Head Space in Bottles

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:45 am

Is there any reason not to minimize the headspace in the neck of a bottle, filling it to within a millimitre or two from the cap?

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:51 am

nope

normal fill levels work perfectly

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:19 pm

What do you mean by "normal", Matt?

I usually fill to about 2/3rds up the neck in a 330ml, as to avoid over-pressurizing the bottle after priming, though I don't know if that is something to really be concerned about

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:21 pm

icemachine wrote:What do you mean by "normal", Matt?

I usually fill to about 2/3rds up the neck in a 330ml, as to avoid over-pressurizing the bottle after priming, though I don't know if that is something to really be concerned about

sounds perfect

i just fill with my bottling wand until the beer reaches the top, pull out the wand and im left with about 2cm of head space

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:52 pm

But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:09 pm

D Derry wrote:But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.

are you bottle conditioning your homebrew?

lister · Post by **lister** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:12 pm

I usually fill up to about three finger widths or so from the bottom of the cap.

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:37 pm

matt7215 wrote:
D Derry wrote:But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.
are you bottle conditioning your homebrew?

Yes, I am.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:38 pm

I usually go with 1-2cm... reduce oxidation, but leave a bit of space for expansion (more-so for the pour, I'm not worried about explosions or anything).

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:47 am

D Derry wrote:But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.

there's volume displacement from your bottling wand. when you remove the wand, you'll have a drop by 1-2 cm. no clue how you're filling to within a few mm of your bottlemouth unless you're talking about the volume with the bottle wand inside the bottle.

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:01 am

atomeyes wrote:
D Derry wrote:But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.
there's volume displacement from your bottling wand. when you remove the wand, you'll have a drop by 1-2 cm. no clue how you're filling to within a few mm of your bottlemouth unless you're talking about the volume with the bottle wand inside the bottle.

It's not rocket science. You nudge your the tip of your wand against the side of the neck and it tops it up. And often no nudging is even necessary, because the wand stopper doesn't reseat perfectly and so beer still flows a little as the wand is being withdrawn from the bottle.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:23 pm

D Derry wrote: It's not rocket science. You nudge your the tip of your wand against the side of the neck and it tops it up. And often no nudging is even necessary, because the wand stopper doesn't reseat perfectly and so beer still flows a little as the wand is being withdrawn from the bottle.

Sounds like you need a new bottle filler if it leaks that much...

I'm also not sure why it is such a big deal to get completely full bottles, I wouldn't worry about it.

I think it is a good idea to have "normal" headspace when bottle conditioning, the yeast may need a bit of O2 to properly do its thing.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:24 pm

D Derry wrote:
atomeyes wrote:
D Derry wrote:But why leave that much headspace? I'm been filling them to within a few millimetres (not centimetres) lately and haven't had a problem yet--but "yet" may be the operative word, so I thought I'd check whether anyone else has had bad experiences with this. If there is no particular concern, it's obviously preferable to minimize the air. I've notice that St Ambroise lessens the airspace in the bottle neck significantly for their Vintage Ales and, I think, for the RIS too.
there's volume displacement from your bottling wand. when you remove the wand, you'll have a drop by 1-2 cm. no clue how you're filling to within a few mm of your bottlemouth unless you're talking about the volume with the bottle wand inside the bottle.
It's not rocket science. You nudge your the tip of your wand against the side of the neck and it tops it up. And often no nudging is even necessary, because the wand stopper doesn't reseat perfectly and so beer still flows a little as the wand is being withdrawn from the bottle.

great, so you've created a workaround for filling bottles to the top when a wand is, more or less, designed to leave adequate headspace in a bottle due to its volume displacement.

and my wand stopper drips nary a drop. not sure what kind of wand you're using. its a push valve. you stop pushing against the glass, the volume stops flowing.

you're making beer, not preserves. leave 1-2 cm of air space.

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:44 am

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll continue to top them up and leave only about 1 cm of headspace (I checked on the weekend, and I had left a little more space than I remembered), notwithstanding atomyes' injunctions, but will give an update if there are any complications down the line.