I love bottling

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TNGabe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
6,657
Reaction score
2,294
1 keg will never match the joy I get from so many beautiful bottles! I can't be the only one who loves bottling beer.
 
LOL, someone has a poopy diaper HA HA....

I haven't showered in three days. I've been packing things into a Uhaul truck for the last two, and I just finished putting in baseboard trim downstairs in our new remodel home after painting 1500 sq feet of walls, removing 500 sq feet of Rastafarian color themed carpet and putting down new laminate flooring. Now I get to do crown moulding and wiring so I can put my tv above my fireplace and play some much deserved video games.

tired. not poopy.

I like having bottles around so I can give them away. other than that I prefer to keg.
 
It's nice to have some bottles, but I hate bottling!
I also love pouring a draft beer and enjoying it. Something about out of the tap that makes it better to me.
I wish you lived near me. I would feed you beer and let you run the bottling for me since you enjoy it so much.
I've got some pumpkin ale that I'm going to bottle soon. Only because I think I'm going to be drinking the same pumpkin ale next year. I can't imagine pumpkin ale being something that I would want to drink on a regular basis.
 
I haven't showered in three days. I've been packing things into a Uhaul truck for the last two, and I just finished putting in baseboard trim downstairs in our new remodel home after painting 1500 sq feet of walls, removing 500 sq feet of Rastafarian color themed carpet and putting down new laminate flooring. Now I get to do crown moulding and wiring so I can put my tv above my fireplace and play some much deserved video games.

tired. not poopy.

I like having bottles around so I can give them away. other than that I prefer to keg.

Sorry about the carpet, hope you got a shower.

I like bottling so I can cellar beer. I'm looking forward to being able to have vertical tastings of my dubbel, biere de garde, etc.
 
I don't mind bottling. The simple repetitiveness is sorta relaxing.
 
whoaru99 said:
I don't mind bottling. The simple repetitiveness is sorta relaxing.

I also don't mind it at all... I have a system, I get set up, and it's a mindless task that is rewarding and isn't really all that bad. Sort of a meditation time to reflect about whatever, sometimes beer, maybe work. It almost works to de-stress me.

That being said though, I also appreciate the simplicity and storage savings of my kegs...
 
For me I would say I never look forward to it, but once I begin the process it is somewhat relaxing. I think the part I hate the most about it is the capping. I have one of those Red Baron cappers and its kind of a pain in the ass. Thanks to some Black Friday deals I will be kegging my next batch but I will want at least a sixer to keep around.
 
I actually don't mind bottling as well. I have a 5 keg keezer but bottling is still enjoyable. I think the main thing for me is the comfort I feel when I cap and know that I'm safe from all the contamination issues we all fear. Almost like a mini party each time I cap a bottle.
 
Have to be in the right mood to bottle, and by that I mean a bad mood. Bottling is kind of a zen thing for me, and since my knees are shot, sitting indian style with my fingers in a circle while humming, really isn't an option.......:cross:
 
I just bottle while I brew. While the strike water is heating I siphon into the bottling bucket. Once I mash in I start bottling. It takes me about 30 minutes to sanitize, bottle and cap a batch.

No problem


I like variety and always have about 8 different brews in my fridge.
 
I just bottle while I brew. While the strike water is heating I siphon into the bottling bucket. Once I mash in I start bottling. It takes me about 30 minutes to sanitize, bottle and cap a batch.

No problem


I like variety and always have about 8 different brews in my fridge.

30 minutes for a batch seems impossible to me. Its at least a 90 minute process for me with the wife doing the capping. It's 20 minutes just to get the bottles sprayed with sanitizer.
 
I never really understood the hate for bottling.
The worst part of it for me is having all those bottles of beer, and none of them are ready to drink!
 
I enjoy bottling.

It's all the work that went into the batch has finally come to fruition and the next thing to do after bottling is wait and drinking!

I also prefer bottling because I like to try several different beers I have aging in a single night and having 3-4 beers on tap and chilled is not feasible.
 
I've only bottled 2 batches so far, but it is enjoyable to me. It really doesn't take too long (with a bench capper), probably more time to wash and san than fill and cap. Since i'm only doing extract so far I think it's because of the hands on, other than a boil, if it weren't for bottling it would almost feel like I didn't put any work into it. The more effort it takes, the more rewarding it is I guess. That said, I can imagine that after a 7hr AG brew day, it would be more like "screw this, keg it and done."
 
Personally I enjoy bottling. When I get done I can look down and see I accomplished something. Well that and the whole zen thing. It probably is my favorite part of brewing. The waiting 3 weeks is probably my least favorite part.
 
TNGabe said:
1 keg will never match the joy I get from so many beautiful bottles! I can't be the only one who loves bottling beer.

