Once you have brewed your beer, it’s ready to be bottled. Though bottling beer might sound really easy, it’s not so. You have to take care that the beer that you made with utmost care is bottled right so that there are no taste-killing bacteria in the bottle.
Here is how to bottle your beer:
Don’t bottle it right away
Beer takes some time to ferment. When there are no more bubbles in the fermentation lock, it means your beer is ready for bottling. Verifying that the fermentation has completed by testing it with a homebrew hydrometer is not a bad idea either.
Choose the right bottles
Your bottles should be made of colored and thick glass. The darker they are the better. Sunlight destroys beer like anything else, so store it in colored bottles; brown bottles are perfect for this. Also, make sure all your bottles are of the same size. This makes storing them easier and provides overall consistency in the batch.
Hygiene
Beer can spoil really easily. You need to make sure that the bottles in which it is being stored are completely clean. Clean your bottles, rinse them, and then soak them in a sanitizer. Also, soak your other equipment (whatever is going to touch your beer- bucket and siphon hose, etc.) in sanitizer as well. It is best to soak them for about 10 minutes. This will make your equipment and bottles nice and clean, before you start bottling beer.
Priming
Carbon dioxide is expelled during fermentation. In fact, there is so much carbon dioxide that you just have to let it break out through air locks. So now you have beer that has alcohol but no fizz. To get fizz in your beer, you need to prime. Put a little corn sugar in the bottles. Before you pour beer in bottles, add about 1 teaspoon corn sugar in each 12 oz bottle.
Siphoning
This is where you actually start bottling beer. You need a siphon hose to carry beer into its destination. Be sure not fill your bottles to the brim- leave some area for carbonation.
After filling the bottles, you just need to cap them. When that’s done, you should store the bottles in a cool and dark place. What is your favorite homebrew stuff when it comes to bottling beers?
Priming bottles for filling. Why do you use ‘corn sugar’? Couldn’t you use
‘Cane Sugar" or ‘Beet Sugar’? I am in Michigan where we have loads of
‘Cane & Beet’ sugar but often no ‘Corn’ sugar.
Tom, in reality you can use any sugar you like for priming a beer, but realize, different sugars will put different flavors out when fermented. Corn sugar is recommend because it ferments cleaner, fresher flavors, whereas can sugar for example, can put a cider flavor to a beer.