Best method to bottle Still beer?

[isomerization]

Straight forward question. What is the best way to bottle beer with minimal carbonation (unblended lambic) while avoiding too much oxygen in the bottle?

I will be using a mix of capped 12 oz bottles and cage/corked Belgian bottles (no preference of ratio of the two).

 

[RPh_Guy]

Standard stuff:
Purge bottle headspace with CO2 if possible.
Reduce bottle headspace.
Use oxygen-absorbing caps (activate after capping).

Consider priming the corked bottles slightly higher because the cork very slowly releases pressure.

Consider waxing or foil enclosures to keep out oxygen.

 

[isomerization]

I was thinking of priming to say 1 vol CO2, but wasn’t sure if I should reduce head space or do something else I had considered. Thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

You might consider priming a little higher, like 1.3-1.4 vol. It should be barely noticable at this level (if at all) but still positively impact the mouth feel.
Also FYI: Assuming it's been aging a while, a priming calculator will underestimate the residual carbonation level, so you'll need to adjust upwards a little bit.

Reducing bottle headspace is definitely the easiest way to keep O2 out of the bottles.

Left: reduced headspace. Right: standard headspace.

You do need a little space, otherwise thermal expansion could potentially create bombs if the bottles get too warm.

I forgot to mention besides gentle transfers (I think that goes without saying), using a physical barrier to reduce oxygen exposure during bottling can be mildly helpful...
I use a plastic plate that floats in my bottling bucket:

By reducing exposed surface area, it reduces O2 diffusion into the beer while transferring and bottling.

Cheers