Bottling Tips for the Homebrewer

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BonzoAPD said:
from the pictures it looks like you just use the elbow inside the bucket and nothing else correct? Any issues with leakage this way since you are not using the nut?
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It doesn't looks like he uses the nut, I'm not sure. I couldn't screw my elbow on far enough to seal the spigot. So I had to use the nut, the put elbow on after that.
I would say if you can get a seal without the nut, but using the gasket, then go for it. Just try it out and see what works best for you.
 
He got his at Ace and so did I and mine screwed on far enough with some to spare. Now your spicket may be different.
 
Handsaw said:
He got his at Ace and so did I and mine screwed on far enough with some to spare. Now your spicket may be different.
Click to expand...

Mine came from lowes. That may be the difference. Oh well, still works great, no more tipping the bucket and it only leaves a few ounces in the bottom. Best thing you can do for under a buck!!
 
BonzoAPD said:
from the pictures it looks like you just use the elbow inside the bucket and nothing else correct? Any issues with leakage this way since you are not using the nut?
Click to expand...

I did the same thing to my BB after seeing a similar post to Bronco's. There was just enough spare thread to attach the elbow, and I haven't noticed any leakage although some plumbers tape wouldn't hurt. It's really a stellar idea and works quite well.


So, as I have before I popped into this thread to share my experiences with bottling and help my buddy Revvy help others RDW and HAHB. I brewed a RIS (OG-1.097) last winter and aged it in secondary from March until Oct. I hit it with 04 at bottling time for peace of mind, and put the bottles in a closet to forget about for a few months. I tried the first bottle last night, and it's just showing signs of being carbed, but it's still not there. Patience (and Llama's wonderful graph) are the key, these high gravity brews sure take their sweet time. :mug:
 
BonzoAPD said:
from the pictures it looks like you just use the elbow inside the bucket and nothing else correct? Any issues with leakage this way since you are not using the nut?
Click to expand...

I replaced the nut with the elbow inside the bucket. I used 2 washers to seal against leaks. One on each side of the bucket - inside & out. If you look closely at my 2nd pic you can see them. I also used a bit of the plastic thread wrap
 
Might have already been mentioned but read about a technique on cleaning bottles referring the only thing you need to do is put them in a dish washer on high temp with NO drying solution and they are good to go?
 
Actually, c_osbourn, there are several threads on that topic. What you actually need is the DRY cycle. The heat generated by the dishwasher during the drying portion of the entire cycle is what sanitizes the bottles. And you are correct...ABSOLUTELY NO added rinse aid or detergent to the dishwasher. Just plain old hot water.

glenn514:mug:
 
I;ve found that, over time, my bottles get a little "cloudy" looking. I learned to just throw about 1/2 cup of white vinegar in at the very start. One small warning, it does seem to "dissolve" the "paint" off my Rolling Rock bottles.
 
I love the idea of connecting the bottle filler directly to your spigot on your bottling bucket but are the plastic clamps necessary? Couldn't you just use a short section of hose that overlaps deep enough for a tight fit?
 
CGJesse said:
I love the idea of connecting the bottle filler directly to your spigot on your bottling bucket but are the plastic clamps necessary? Couldn't you just use a short section of hose that overlaps deep enough for a tight fit?
Click to expand...

That's how mine is done, and it works great.
 
CGJesse said:
I love the idea of connecting the bottle filler directly to your spigot on your bottling bucket but are the plastic clamps necessary? Couldn't you just use a short section of hose that overlaps deep enough for a tight fit?
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it IS just a short section of hose....But YOU have to decide if you think the clamps are really necessary or not.....The thing about this hobby, is that there's multiple ways of doing things, and they're all right for the person doing them....
 
This is such an informative thread, I've tried reading thru much of it but it's pretty long, if this question has been answered please forgive.

I noticed that the modified dip tubes (which is an awesome idea) are very close to the bottom of the fermentor, how is this not drawing up excessive amounts of sediment?

