There has got to be a better way to bottle!

I bottled my first batch today. It was fun to do except that my piece of crap bottle filler kept leaking. It's the generic one with a black tip that came with my kit.


Is there ANYTHING better on the market?

You can keg but if you are bottling for the forseeable future, do not fret. My first bottling experience was a nightmare but by the time I got to the third or fourth batch, I had it down to a science. I promise it will get easier, trust me. It also helps if you have a partner. Good luck!

I've used the spring loaded version and the phils bottle filler version (black tip with loose depressor) and they both would drip a very little bit. Wasn't a big deal since I would be moving from bottle to bottle with one hand while setting caps on full bottles with the other - an occasional drip here and there should be expected.

I take it you are using a bottling want. Possibly pick up another one and see if it doesn't leak as much.

Another solution is to bottle over your Dishwasher so that you don't get beer all over your floor.

I've never had much trouble with my bottling wand. Maybe you just need a new one. Take a look at Revvy's excellent bottling primer for some good ideas.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

Quite often little bits of hop, or some other gunk, can get trapped in there whilst you're bottling. If you have the bottling wand connected to the spigot of a bottling bucket you can close the spigot, empty the contents of the wand into a bottle, remove the wand and disassemble the tip into it's component parts. Outer cover, plunger with small "O" ring and, depending on type of bottling wand, a spring. Rinse everything thoroughly, reassemble and sanitize then re-attach to the spigot, start bottling again and you should find that the constant dripping has ceased.

yeah, tear it apart and clean it. Check for burrs too, and shave them down with a sharp knife. I lost the spring and there is still enough force from the column of beer to make a good seal. I waste far more beer from overflow than from leaks. They really work quite well if you don't get a dud.

Another option would be to put a clamp on the hose just above the wand. Tedious. Line them up and fill fast is what I'd do.

I do all of my bottling over the lid of the dishwasher. I sanitize all of my bottle and set them upside down in the dishwasher, the turn individual bottles right side up for filling. While filling one bottle, I grab another and turn it right side up. Once one bottle is full, I immediately put the wand in the next bottle. Minimal drips, minimal mess.

I use Revvy's method mentioned above and one of those galvanized garage trays on the floor for overflows. The new spring loaded wand I just got leaked a little but my old gravity one never did leak.... It seems things are backwards with me. lol

looneybomber said:

I do all of my bottling over the lid of the dishwasher. I sanitize all of my bottle and set them upside down in the dishwasher, the turn individual bottles right side up for filling. While filling one bottle, I grab another and turn it right side up. Once one bottle is full, I immediately put the wand in the next bottle. Minimal drips, minimal mess.

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This beats my paper towel blanket idea!! I will be doing this next time.

yeah, a tray. I use a baking sheet with sides or a big pan. I can rest the wand in the tray.

Other idea is to set it up like Revvy - directly connect the wand to the spigot with a short piece of tube, and lift up the bottle to fill.

loonybomber just makes too much sense, bottling over the dishwasher. Pffft. Gotta have some spills, I sez.

Never had a problem with mine; i set up my bottles in rows and columns like soldiers and use an auto-siphon with the bottling wand... from one to the next with nary a split second in between. Even it it did leak I wouldn't notice because it's one to the next without stop until it's empty. Then it's cap cap cap until I'm sure I'll break the damn capper.

jongrill said:

I bottled my first batch today. It was fun to do except that my piece of crap bottle filler kept leaking. It's the generic one with a black tip that came with my kit.

Is there ANYTHING better on the market?

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Obviously you will get a lot of "switch to kegs" replies, but that doesn't help much. Not everyone can, or even wants to switch to kegging. There are benefits to both, and I don't really want to start that argument, but I prefer bottling over kegging myself.
Those bottle fillers do seem to always leak a little, so I usually open the dishwasher door and use that to catch whatever drips in between bottles. If you fill fast enough, loss can be kept to a minimum. I probably lose 6-8 oz when bottling a 5 gallon batch, which I can deal with. Also, since I plan on staying with bottles for a while, I added a second spigot and filler to my bottling bucket. It cut my bottling time in half and makes use of a free hand. The extra spigot was like $3, and quickly pays for itself in time spent. The trick to the bottle fillers is cleaning them well. They need to be clean for the check valve to function properly otherwise they won't close completely which is what causes the leak.
Finally, I always set up the fillers and fill bucket with starsan mix before bottling. It's necessary for sanitization, and it allows you the opportunity to stop leaks before you start losing beer. Just set everything up, and run a little sanitizer through filler tubes before racking to bottle bucket. (better to find and fix leaks with sanitizer than beer)

I do revvy's method for bottling and use a spring loaded wand. I use a SS pot turned over to raise my bottling bucket to a better height for me to sit and bottle from. I open the dishwasher door and bottle over it. I set my clean bottles on the door and go at it. I lose between a teaspoon and tablespoon of beer each bottling of a batch total. Takes about 30 minutes to do 5.5 gallons by myself.

