Hey all, We bottled the 1st brew this weekend and got caught without enough bottles (caper worked on 1/2L bottles only, had 3/4L but useless), the situation begs to ask advice on 2 items. 1. Temperature of the bottled brew during the 2 week bottle conditioning? (I read somewhere about 7-10C) 2. Bottles, the right type? I used a mix of caped 1/2 liter bottles and EZ cap bottles (the old way) Reusable? Any suggestions, preferences, threads already underway? Cheers to all. Dave
7-10C is too cold for bottle carbonating. 21-22C (about 70-72F, what we would call room temperature in the US) is about right. If you are asking if EZ cap bottles are reusable, yes they are.
I'm with VikeMan of his reply about the correct temp. I try to maintain a temp that is 2-3 degrees warmer than the fermentation temp. Generally this is room temp. The EZ Cap bottle that you picture is typically called a 'Swing-Top' bottle too. They are reusable, but just make sure that the rubber gasket is centered under the stopper. I have never seen any rule for how many times the rubber gasket can be used, so I suggest that you make sure they do not lose their flexibility with age. I'll guess that I've reused some of mine at least 10 times over 12-15 years.
Which is the answer you'll get from the ez-cap folks. If they look bad, replace, but they can be used a lot, apparently.
Thanks to all, I like the idea of the old style caps so I got to buy only that kinda beer for a while YEAH!
