BeerBorg

OK, so I am in the midst of my first batch from the 2 gallon starter kit. When bottling it says to fill halfway up the neck and make sure the bottles are mostly equal... my problem is I feel like I did everything correctly during the initial steps but was only able to fill 6 of the 8 bottles to the neck during this phase.

Is that in any way normal or did I mess up somewhere along the way? Very new to this. Thanks.

It's not a problem, but it's likely due to you not putting in the proper amount of water.

If you top off to the 8.5 quart mark, that is 287.3 ounces. Fermentation makes trub (yeast layer on the bottom), and that eats up some volume. And, you don't want to pour the yeast into the bottle, so you leave some liquid in the fermenter.

8 33.8 oz bottles would be 270.4 oz. You ended up with closer to 202.8 or 67.6 ounces less. Only answer is insufficient water added.

Again - it's NOT a problem. Beer will be fine, just a little stronger than intended. It's called learning. We all did it.

Let the bottles sit for 4 weeks at 70 or above (yes, the instructions aren't ideal in specifying less time). Put one in the fridge for 3 days after that 4 week period, then try it.

In the future, ferment for 3 weeks, and keep temp of the wort around 65.

You did alright. Takes time and experience to nail down volumes/abv, etc. Enjoy your beer and start up another batch.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the responses guys! Looking at it now I do believe the top off is where I miss judged my measurements as you suggested!

I do have a 2nd set of bottles so it is time to start looking at round 2.

I have noticed that I come up a bottle or two short every time. It is due to the waste that is in the bottom of the fermenter, and if you take samples for SG I think.

A lot of my early batches fell short of bottling volume expectations. (Sounds like it could use an acronym BVE- there's a medication for that)
Kidding aside, as I've brewed I've learned to manage me volumes better, though I still usually make a little more than a keg full.

RickBeer wrote: If you top off to the 8.5 quart mark, that is 287.3 ounces.

I think you're thinking of 8.5 liters. 8.5 quarts is 272 fluid ounces. Google says 8.5 liters is 287.419 fluid ounces.

OK...so which is it??? 287.3 ounces or 287.419 ounces?? Cause that makes a HUGE difference!!!!

BlackDuck wrote:OK...so which is it??? 287.3 ounces or 287.419 ounces?? Cause that makes a HUGE difference!!!!

Let’s not split hairs and call it 287.25.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Beer-lord wrote:

BlackDuck wrote:OK...so which is it??? 287.3 ounces or 287.419 ounces?? Cause that makes a HUGE difference!!!!

Let’s not split hairs and call it 287.25.

That won't work, it's less than both of the first two. It's got to be 287.36 or it just won't come out right.

Your both wrong, you forgot the 272 oz's so in reality the true split is 279.7095!!!

UGHH... I totally forgot about the 272!!!

So the answers not 42?

GoldWing wrote:I have noticed that I come up a bottle or two short every time. It is due to the waste that is in the bottom of the fermenter, and if you take samples for SG I think.

Yes to both. You can eek out a little more volume by cold crashing, just because it compacts the trub making bottling the last few easier. And of course you are losing beer with every gravity sample you take. Though some people sanitize everything before they take the sample and pour it back in. I just accept the loss.

Yes to cold crashing, another trick I used when I was doing the MB and BD size batches was to take my OG sample with sanitized tube and hydrometer, add back in. Come time for FG I took the sample and wad up a paper towel into top of sample tube after reading, if still not finished and fermenting it will just push the paper towel up a bit, if finished I would read 3 days the same confirming it is finished and stable, but I would still only use one sample tubes worth of beer for FG. Another thought would be just sanitizing a piece of foil to loosely cover the top, will let CO2 escape if still fermenting just as we do with making starters.