I really do too! Especially after reading Revvy's bottling tips. I have always enjoyed have 10 different beers to pick from in 12 oz 16 oz or 22oz bottles. I like to take my beers that need extended conditioning into the house and store them for up to year and then pop them open. I have started to bottle my goto beers in 22oz bombers because they are session beers and I can always handle that much.
 
I just a bought a bench capper and used for the first time, what can I say, it made me happy!
 
I don't love bottling but I don't mind it. I keg and bottle a little. For me, I like to keg first, dial in carbonation and clarity, then bottle from the tap. With the exception of maybe hefe weizens, I also like the sediment free pour. That being said, nothing wrong with a little bottle conditioning now and then.
 
I've only bottled 2 batches so far, but it is enjoyable to me. It really doesn't take too long (with a bench capper), probably more time to wash and san than fill and cap. Since i'm only doing extract so far I think it's because of the hands on, other than a boil, if it weren't for bottling it would almost feel like I didn't put any work into it. The more effort it takes, the more rewarding it is I guess. That said, I can imagine that after a 7hr AG brew day, it would be more like "screw this, keg it and done."

Hahaha, I stayed up until almost 4 am this morning and I usually get up around 5. I've been really busy all week and brew chores got backed up. So about 7pm I decide to go ahead and start a cream ale- that I'm using raw corn in. Also had 10 gallons to bottle and two batches to transfer. I think i woke up once when a bottle overfilled and I noticed my hand was wet, but I got them all done. About 18 33cl bottles for tastings/comps/etc, a whole lot of 750s, mostly corked, and a few 1L flip tops for drunkeness.:drunk:
 
Is it easy to adjust the bench capper to different size bottles?

Super easy. I've got the normal red bench capper- handle goes all the way up and then you can raise/lower it for different bottles. Changing the bell out for 29mm euro caps is a little more work, especially since I bought one with the wrong threads.:drunk:
 
Yes, very easy. And it probably cost about ten bucks more than the typical 'wing' capper. It makes the process that whole process that much easier

The wife usually does the capping. Maybe I'll get her one for Christmas.
 
The wife usually does the capping. Maybe I'll get her one for Christmas.

Interesting, your the second one here that says the wifey does the capping.

I have my wife do the filling and I do the capping. I think it's easier for her than trying to work the wing capper. Oh, and the 7 year old brings the bottles from the dishwasher to the filling area and the 5 year old stacks the capped bottles in the boxes.


"Dooley had two daughters and a forty gallon still. One gal watched the boiler, the other watched the spout. Momma corked the bottles when ol' Dooley fetched them out."
 
early on, i bottled. i almost stopped brewing since i hated bottling so much. my brother did stop brewing for that reason. i haven't bottled in several years
 
I love bottling and capping, and I love naturally carbonated non-filtered beer. I have five different bottles; std us short 12 oz (sierra nevada), std US 12 oz, standard DE 330 ml and 500 ml, flip top bottles and those stubby chimay bottles. I use these types of bottles lovingly to different batches and colored caps.... and I get an uncanny amount of pleasure from running my eyes down the rows of shiny glass amber.

I will go to kegging one day but I'm not in a hurry and I will only keg certain types of beer.
 
I also love bottling! I often take 5-gallon batches and split them into 5 1-gallon secondaries with different stuff. Bottling allows much more flexibility and experimentation this way.
 
I also learned a lot from the Revvy sticky on bottling and have it set up to be about 30 minutes of bottling and capping a 5 gallon batch. It takes me about ten minutes active bottle prep with a bottel jet cleaner and brush, then a full sanitize dishwasher run. Sometimes I will do this in the morning to bottle at night or let the bottles sit overnight and first thing in the morning.

I have made an effort to make my set up practical so most of my work is done without a lot of wasted motion. So for me, it's a few Van Morrison tunes and before I know it, I'm done.
 
I like star san for brew day, but on bottle day I prefer iodophor. I use the bottle squirter and the star san just foams too much and stays in the bottle too long and interferes with filling.
 
I've stopped using sanitizer on bottles.. i just stick them in the dish washer with a finger of white vinegar to counteract base elements.
 
Cider123 said:
I have my wife do the filling and I do the capping. I think it's easier for her than trying to work the wing capper. Oh, and the 7 year old brings the bottles from the dishwasher to the filling area and the 5 year old stacks the capped bottles in the boxes.

You aren't bottling on your dishwasher lid? That trick alone made me love bottling even more... Literally no clean up.
 
HollisBT said:
You aren't bottling on your dishwasher lid? That trick alone made me love bottling even more... Literally no clean up.

I'm giving that a try during my next bottling session.

I agree with most that bottling is kind of relaxing to me. It's mindless, but productive. It also lets me see all that great beer I'll be enjoying and sharing in the near future.
 
If I grew to hate bottling as some guys here do then I would probly just quit homebrewing. I don't mind it at all and I think bottled homebrew is just better anyway. I have bottled 147 5gal batches now.
 
Back
Top