head space in bottles

[aussiegoodstuff]

Hi - this novice brewer (until 3 months ago, it was 50 years since my last brew) has appreciated the help supplied via this forum. 

A couple more questions if I may.

I am switching to 500ml Grolsch-type bottles, as I don't always feel like a tallie of IPA in the evenings.  Is the best way still to use 1 and 1/2 sugar drops in the bottles (the ants love the mess this makes)

Secondly,  what space should I leave at the top of the 500ml bottles to handle the in-bottle fermentation to produce a good head??

Thanks in anticipation, as I am not always sure I can get back on the discussion.

Regards.

[MitchBastard]

Howdy,

I asked a similar question not so long ago and the general consensus was bulk priming your batch, prior to bottling will give you the best results for those pint sized bottles. 

 

In terms of head space, 3cm is what I’ve seen written around the place. I’ve found when bottling (if using a glass stubbie), that if you fill up your bottle to almost the very top of the bottle, when you take out the bottling wand, you will be left with the perfect amount of space left in the bottle.

cheers!

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

 

3 hours ago, aussiegoodstuff said:

Hi - this novice brewer (until 3 months ago, it was 50 years since my last brew) has appreciated the help supplied via this forum. 

A couple more questions if I may.

I am switching to 500ml Grolsch-type bottles, as I don't always feel like a tallie of IPA in the evenings.  Is the best way still to use 1 and 1/2 sugar drops in the bottles (the ants love the mess this makes)

Secondly,  what space should I leave at the top of the 500ml bottles to handle the in-bottle fermentation to produce a good head??

Thanks in anticipation, as I am not always sure I can get back on the discussion.

Regards.

HI AGS

I use the 450ml Grolsch fliptops lots.  Also some similar bottles that take about 500ml.  Bottled some of a Draught I am doing tonight.  The balance was left in the fermenter and is being dry hopped over the next few days.  See picture for how full I made them.  One of the 500ml bottles on the right too.

Half carbonation drops; that must be easy to do.  One of the reasons I like the Grolsch's is I use a small funnel to give them exactly 1 teaspoon of sugar for bottle priming.  I use a proper measuring spoon, not whatever I can grab from the random teaspoon drawer.

Cheers Shamus

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

It doesn't really matter a whole lot, anywhere between 20 and 40mm is fine, and you could go outside that without issue. Don't worry about trying to get them all exactly the same. 

You could try bulk priming rather than faffing around cutting up carbonation drops, or just use a sugar measure. About 4g per bottle should give a good carbonation level.