I'm a newb with only one batch under my belt but I seem to be missing something here. Most interior dip tubes are +- 1/4 from the bottom but I had about the same volume of sediment, if not more.
Does one just siphon a bit out and then toss that first bit, and then the rest tends to come out with less sediment because the immediate area below the dip tube end has been cleared?

Help me see the light, my initial reaction was to make the dip tube 3/4 of an inch or so from the bottom, so I'm missing something.
 
They draw up a little until a small sump hole is formed but that will settle out fairly quickly in the bottling bucket. You may get a little more towards the end so watch that too. No big deal.
 
You also have to realize that you don't get much sediment, if you don't put much sediment in the bucket to begin with. If you use and extended primary, OR a seconday and/or cold crash to drop as much yeast out of suspension as you can, AND you rack carefully (I tell folks don't put the bottom of the autosiphon into the trub layer forcefully to begin with, in fact hold it higher up for awhile, or clip it an inch above the trub to draw ONLY the beer, the carefully lower it down and "vacuum" the beer off the top of the trub,) you won't transfer much sediment into the bottling bucket.

I have very little sediment in my bottles, just usually a thin smear of yeast/sediment from bottle conditioning.
 
Thanks for the great tips, after re-reading the initial post I was missing that you were moving from primary to bottling bucket, I assumed it was bottled straight from primary.
It all makes sense now!!
 
cramar said:
This is such an informative thread, I've tried reading thru much of it but it's pretty long, if this question has been answered please forgive.

I noticed that the modified dip tubes (which is an awesome idea) are very close to the bottom of the fermentor, how is this not drawing up excessive amounts of sediment?

I'm a newb with only one batch under my belt but I seem to be missing something here. Most interior dip tubes are +- 1/4 from the bottom but I had about the same volume of sediment, if not more.
Does one just siphon a bit out and then toss that first bit, and then the rest tends to come out with less sediment because the immediate area below the dip tube end has been cleared?

Help me see the light, my initial reaction was to make the dip tube 3/4 of an inch or so from the bottom, so I'm missing something.
Click to expand...

My tube extends to the middle of the bucket where the center is just a tad bit higher than the edges. The end of the tube is barely off the bottom of the bucket. Think paper thin barely. I only loose a couple ounces.
 
+1 for Revvy "The thing about this hobby, is that there's multiple ways of doing things, and they're all right for the person doing them...."

Clear vinyl tubing works great for the little connector. Just cut it the right/minimum length to slide all the way up the tap and cover about 1.5 inches of wand.. Silicon tube is a little wimpy but can be used.

Those "last few ounces"? I bottle them, usually by pouring directly from the bucket into the only green bottle I prep. If that doesn't fill it I scrounge beer from the hydrometer tube (even if I've drank out of it) or off the top of settling trub. Heck, it's one more beer! One time I popped a hops cone in there...that beer was very drinkable...albeit a tad chunky.
 
Brewsday said:
Those "last few ounces"? I bottle them, usually by pouring directly from the bucket into the only green bottle I prep. If that doesn't fill it I scrounge beer from the hydrometer tube (even if I've drank out of it) or off the top of settling trub. Heck, it's one more beer! One time I popped a hops cone in there...that beer was very drinkable...albeit a tad chunky.
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Heh, to illustrate your point, I don't bother. I fill until the last bottle comes up short, then dump that and the clear beer from the bottling bucket into a glass, chill it, and drink it immediately. Nothing wasted either way, I just prefer the early preview (and I don't mind uncarbonated beer).
 
Very good info, I changed my bottling method to closely match the OP's and I improved bottling speed and overall there was less mess. I don't have a bottle tree or vinator so it usually took me around 2 hours to bottle a 5 gallon batch. I did it last night in 1.5 hours.
 
bottled my first batch and well i had a lot of sediment.. i let it sit for three weeks and i dry hop on week 2.. im thinking maybe it was from the dry hop .. other than that everything went well expect capping.. i may of got a default capper any suggestions on what to get to cap?
 
