Who likes using a bottle tree?

I'm going to be bottling my first batch soon. And it is becoming apparent that drying bottles after cleaning is not a quick process.

Any tips?

Should I buy a bottle tree? I can pick up an 80 bottle one for $25 but they look a little flimsy to me. Willing to get one if it's worth it but would rather not waste money on something that is just going to be in the way.

Try the top rack of your dishwasher.

If you're a DIY kinda person, this is way cool and way cheaper as well (fixes the flimsy problem): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-monster-bottle-tree-w-pics-105614/

Personally, I don't really dry my bottles. I use a vinator and since StarSan is no-rinse they shouldn't be allowed to dry. Sanitize about a case at a time then bottle. Repeat.

Edit: Yeah, I used the dishwasher for a while, just be sure to sanitize the rack with a spray bottle or something. Then again, I do sanitize just about everything in my house before I brew .

That's genius! Unfortunately I don't have a dishwasher.

Maybe I could use the dish drying rack, but it'll be hard to stand them up.

I just got a bottle tree an its quite useful, I had done 1 batch using the dishwasher rack and it worked OK but having a tree is nice and easy to move around. I dont use a no rinse sanitizer so I'm kind of trying my luck when I bottle however. If you have something like a vinator, that seems to be the way to go as you dont have to rinse etc and can use them right away without much effort...

Have one, love it.

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Start San combo. Best money I ever spent.

djt17 said:

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Start San combo. Best money I ever spent.

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Absolutly!!!!!

I got a bottle tree and vinator as a part of a craigslist haul and I sold it off because I mostly keg. Doh! Seriously, it was awesome and wort having around even if you only bottle occasionally. I don't wait for the starsan to dry though. Dump and fill.

I got one for the holidays, and really like it.

I use a little star san to wipe off the tree and then place the clean and sanitized bottles right on the tree. If the bottles don't completeley dry it is no big deal. You will only have a few mililiters of water in 12 oz of beer. This will not effect the taste or give any off flavors to the beer.

djt17 said:

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Star San combo. Best money I ever spent.

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+++ to this. wouldn't bottle without these

djt17 said:

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Start San combo. Best money I ever spent.

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Me too. It takes less than 10 minutes to sanitize a full batch of bottles with the vinator and bottle tree. Since Star-san doesn't need to dry, you just sanitize with a couple of squirts, hang them on the tree, and then start filling bottles. Quick and easy. It's heavy duty enough that I even use it for bottling wine, and it holds about 45 wine bottles.

I have a bottle tree and vinator, but StarSan wasn't available when I started brewing (and still isn't locally) so I love my bottle rinser for cleaning and rinsing bottles. Mine even came with one larger "footing" that I can use for cleaning/rinsing my carboys. I also press by hand for rinsing buckets, and will be also using it to clean kegs.

djt17 said:

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Start San combo. Best money I ever spent.

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+ 100 I mix up some star-san, about 1.5 gals, on bottling day and dunk the parts of the tree in it, use about a pint in the vinarator, put a pint in a spray bottle and save a gallon for use on brewing day.

mikeinternet said:

I'm going to be bottling my first batch soon. And it is becoming apparent that drying bottles after cleaning is not a quick process.

Any tips?

Should I buy a bottle tree? I can pick up an 80 bottle one for $25 but they look a little flimsy to me. Willing to get one if it's worth it but would rather not waste money on something that is just going to be in the way.

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I don't bother with one. I really don't have much space. I store all my bottles in milk crate, you can hold an entire case of bottles in the half the space of a standard beer case.

I've never sweated the "letting them dry" part of it after I wash the bottles, I let them drain as best they can then pack them away til bottling day. Then I may or may not re-rinse them. But I will sanitize them at that point, and since the sanitizers are no-rinse, wet contact sanitizers, so you really don't want your bottles drip dried at that point.

I guess if I had a basement or a dedicated brewery, and had space I'd get one. And I did contemplate baking a bottle rack that I could hand on a door or in my closet. But I never got around to it, and have just worked my bottling process so well, that I haven't really felt the loss of one in my process.

If you want bottling tips, there's plenty here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

I hate using the bottle tree, but only because it means I'm bottling, and I only bottle beers for other people to drink. Kegging is so much easier and faster.
Having said that, I must admit that the bottle tree, vinator, and star-san make bottling easier.

-a.

I've got the 90 bottle tree. I really like it. Very handy to have.

Call me cheap, but I just put a towel in the bottom of a case, sanitize, drain, and put the bottles upside down in the case to let any extra sanitizer drain out. Then, when bottling, I just grab the bottles out of the case, fill, cap, and put back into the case upright.

Bottle tree might save a little time, and certainly not very expensive.

I got one after I bottled my first batch and I love it. I don't know if I'll use it bottling day, but I do use it after cleaning and removing labels from commercial brews. It's very convienent and when you're done it breaks down and fits nicely in my "brew equipment" container that I keep in the attic to please SWMBO I bought a vinator at the same time and I'm positive that will make bottling day much easier once my Irish Red is ready.

djt17 said:

I use the bottle tree, vinator, & Start San combo. Best money I ever spent.

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Had my first bottling yesterday using this exact combination and it wasn't bad. Definitely not a bad enough process to post a thread about how bad it is (I've seen quite a few I hate bottling threads).

I have never used a bottling tree and have botttled over 1000 of bottles of beer. No biggie. I have used my dishwasher maybe once to dry bottles. I tend to not worry about having a little liquid in the bottles. I just make sure to wash, sanatize, pour the solution out, sit them upright and then right as I am bout to fill a bottle, I just turn the bottle upside down and VOILA, the last little bit of liquid is now a little less.

mikeinternet said:

I'm going to be bottling my first batch soon. And it is becoming apparent that drying bottles after cleaning is not a quick process.

Any tips?

Should I buy a bottle tree? I can pick up an 80 bottle one for $25 but they look a little flimsy to me. Willing to get one if it's worth it but would rather not waste money on something that is just going to be in the way.

Click to expand...

IMHO, the bottle tree ROCKS! I bought the 45 bottle version & now wish I would've gotten the 90 bottle version. Regards, GF.