Bottling

PET plastic bottles are excellent for beginners because they are shatterproof, lightweight, and allow you to feel the pressure to check carbonation. Glass bottles are preferred for long-term storage and a more premium presentation. If using glass, ensure you use "heavyweight" brewing bottles rather than commercial "single-use" bottles to handle the pressure of carbonation.

A hand capper (twin lever) is portable and affordable, but can be tricky to use on some bottle neck shapes. A bench capper is mounted to a base, providing much better stability and leverage. It is faster, more reliable, and can be adjusted to fit various bottle heights, making it the preferred choice for regular brewers.

The most important step is ensuring fermentation is completely finished using a hydrometer. Once confirmed, use consistent priming amounts. Our Carbonation Drops are the easiest way to ensure each bottle gets the exact same amount of sugar, preventing the risk of over-pressurisation.

A spring-loaded bottle filler is a must-have for mess-free bottling. It attaches to your fermenter tap and only allows beer to flow when pressed against the bottom of the bottle. This fills from the bottom up, which significantly reduces oxygen exposure (keeping your beer fresher) and prevents foaming.

Generally, you should leave your bottles in a warm, dark place for at least 2 weeks to allow for secondary fermentation (carbonation). After that, moving them to a fridge or cool spot for a few days helps the CO2 dissolve into the liquid and the yeast to settle, resulting in a clearer, crisper beer.

We recommend using a bottle washer (sulfiter) and a bottle drying tree. The washer allows you to quickly blast StellarSan into each bottle, while the tree keeps them inverted and clean until you are ready to fill. This setup turns a tedious hour of cleaning into a 10-minute job.