I have managed to collect (accumulate?) 6. My favorite is the old guy in the back row on the right. I like the spring return and the feel when I thump down the cap. Plus it stays at the right height for the type of bottle I'm using....but it has it's dangers! (see second pic) The tall brown one is great to cork wine but the bell fell off for beer. Lots of guys favor the 2-handed winged type. Put a "want to buy" ad on your local craigslist or here in the HBT classifieds once you know exactly what you want.

By the way, nearly sliced the tip of my thumb off that day...but notice the orange wallpaper "wetting" tray in the back...one of my favorite accessories. I put about 1" of starsan in there and keep long things sanitized like spoons, canes, tubing, I even throw in bungs and bubblers and a shamwow to wipe things with...my "tip of the day".

cappers.jpg


badnews.jpg
 
I have both a bench-top capper and the two-handed "Red Baron" capper. I prefer to use the Red Baron because I ruin fewer bottle caps with it. But I have been known to remove the very top portion of a beer bottle with it, as well! DOH!

glenn514:mug:
 
Brewsday said:
Plus it stays at the right height for the type of bottle I'm using....but it has it's dangers! (see second pic) /QUOTE]

Dang, did that crush a glass bottle? That's nuts.

I always use the Red Baron, myself. Haven't broken a bottle yet, but there's a first time for everything.
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102102d1361195988-bottling-tips-homebrewer-cappers.jpg


I have a bench-capper that is very similar to the one at top right and a wing-capper that is identical to bottom left, except mine is red. The bench-capper has a silicon rubber mat under where you place the bottle which possibly absorbs some shock.

Definitely use the wing-capper more often and the bench-capper when I come across bottles with strange neck/lip features/dimensions such as the Wychwood Brewery bottles.

Cool. 666th reply on this thread:fro: Think I'll listen to some Iron Maiden:ban::rockin::fro:
 
The crushed bottle was one of those limited release bottles from Sam Adams...they have sort of a "pinched" area near the bottom and, as you can see, that's where the bottle gave out. I have banned them from my collection (didn't have many). I just have to believe a nice straight cylinder body has better engineering characteristics for bench capping. I've also changed my technique and hold the bottle by the neck. Seriously, I probably should have gone to the hospital...but didn't...just clean the cut, wrap it up and keep bottling. Later I went to the pharmacy for some finger cots...now there's something handy to have around for small cuts when brewing (or cooking)!
 
Oof, I don't touch the bottle while capping it. My bench capper keeps the bottle in place well enough.
 
Yeah, I'm recoiling at just the thought of holding onto a bench-capper induced imploding bottle at the moment of loss of integrity.
 
Hi

While I note your comment "High OG = longer time" for carbonation, and this matches with my experience, I am also wondering if bottling from primary or secondary has any effect also on the time / amount of sugar required for bottling? As there is less remaining yeast then.

From the 10 batches I have made, the 2 that took longest to carb were both strong OG (1.080+) and where the only ones I had racked to secondary.

They both took 2 months+ with 3-4 oz white table sugar for 5gallon batches.

thanks
 
PintOfPlain said:
Hi

While I note your comment "High OG = longer time" for carbonation, and this matches with my experience, I am also wondering if bottling from primary or secondary has any effect also on the time / amount of sugar required for bottling? As there is less remaining yeast then.

From the 10 batches I have made, the 2 that took longest to carb were both strong OG (1.080+) and where the only ones I had racked to secondary.

They both took 2 months+ with 3-4 oz white table sugar for 5gallon batches.

thanks
Click to expand...

Going to secondary will not change the amount of sugar you need to add. Unless you let the beer sit over 6 months, you will have enough yeast to carb your beers. However on big beers or beers that have sat a long time, I will pitch some fresh yeast from a starter or vial. It doesn't take much though for a 5 gal batch.

Your issue is that 3-4 ounces is a big variance in the amount of sugar. You need to be precise and weigh out your sugar you are priming with. Usually 5 oz in 5 gallons is the right amount. Also, always measure how much beer you are bottling because I'd you only have 4 gal in the bottling bucket, you will only want to use 4 oz of sugar.
 
