 18.4k
1
vote
Lager got warmed when doing secondary fermentation
Generally speaking, temperature-related off-flavors in beer get produced in the first three or four days of fermentation. It is fairly common for homebrewers to ramp up the temperatures of lagers to ...
1
vote
5 Gallon Metal Can
Homebrewers typically use 5g Stainless Steel Cornelius kegs to store beer in. A lot of homebrew stores carry them, they are also known as used Pepsi or Coke kegs. The kegs would have to be pressurized ...
- 388
1
vote
Bottle conditioning mistake
I accidentally did this the first time I brewed. My beer turned out just fine. It took longer for the carbonation to take than it did without putting it in the fridge.
- 121
1
vote
Bottle conditioning mistake
I highly doubt that immediately refrigerating your bottled beer (which was already fermented) damaged it at all. Cold temperatures "shock" yeast, basically making it inactive. So, the bottles probably ...
- 175
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