Hi all - new to the forum AND to brewing… I look forward to being a part of the family!
I have brewed one extract batch - 5 Gal, Amber Ale - and enjoyed the process and outcome. Not my favorite beer and I am sure I made some mistakes along the way, but I could tell I would really enjoy becoming a home brewer.
I recently acquired a 1 gallon set. My logic was I could practice and perfect on smaller quantities and experiment with concepts without ruining a full 5 gallons of beer.
Looking ahead, I am excited to try my first “Holiday Red” next week. For bottling, I also was interested in trying fliptop bottles (considering 16/32 oz). I was curious as to whether any particular concern or attention was needed when bottling with fliptops. For example, the priming tablets that come with NB kits - how do those get used with not bottling in 12oz increments.
I have a bottling system and just thought for storage and space saving the fliptops would be more convenient but I am open and interested in any feedback and suggestions you may have.
Flip-tops are great, but after you’ve used them a half dozen times the gaskets might not seal as well. Other than that, there’s really no issue with using them vs. crown tops.
I don’t have any input on using priming tabs, other than you’re better off using one of the online priming calculators and using some kind of priming sugar that you can measure precisely. I use Northern Brewer’s all the time and get great results. So I guess my input is throw away the priming tablets and use corn or table sugar.
+1 use the priming calculator (and table sugar-“sucrose”) easy and cheap. The flip-tops are great I use as many as I have on hand and empty for EVERY batch I do.
I havnt done many one gallon batches but the ones I’ve done I just siphoned the beer from the fermenter into the bottles with those tabs no problem . I use both flips and caps. But for small batches grab some 12oz flips. Quick and easy. When your comfortable making beer step it up to at least three gallon batches IMO it’s not much more work but the payoff is greater.
I use both types of bottles and have had no bad experiences with the swingtops. I do have a minor concern with the swingtops and that is with shelf life. I have convinced myself that the oxygen absorbing caps really do help extend the shelf life of bottled homebrew and those are not an option with swingtops. Using sugar as a carbonator will give you the flexibility you need to avoid the ‘how many capsules?’ issue.
Jerry
[quote=“jdwilliam”]I use both types of bottles and have had no bad experiences with the swingtops. I do have a minor concern with the swingtops and that is with shelf life. I have convinced myself that the oxygen absorbing caps really do help extend the shelf life of bottled homebrew and those are not an option with swingtops. Using sugar as a carbonator will give you the flexibility you need to avoid the ‘how many capsules?’ issue.
Jerry[/quote]
I wish that I had the extended shelf life problem.
When I began homebrewing, capping seemed like a pain compared to swingtops. However, after having bottled about a dozen batches, I don’t think the swingtops make it any quicker/better. The cost of getting swingtops just didn’t justify getting them when bottle caps cost about .02 each. Just my two cents.
