Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

Most of you seem to be keggers, but I rather like the bottling process despite the expense of energy it requires.

I like to keep some of my product for a longer time than usual just to see what happens to it, and for that I'd like to learn better how to wax the tops. Does one paint the wax on? That is what I did this first time waxing, and I'm concerned that oxygen still might get in because the wax really doesn't seem to seal, being painted in only at the boundary between the cap and the bottle. The other option seems to be to turn the bottle upside down and immerse the cap and upper neck in the wax. But doesn't that introduce oxygen into the beer?

waxingly confused

You can get wax from a local homebrew shop (I know Fermentation Trap carries wax).

When I wax, I'll clean an empty soup can (inside and out, no label) put the wax in there and heat the whole thing in a water bath on the stove. You can dip the bottles in there one by one. If the bottles are capped correctly, you will not introduce oxygen in dipping them.

I hope that helps,

Jamey

Thanks, Jamey. Helps a lot.

Bob

While wax is a great way to treat a bottle for aesthetics, it will not do much to prevent oxidation over time. Your best bet may be to use oxygen absorbing caps (the type that are activated by moisture) and use a good bottling gun (blichmann and morebeer make my favorites)

Darker beers, stronger beers, as well as those that include melanoidins (from a longer boil or melanoidin malt) will tend to be able to age more gracefully over a longer period of time. Cleanliness is also a HUGE factor for long term storage, much more so than with short term