Also note that the amount of yeast (within reason) won't affect the amount of sugar you need. Unless you have so little that it just doesn't do anything, *eventually* whatever yeast population you have will consume all the fermentables. As long as the CO2 doesn't escape, the amount added due to priming depends only on the quantity of fermentable sugar you used for priming.
 
zeg said:
Also note that the amount of yeast (within reason) won't affect the amount of sugar you need. Unless you have so little that it just doesn't do anything, *eventually* whatever yeast population you have will consume all the fermentables. As long as the CO2 doesn't escape, the amount added due to priming depends only on the quantity of fermentable sugar you used for priming.
Click to expand...

Makes sense - thanks!
 
No problem. Also, don't forget that the beer contains CO2 before you start, at roughly the volume necessary to saturate it at the highest temperature it's been stored at since fermentation completed. So the additional CO2 depends on the priming sugar, but the total CO2 depends also on how much you started with. The warmer the beer has been, the less CO2 it will start with. The calculators correct for this. In general it's not terribly important since it's rare to worry about a few tenths of a volume of CO2, but if you did a cold lager beer without a diacetyl rest, are shooting for a high carb level, and plan to bottle, you'll want to be careful.
 
Zeg, about a year ago I was bottling a batch that I noticed 2 things about...first, it seemed noticeably carbed and second the FG was unexpectedly high. I bottled it anyhow without any adjustment and all worked out fine. Since then I made a wine kit and they have you degas the wine before you take a gravity reading and I was amazed at how much gas pressure there was after covering the test container with one hand and shaking vigorously. This made me wonder if it is possible my beer batch batch had relatively high CO2 saturation.
So, should we all be degassing the beer before the FG reading? Or does the standard hydrometer factor "normal" CO2 saturation in somehow? On a related note, how valid would it be to open a bottle, shake all the gas out and take a belated FG reading? I realize these questions mean very little relative to any change in process....just things I wonder about!
 
The linked thread is accurate, as far as I can tell. Based on this article (sorry, I think it's behind a paywall), the density change from dissolved a volume or so of CO2 is of order a few grams per cubic meter---roughly a few parts per million of the beer's density. So, yes, it does increase the density, but not nearly enough to affect the hydrometer, which is reading changes of a few parts per hundred.

The buoyant effect of escaping gas bubbles are the bigger concern. You should degas if you're trying to be accurate. I usually pour mine vigorously a few times, then let it sit to settle. This isn't ideal, since there's some evaporation (and because it may lead to knocking over a sample and shattering your hydrometer :mad:), but it's good enough for my purposes.
 
I have been having some issues after bottling. We always taste our beer on bottling day, and it always tastes good. However, 2 plus weeks after bottling, some of our beer tastes weird. Some have had a crazy high "alcohol / burning" flavor, while others, I can only think of maybee as an olive-ish flavor..
We use recylcled bottles (which we immediately clean after drinking) and de-label. On bottling day, we let them soak in sanitizer and pull them out for immediate bottling. (we make sure to shake out the excess sanitiser starsan foam.

We boil the water (and then add the priming sugar / dextrose) , and once it is boiling we add the sugar mix it and we dump it into our secondary fermentation bucket (which has a spigot). I don't overly mix the water to avoid oxygen and stirring the bottom yeast cake.

What could be causing our good tasting beer to go bad after bottling? We have been very sanitary with it, even cleaning our caps w/ sanitiser.

We let the caps sit on the beer for 10 mins for oxygen to escape / be pushed out from co2 as well, before capping. and store in a basement.

We have brewed at least 15 times and probably get a 50% bad bottling turnout, and always the beer tastes good before bottling...

Thanks,
 
Do you just use sanitizer (starsan) or do you use a cleaner like PBW or oxyclean first? There is a difference.
And do you let the beer settle for a while between adding the sugar mixture and bottling? Thinking maybe the priming sugar isn't mixed well enough and some of the yeast is getting added to the bottles unevenly.
Just wondering.
 

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