subject: Homebrewing - Bottling and Storing [print this page] Author: Pat McLoughlin Author: Pat McLoughlin
If you have finished making the wort and let your brew ferment, you have completed most of the work, but your not done yet. You still have to bottle your beer and wait a little longer. Bottling is an easy step but there are several key things that are important to know before you jump into it.
Before you bottle your beer, you have to find bottles. You can either buy your bottles from a brewing retailer or you can just reuse old bottles. Either way, you will have to sanitize them before you fill them. There are several things that you should think about when choosing bottles. They should be glass, preferably colored glass. Colored glass lets less light reach your brew, which protects it. Also, make sure you don't use twist off bottles because the caps will not create a good seal around the threads.
You probably know that your beer is currently flat. It will remain flat until you add a sugar mixture to your brew. After you make a sugar mixture mix it evenly through your beer and use a siphon to transfer the beer to the bottles. Make sure you have sanitized the bottles before adding the beer.
After you have capped all your bottles, find a place to store the beer. It has to sit for about two weeks before it is ready to drink. The yeast that is still present in the brew will react with the sugar to create carbonation. Keep in mind what yeast you used when deciding where to store your beer. If you made a beer with ale yeast, you need to store your beer at room temperature. Do not refrigerate! However, lager yeast should be kept at a cooler temperature. Your beer should be ready to drink in about 2 weeks and can sit for about a year. Don't let it sit for much longer than that or the seal might leak.
Now that your done, your ready to drink your beer. I recommend pouring your beer into a cup or mug because the yeast has settled at the bottom of the bottle. This happened when the yeast reacted with the sugar you added during bottling. You will find the last couple drinks of your brew to have some of this settlement if drinking from the bottle. Pouring it in a cup will solve this problem so you can enjoy your brew from the first sip to the last.About the Author:
Pat McLoughlin is a avid homebrewer and enjoys writing about it on his website homebrewhints.com. Home Brew Hints gives step by step instructions on how to brew beer at home as well as a collection of helpful hints that can assist you in your homebrewing process.
