Bottling my first batch this weekend and is there any words of wisdom that you can give me?
Any tips that may make this go better or faster. It's going to be a rough day as it is. I'm racing a 5K in the morning then I have to go into work for 8 hours then I can go home to bottle 5 gal. of brew.
I washed (even though they were new bottles) 72 bottles last night and they are hanging on my bottle tree right now.
Tonight when I get home I plan to put foil on the tops of them and bake them in the oven.
Yes I know that I don't have to bake them, I can just put them in some Starsan but I would rather not deal with a bunch of slick bottles. So I'm doing the bake thing.
I'm all
__________________ TWO FISTED BREWING CO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_cad
Its nice when you and your friends have comparable equipment.
Bottling my first batch this weekend and is there any words of wisdom that you can give me?
...
Yes I know that I don't have to bake them, I can just put them in some Starsan but I would rather not deal with a bunch of slick bottles. So I'm doing the bake thing.
I'm all
my tip would not to go the long and dangerous route. But if you decide to anyway, heat and cool down the oven slowly because beer bottles are not pyrex and do not take well to quick changes in temperature
If you bought the bottles brand new, then you don't need to go the extra step in baking. A good wash and rinse and your good to go. There's basically two ways us cheapo-s can bottle. With a bottling wand or a spigot on the bottom of your bottling bucket. If your using the wand, take time to get a good siphon and place the bucket about 3 to 4 feet above the bottles your filling. Have all your bottles handy and ready to go. Once you get started, it's a PITA to have to stop and gather more bottles. Keep kids away or get them to help with capping. Make sure you leave some head space before you cap them.
If you bought the bottles brand new, then you don't need to go the extra step in baking. A good wash and rinse and your good to go. There's basically two ways us cheapo-s can bottle. With a bottling wand or a spigot on the bottom of your bottling bucket. If your using the wand, take time to get a good siphon and place the bucket about 3 to 4 feet above the bottles your filling. Have all your bottles handy and ready to go. Once you get started, it's a PITA to have to stop and gather more bottles. Keep kids away or get them to help with capping. Make sure you leave some head space before you cap them.
I have a bottling bucket with the tap on the side and I have a bottling wand and I plan to use the wand.
I was planing to put the bottles in the oven when it's cold then turn it on and bring it up to 335* for one hour then turn it off and leave them in there over night to cool. Is this something I SHOULD NOT do?
Also what would be better, using the priming sugar that I have or getting some light DME to bottle with?
__________________ TWO FISTED BREWING CO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_cad
Its nice when you and your friends have comparable equipment.
why do you insist in baking the bottles in the oven? that is a waste of time.
wash the bottles with warm dish soap and water. rinse well and let dry. as extra precaution dunk all the bottles in no rinse one-step just prior to bottling.
give your oven a rest...especially in the summer when its hot!
and dont think of bottling as a chore! rather the last step in the brewing process.
yeah, 1 hour in the over after a long day, and probably another 45 minutes to cool the bottles so their residual heat doesn't kill the yeast needed to carbonate the beer....vs a 2 minute soak in starsan or One-step or any number of quality no-rinse sanitizers.
beyond that, keep kids, pets...anything that'll knock over bottles...out of the bottling area.
its also helpful to have a second person around to cap the bottles as you fill them to speed up the process and to keep you from having to fill 8 bottles, then cap...fill, then cap.
and if this is a 5gallon batch, you only need about 48 bottles
yeah, 1 hour in the over after a long day, and probably another 45 minutes to cool the bottles so their residual heat doesn't kill the yeast needed to carbonate the beer....vs a 2 minute soak in starsan or One-step or any number of quality no-rinse sanitizers.
beyond that, keep kids, pets...anything that'll knock over bottles...out of the bottling area.
its also helpful to have a second person around to cap the bottles as you fill them to speed up the process and to keep you from having to fill 8 bottles, then cap...fill, then cap.
and if this is a 5gallon batch, you only need about 48 bottles
Ok I'll skip the oven. I was only thinking it would be nice to work with dry bottles not starsan covered and slick bottles.
Oh and I only washed the 72 because that's what I had sitting there and I figured "while I'm at it".. That and I have a stout to bottle the next weekend or maybe the week after depending on time. So I'll be washing more before then. But those are not new ones.
What about the sugar or DME? What do you all prefer and does it really make a difference?
__________________ TWO FISTED BREWING CO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_cad
Its nice when you and your friends have comparable equipment.
If you don't want to handle wet bottles sanitize them all in advance and let them drip dry on the bottling tree. Thats what the tree is for after all. I sanitize them as I use them and store them on the tree, ready to go.
Bottling tips?
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