What about Mason Jars?

[newbee(r)]

Anyway a Mason Jar will work to "bottle" a beer. I thought I was going to be able to buy bottles today but the local Home Brew store is out of bz, the only micro brewery does not have any bottles and no local liquor stores have any bottles I can use.

I thought about trying mason jars, can the lids hold in the pressure? Anyone tried it?

May need to move to kegging that much quicker?

Any other suggestions appreciated , time to bottle this weekend...

[BluesHarp]

Your liquor stores don't have any returnable bottles? I guess it depends on state laws and liquor policies...I don't know about jars; never heard of anyone using them for pressurized products.

Sounds like a conversion to kegging is the best long-term answer...

[YamahaXS]

i would recommend you leave the beer in your fermenter until you either get set up to keg, or you find some bottles. flip tops are great if you are buying bottles.

[P-Train]

If desperate times bring desperate measures then you could go the recycling center and get more bottles than you'll need. Especially like a grocery store that you could simply reach in and grab them.



Just a thought.

[danno]

mason jars are designed to keep a vacuum, the opposite of holding in pressure, I'd be willing to bet they won't hold a seal under pressure...

[zoom6zoom]

No, no, no.... Mason jars are for drinkin' out of. Unless you're a Yankee.

[Fast_Eddy]

More specifically they're for drinking white lightnin' from or tea(sweet)... lol

I don't think they'll hold the pressure. I have a mason jar that I use in my yeast reaping process and it leaks pressure that is considerably less than what a carbonating beer generates.

[Caffinehog]

Mason jars are designed to let air out. That's how you get the nice vacuum when canning stuff. You put the lids on, then put them in boiling water. The pressure inside the jar drives the oxygen out, to help prevent spoilage, but then the lid then seals it to keep air from getting in. (The heat also pasteurizes it.)
I'm afraid you won't keep any pressure in a mason jar.
It might be the perfect way to do a starter, though.

[newbee(r)]

Bought a case of flip tops and a Tap a Draft System (shipping cost on all the bottles made the tap a draft somewhat cost effective) Seems a good start & should keep me in Bz for awhile.

I saw some old threads about the tap a draft & looks like an ok system. If anyone has any hints on this system I would be interested. Should arrive in a few days.

Secondary Fermentation will have sat for about 3 weeks vs 2, should I be looking to add some new yeast (used dry yeast inititially) when I bottle or just dredge the bottom briefly to stir up some (did not use any fining agent)

Thanks again, probably a few stupid questions over the last few weeks but eveyone has given good advice and has been "forgiving" as far as the stupid goes...

[Grog]

3 weeks in the secondary is not all that long (believe it or not). Bring some yeast to the bottling bucket and all will be well. Your beer is only 2-3 more weeks away!!!

-G-

[axis714]

T-A-Ds Rock, I only wish I could fabricate a couple cartridge holders that would allow me to use 12 or 16 gram carts, I go through the little 8 gram charges quicker than I can buy em..I finally went with a full keg setup for cost effectiveness, but I still use the #$%^ out of my TAD...As you may have already read in previous posts, be very careful when changeing cartridges the little O rings are easy to loose track of.

[ray m]

Newbee(r).....I love my T-A-D & use it all the time. Just a couple quick notes on the use of the cartridges:
---If you opt to prime the beer in the T-A-D bottle first, only prime with 2 tablespoons priming sugar per T-A-D bottle. Then, when you're ready to attach the tap assembly (wait 10 to 14 days for the beer to carbonate), you only need to use one CO2 cartridge (using 2 will trip the check valve built into the tap ass'y, and bleed off the excess pressure). So, if you happen to have an empty CO2 cartridge, put that empty one in the other cartridge holder. This one cartridge will last you 1/3- to 1/2-way into the bottle. When the beer just trickles out, put in 1 fresh cartridge and it'll get you the rest of the way through the bottle.

---If you wish to force carbonate, chill the beer first for a day or two (and also do this first in the aforementioned step). Attach the tap ass'y and screw in 2 CO2 cartridges. After a week, it'll be ready to drink. You may be able to get 1 or 2 glasses of beer out at first, but that'll be it. After this, just add one fresh cartridge as explained above, etc., etc.

You will absolutely love this device!!:)