Midwest Supplies

FAQ-Bottles

Question: How many bottles do I need to bottle a 5 gallon batch?
  Answer: 48-54 12 ounce bottles 32-35 16 ounce bottles 24-26 22 ounce bottles 16-18 32 ounce bottles


Question: How often do I need to replace the rubber gaskets on my Grolsch-style swing-cap bottles?
  Answer: Each rubber gasket should last 5 or 6 uses.


Question: What equipment do I need to bottle?
  Answer: 1) Be sure you are using the non-twist-off type of beer bottle if you are going to be capping standard 12 or 22 oz bottles. A 5 gallon batch of beer will require about 48 -54 12 oz. bottles or 26-30 22 oz. bottles. 2) Caps- All our caps will fit any standard non-twist-off variety bottle. The caps will not properly seal if crimped onto a twist-off bottle. The only difference in our caps is the print, except for the oxygen absorbing caps. These are only really required for long-term storage beers to prevent oxidation and staleness due to oxygen’s presence in the headspace of the bottle. 3) A capper is needed.


Question: When can I bottle my beer?
  Answer: Typically, you can bottle an ale 3 weeks after brew day with two-stage fermentation. This schedule allows for 7 days for primary fermentation, and 14 days for secondary fermentation. Wheat beers are often bottled right out of the primary, as it's common to not worry about the yeast still in suspension. No one balks at a glass of hazy weizen. Lagers will require up to 14+ days in the primary and often 4-6 weeks in the secondary before bottling. In any case, when the beer's specific gravity has stabilized at it's terminal gravity and it has sufficiently cleared, it's ready to bottle. Other "big" beers can use some extended aging, possibly leaving in the secondary for several months to develop their complexities in bulk and to allow yeast, gravity, and time to round out the edges of the beer. For these extended aging beers, you may wish to add a little bit of yeast (1/4 tsp should suffice) to your bottling bucket to make sure there are enough yeast cells in suspension to carbonate the beer.