So sick of bottling!

I sat down and bottled 15 gallons of beer today.
5 Gallons of cream ale
5 Gallons of pumpkin spice dark ale
5 Gallons of stout

I think I may buy a keg soon... because that was ridiculous and I had to do it all on my own!

That's because bottling sucks.

chalmer9 said:

That's because bottling sucks.

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Easy Bevis. It's as hard as you make it. Hypno, did all three beers become ready at the same time?

Bottling has it's perks but I moved on to kegging fairly quickly. What can I say? I got sick of it. But bottling 15 gallons at a time by yourself? That is rough.

The cream ale was probably ready sooner but I went on a brewing spree for 3 days straight one brew a day. not doing it again. to much pain at bottling time.

Just brew wildly different ABV's. Then you can space them out a bit more. Bottle the lowest ABV first, clean the carboy, and rack the heaviest beer into it for some extended conditioning off the yeast. Another week or two, do the middle-gravity beer, and add a dry hop to the strong beer. 2 weeks later or so, bottle the third.

I don't mind the task of bottling, but the storage of all those bottles gets to me. Kegs are nice and compact.

pfffttt I always enjoyed marathon bottling sessions of double digit gallon volumes of beer!

Then again my idea of a good time involves a rather strict german lady with a riding crop dressed in leather berating me and 'correcting' me.

I kid I kid ... mostly!

Just because you went on a brewing marathon does not mean you have to have a bottling marathon. It will not hurt to lit them sit until you have time to space out the bottling days(other than taking longer to have beer ready).

I clean/sanitize all my bottles in advance. The night before I carry stuff into place.
Spread out the work, so its not concentrated.
I don't find the bottling so bad. Its the cleanup thats a pain.

HypnoFrogs said:

I sat down and bottled 15 gallons of beer today.
5 Gallons of cream ale
5 Gallons of pumpkin spice dark ale
5 Gallons of stout

I think I may buy a keg soon... because that was ridiculous and I had to do it all on my own!

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#firstworldproblems

Rough life ya got there...

I have my bottling down to an easy task, bottling bucket on my fridge and bottle on my counter top ezpz Ive done 10 gals at once with hardly any effort so I would imagine 15 wouldnt be too bad. I love bottles it allows you to take anywhere and share to get reviews of your works.

I never bottle 12-ouncers unless they are going to a competition. Smallest I bottle are 500ml swing tops. Has anyone else noticed that Grolsch bottles are now smaller? I have a bunch of old ones. My favorite size is 660 ml Fischer bottles. I have a big collection of liter swing tops and 750 ml swing tops from an Italian organic wine called Prosecco Venutto.

I also have a growler and a couple of 1.5 liter Grolsch bottles for taking kegged beer to parties, picnics, etc.

12 ounce bottles are for suckahz! ;-)

I got a tip from a felloe brewer about some kegs on Craigslist, and I never looked back...time savings are colossal

RobertRGeorge said:

I never bottle 12-ouncers unless they are going to a competition. Smallest I bottle are 500ml swing tops. Has anyone else noticed that Grolsch bottles are now smaller? I have a bunch of old ones. My favorite size is 660 ml Fischer bottles. I have a big collection of liter swing tops and 750 ml swing tops from an Italian organic wine called Prosecco Venutto.

I also have a growler and a couple of 1.5 liter Grolsch bottles for taking kegged beer to parties, picnics, etc.

12 ounce bottles are for suckahz! ;-)

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I like 12 oz bottles as I can give them away for reviews from friends

ShinyBuddha said:

Easy Bevis. It's as hard as you make it. Hypno, did all three beers become ready at the same time?

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Depends on your perspective. If I had to bottle all of my beer, I would have quit a long time ago. Bottling is the only part of the brewing process that I despise...

I with the group of people hating bottling... Unfortunately I will be stuck doing it for quite a while and after a few homebrews I don't care too much anyway.

Bottling off the keg isn't so bad. At some point ill get a beer gun or something, but I've bottled a few off the faucet that kept carbonation for a couple mints before I drank them. Go kegging, you'll be glad you did!

I had 3 batches I did myself but they were all 2 gallon variety- all bottled as well.

I personally like the idea of cracking open a single beer of whatever I want anytime I want. Its a nice advantage. If I had to keg- I wouldnt brew nearly as much.

I enjoy bottling. But 15 gal of it sounds like no fun.

mikemet said:

I had 3 batches I did myself but they were all 2 gallon variety- all bottled as well.

I personally like the idea of cracking open a single beer of whatever I want anytime I want. Its a nice advantage. If I had to keg- I wouldnt brew nearly as much.

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A picnic tap, will allow you to steal a pint from any keg that isn't chilled. And you can then use plastic-coated ice cubes (won't dilute your beer) to chill it down to cellar temps.

It is FAR from perfect... but it's one way to enjoy a kegged beer that hasn't been chilled.

That and a portable CO2 charger and you're kegging for less than a hundred bucks. Next step is a full CO2 tank of course because the charges get expensive... and then a kegerator... But you can build as you go.

I have 11 kegs, but can only keep one chilled at the moment. No biggie. Just drop in a couple of plastic ice cubes and wait a couple of minutes... It's a fair compromise for the occasional beer geek who has GOT to try that beer that you don't have on tap yet....

I would love to start kegging, but my issue is keeping them cool. Buying a kegerator costs a lot of money, which I'm not ready to spend yet.

>>I like 12 oz bottles as I can give them away for reviews from friends

+1

mikemet said:

I personally like the idea of cracking open a single beer of whatever I want anytime I want. Its a nice advantage. If I had to keg- I would drink more.

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Fixed for posterity.

Don't you people have stereos? Just put on some tunes and rock out with it

Do you have a cold cellar in winter? Just buy a keg kit and skip fridge - I don't need a fridge 6 months out of the year

You should do what I do. Have a bottling party! Invite people who will probably be drinking your beer anyway make then work for it! Haha!

velatim said:

You should do what I do. Have a bottling party! Invite people who will probably be drinking your beer anyway make then work for it! Haha!

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I've done that on brew days, Someone wants to see the process, I show them the whole process. While I'm mashing we bottle a batch or 2 of beer.