re-corking bombers...

I just bought some silicone wine stoppers, and those have worked fine. I think I paid $5-6 for 2 of them

 

I have done this as well and I think it works fairly well, but... My question to ChanChan is when you wash the flip top bottle what do you use to clean it? I have noticed some minor off flavors in the second serving of the beer that was poured from the flip top in as little time as the very next day. I am pretty sure that I do a good job of cleaning the bottle to ready it for the second half of the bomber. I even wash the bottle and have it completely dried the day that i am going to use the flip top. I wonder why this is...

All you homebrewers out there and ideas on what would be the best cleaning material that leaves no residue or off tastes in the bottle?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

I have similar stoppers that work just fine for drinking a bomber over two or three nights - I wouldn't want to keep one longer though.

 

Did you get a regular stopper or that champagne saver/pourer I posted up top?

What are the off flavors and what are you using to clean the glass? Does the glass smell like anything?
You can try PBW (similar to oxy clean). Just don't use any scented detergents. If you do, rinse it a million times.

 

Honestly, I just use dish soap and air-dry the bottle. Truth is, the beer in the flip-top can not ever be as fresh as when you open the bomber for the first time. So what I do is I first open the new bomber and pour the beer into the fliptop as quickly but also as carefully as possible. The beer in the flip-top might not be as great as when in the 22OZ bomber but it still holds most of the carbonation.

Cheers!

 

I usually finish my large format bottles like a manly man that I am, but when I don't, I use

and have never had a flat bottle. Not a huge sample size, but I've probably done it a half a dozen times. I would not recommend anything longer than 24 hours and would also "cork" immediately after each pour if you plan on not finishing that night, just to be safe.

 

Those Rabbit ones (I found a pack with blue and green, thankfully!) are exactly the ones I use, and they have been absolutely fine.

 

What are the off flavors and what are you using to clean the glass? Does the glass smell like anything?
You can try PBW (similar to oxy clean). Just don't use any scented detergents. If you do, rinse it a million times.[/quote]

It has been a long time since I have used the flip top to save half a large format bottle to drink the next day. So I dont specifically remember what tastes I was getting that seemed off, but the beer was carbonated as if i just open the bottle for the first time. My best guess was I would get a little bit of carboard in the taste, but not the nose. The bottle did not smell like anything prior to placing the beer in the bottle. I would only do this with BA stouts or barleywines, but would only put one specific beer style in the bottle. I would not have a barleywine in the same bottle as a BA stout or a wild ale. If it was a beer that had any hints of infection I would not put it in the Fliptop. I tried to be really carefully about that.

Maybe I will pick up some oxy-clean and try that out. I originally thought that it might have been the rubber stopper on the flip top lid causing the off flavors because I would pour the 11.2oz fliptop all the way to the top and "cap on foam". So the beer was consantly in contact with the rubber groment portion of the fliptop lid. I also read on BA that to "cap on foam" was the best way to keep beer carbonated and tasting like it did on the first pour.

 

I generally finish my bombers because I am a man.

I also like beef jerky, fishing, cussing, and 'Merica.

:shoots gun off into the air:

 

Yeah that sound pretty close to how I did things as well. I just use dish soap and air dry. What brand of dish soap do you use? Scented or unscented? Might try oxyclean like Bearsonacid reccommended.

 

Unscented soap, then I rinse the bottle for a good while so that the bottle only smells of water. One thing I do occasionally is add a tiny bit of Wild Turkey Bourbon, but only when I have a regular imperial stout. I find that Wild Turkey blends well with any regular imperial stout! That's just me tho!

 

This question comes up from time to time, Now I'm sure the OP has lived on planet Earth long enough to know about plastic stoppers and is just looking for the most technologically advanced method to save his beer because he doesn't have the desire to finish it like us manly men. Here is the best way to do it: Get a five gallon plastic bucket, a quart of water, and a nice big chunk of frozen CO2 (Dry ice) Put the bomber in the bucket then pour the water around it then drop in the dry ice, CO2 will quickly boil off creating a dense cloud of CO2. As it rises over the opening of the bottle it will slowly displace all the air out as CO2 in fog form is heavier than air. This has the added advantage of supercooling the beer so that slows down the loss of what ever CO2 is left in the beer. give it a few min. and put a stopper in it. (let me know if this works, I've never had an unfinished bomber)

 

Gonna let a little thing like double amputation stand in the way of science? For shame.