I would suggest you look at your bottling set up and figure out the best way to go about things with the least amount of up down walk over in the process. Basically I sit comfortably in a chair by the dishwasher, fill and place bottles on a counter to the side of me. I can fill all my bottles and set them off for capping without getting up from the chair. I then cap and fill cases with finished bottles, working around the space. Goes fast and easy.

jongrill said:

I bottled my first batch today. It was fun to do except that my piece of crap bottle filler kept leaking. It's the generic one with a black tip that came with my kit.


Is there ANYTHING better on the market?

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Just curious does it have a spring in it? I bought a cheap one from a store, and it doesn't have a spring in it and leaks. I got one the other day from a kit I bought, and that one has a good spring in it, and doesn't leak.

The dishwasher idea people are giving is a great idea. I tend to put my bottles in a 1" walled cookie sheet or a shallow Rubbermaid container. I rest my wand sideways or in the next bottle when I'm not filling, which cuts down on leaks.

Note on Revvy's primer that he fills the bottles in a batch and then caps them afterwards. That should cut down on some of the drip time.

Finally +1 on the spring loaded filler. Much better than the other ones

lgilmore said:

I do revvy's method for bottling and use a spring loaded wand. I use a SS pot turned over to raise my bottling bucket to a better height for me to sit and bottle from. I open the dishwasher door and bottle over it. I set my clean bottles on the door and go at it. I lose between a teaspoon and tablespoon of beer each bottling of a batch total. Takes about 30 minutes to do 5.5 gallons by myself.

I would suggest you look at your bottling set up and figure out the best way to go about things with the least amount of up down walk over in the process. Basically I sit comfortably in a chair by the dishwasher, fill and place bottles on a counter to the side of me. I can fill all my bottles and set them off for capping without getting up from the chair. I then cap and fill cases with finished bottles, working around the space. Goes fast and easy.

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That sounds exactly like me; the time spent, the amount of drips/waste, the sitting comfortably, ect...

Check out this video for a visual...

Bottling bucket is set at counter height with the bottle wand hanging via a short tube in mid air. Simply push the bottle up into the wand instead of holding the wand with your hand and pressing down into the bottle. Gravity does half of the work for you... An assembly line situation with your family/friends also helps

I put the bottle bucket up on a counter and put a seat underneath it so I can work. My dishwashing tub becomes a drip tray beneath it. I bottle straight from the spigot as opposed to using the wand and haven't had any overflow issues - something tells me there might be a reason why the wand is better though.

Not meaning to be smart.

If I decided to ONLY bottle from now on, I would still own 1 keg and co2 tank.

Best bottling bucket EVER.

Arrheinous said:

I bottle straight from the spigot as opposed to using the wand and haven't had any overflow issues - something tells me there might be a reason why the wand is better though.

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I used to do this early on too. But I suggest using the wand. It prevents oxygenation since it fills slowly from the bottom of the bottle instead of quickly from the top.

Yeah... I used to use the bottling wand with a full 5' of hose attached during my earlier days. Then some of the new guys I got interested in homebrewing just did it right from the bottle.

I figure if I cut a length of tubing just long enough to hold the wand to the spigot that'd be a *lot* more managable.

I am also placing my bucket up on a countertop with the wand connected directly to the spigot (thanks for the idea Revy). A drip pan below catches any overflow and the occasional drips from the wand. To further reduce clean up time, I tuck a large bath towel under the bucket and let it hang down to the floor, no more cleaning sticky beer splatter off the kitchen cabinets.

Thank you everyone for the tips and tricks! I was using the black non spring loaded bottling wand. I am going to purchase the spring loaded one and a bottling bucket!


I really am not interested in kegging at all. I'd like to give bottles to friends!

jongrill said:

I really am not interested in kegging at all. I'd like to give bottles to friends!

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do both. In fact, if I were to do it all over again, I'd get all 2.5 gallon kegs, a smaller freezer, keg half, bottle half. 2.5 g kegs are also the perfect size to drop in a cooler of ice and bring to a party.