Bottling a Doom Bar clone at high SG

Bonjour, I have brewed a Doom Bar clone. I was aiming at an Original gravity of 1.045 but only managed 1.041. Unfortunately I lost temperature in the ferment and it stuck at 1.020 after 7 days and has remained here. I heated it up and stirred but no action. I have now racked and am clarifying at 4°C. I am going to bottle tommorow. Should I add priming sugar? I am afraid of bottles exploding. Any advice appreciated
Category: Mac

Stopping fermentation in soft drinks

Does anyone know how they manage to stop all these (naturally) fermented drinks sold commercially from fermenting once they are bottled? I’ve seen kombucha bottles coming from another part of the world sold in local large supermarkets. Even assuming ideal transport conditions (cold temps) how can they maintain alcohol levels low enough? Do they treat them thermally or chemically? I know a refrigerator helps slow down the fermentation process but even so, my ginger ale keeps fermenting at 2 Celsius …
Category: Mac

What is the white film on my beer in my bottles?

I brewed a double batch of IPA with a buddy about 8 weeks ago. We split this into two 5 gallon pails and 2 weeks later into two carboys. His was fine, but mine developed a bit of white stuff on the top of the beer. It smelt fine and tasted OK so I bottled it after 2 more weeks. After being in the bottles about 10 days I decided to try some. I noticed that all the bottles had …
Category: Mac

Add campden and bottle right away or should I wait?

I know that we should add campden before bottling wine. My question is, I need to add it 1 day prior to bottling or can I add campden and bottle right away. I am afraid of cork popping because if I remember correctly campden may release some gas. A) Add Campden and bootling B) Add Campden, wait 24h, and bootling
Category: Mac

Not homebrewing, but I need help bottling for medical issues

I’m not home brewing anything but I recently got some swing top glass bottles with the idea that I could put my store bought sodas in them. I have many medical issues & one of them causes chronic nausea and vomiting so I always have the 2 liters of Sprite, 7up, and Ginger Ale on hand because they are the only ones that help a bit. I can only afford the 2L, the others are too expensive. I’ve tried to …
Category: Mac

Carbonation Drops vs. Sugar?

I'm brewing my very first batch with an actual kit (I've used Mr. Beer before with decent results and wanted to do it right). I bought a recipe kit from Northern Brewer and I opted for the Cooper's Carbonation drops. But I see no one mention them here - or pretty much anywhere else. The beer (the XPA recipe) is on week 2 of fermentation and seems to be progressing nicely - the fermentation seems to have mostly stopped after …
Category: Mac

Can I use sodium metabisulphite and potassium sorbate together before bottling?

I had fermented mango wine weeks back. After a week I did my first racking to remove pulp. The Brix value is not moving down so assuming fermentation is over, I'm planning to bottle it. Initially, after a week, it was very sour then sourness got reduced and it was tasting bitter. Now it tastes flat. Can I add sweetened, thinned homemade mango juice to give it a flavour? Also, can I add metabisulfite and sorbate together? I haven't used …
Category: Mac

Activity in fermenter has increased suddenly after 2 weeks, why?

I'm a total beginner and really appreciative of any advice here. I'm making a 1 gallon batch of IPA from a kit. I brewed 16 days ago, and in the first 48 hours of the wort being in the fermenter it was bubbling away like crazy. It then settled down and I could see the liquid become less opaque and darker, as the yeast cake formed at the bottom. Today I went to look again as I had planned to …
Category: Mac

Dimple in cork persisting after corking

I bottled my wine bottles with a Portuguese floor corker, but the dimple is still in the agglomerated cork after a year. I was told to: Wait three weeks with the bottle upright. Store a year with the bottle upside down to keep the cork wet. What measures can I take to minimize that dimple? Why doesn't it show up on commercial bottles? I'm just hearing about potentially hacking in a broader surface with a shaft collar at the end …
Category: Mac

How can I fill bottles from a keg and maintain pressure

I've been kegging for awhile now, but I still haven't managed to successfully fill bottles from my kegs without losing all pressure. I don't have a counter pressure beer filler or a Blichmann Beer gun, and for the moment I'd rather spend my beer-money on something else. The few times I've tried to fill a couple bottles I've done this: Chill the keg (well, already done) Chill the bottles Turn down the keg pressure to almost nothing, like 1-2 psi …
Category: Mac

No tap in my bucket, when should I move to the bottling one?

I'm coming back to homebrew after 20 years. When I started, everybody used to transfer the beer for another vessel for a secondary fermentation. My old kit has two buckets and I'm fermenting it in the bucket without a tap. I'll need to move it to the other bucket for the bottling. What's the best time to do it? Should I do it after one week fermenting, or just before bottling?
Category: Mac

Proper method for using this sort of swing-top when bottling?

First time brewer here... I have swing-tops that affix to used bottles via this sort of band: I am wondering if I am utilizing it correctly or if there is a trick or something for wrapping the band around the neck of the bottle that I am somehow not seeing or understanding... My first attempt resulted in this: While the seal seems to be fairly tight, I am skeptical as to whether or not it is going to hold when …
Category: Mac

How do I know when bottle carbonation is done?

So this is my first attempt at brewing my own beer. I am using a kit from http://craftabrew.com/collections/starter-kits/products/starter-kit-bone-dry-irish-stout-2 I just bottled the brew last night after mixing the fermented beer with a 1.5 cups of water and 2 Tbl of sugar. I bottled it with 16 oz PET bottles because it was what I could get. Even this morning I noticed that there has definitely been pressure built up in the bottle. When do I know it is ready to …
Category: Mac

Unconsumed yeast nutrients before bottling

I have a batch of a brown ale (15L) from a kit, where after some weeks, I got 1.016 and the fermentation stopped. To restart the fermentation I added two teaspoons of yeast nutrients. After one day, it stopped again, now the FG is 1.012. Then I tried two more teaspoons of yeast nutrients, and the fermentation didn't restart this time, so no bubbles in the airlock. Now, after 5 days, my idea is just bottle the beer as it …
Category: Mac

Champagne/Cider Remuage: Why not just place the bottle upside down (90 degrees)?

I'm making hard sparkling apple cider using the Champagne method (re-fermenting on the bottle for carbonation). This year I will try the full method of also removing the yeast lees from the bottle afterwards, which I have previously just left there. Now I'm wondering why one would actually go through all the hassle of the classical "Remuage". instead of just placing the bottle upside down directly for some days after the fermentation has finished in the bottle, to let the …
Category: Mac

Can I lager in bottles?

I am planning to do a lager this winter, since I don't have a good way of controlling temperature, I was wondering if it is possible to bottle it with priming sugar, and then lager it? Or should I just move it to secondary to lager, then bottle? What would be the benefits of doing it either way?
Category: Mac

Should I be worried about bottle bombs?

I did a five gallon batch of an Irish Red, allowed it to go through primary fermentation for ten days, transferred it to secondary for 7 days, then bottled. The recipe called for 3.64 Oz of priming sugar. I accidentally put in 3.94 because I read the 9 wrong. Should I be concerned about bottle bombs or over-carbonation in regular, 12 oz. amber bottles? The actual volume at time of bottling was 4.8 gallons, not 5 gallons.
Category: Mac

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