Head Space When Bottling

[macr]

I am sure that I read somewhere on this forum, that the less head space the better, but a friend at works said that he thought the filler tube left the correct amount of head space for carbonation. Can some one inform me as to what is correct, as the last batch I just bottled has only about 10mm head space?

Cheers

 

[sluggerdog]

I believed when I was bottling that the filling valve was the right amount of space once you took it out....could be wrong though but it never showed it if it was wrong...

 

[Aaron]

I don't know if it is "Right", but there are no certainties. I also just leave whatever is left by the bottling valve. Has never caused a problem for me.

The again on a batch I did that I under carbonated I added some sugar solution to it which left just about no head space and that was fine too.

Do whatever works best for you. What gets left by the bottling valve is fine and convenient.

 

[Sean]

I don't know if it is "Right", but there are no certainties. I also just leave whatever is left by the bottling valve. Has never caused a problem for me.

The again on a batch I did that I under carbonated I added some sugar solution to it which left just about no head space and that was fine too.

Do whatever works best for you. What gets left by the bottling valve is fine and convenient.

[post="65809"][/post]​

The headspace isn't critical - I aim for 1 to 2.5 cm. If it's stupidly large you run a risk of oxidation. If it's too small or non-existant you run a risk of bottle bombs (the CO2 has to have somewhere to go, and beer doesn't compress very well).

 

[TidalPete]

I believed when I was bottling that the filling valve was the right amount of space once you took it out....could be wrong though but it never showed it if it was wrong...

[post="65807"][/post]​

That's the way I go. Taking out the filler tube leaves around 50mm of headspace in your tallie (just measured it ). As long as you do not bottle too soon & add the right amount of bottle primer you'll have no worries.
:beer:

 

[Stickler]

I agree, also it would be a major hassle topping up each bottle without the bottling wand.