Bottle tree and vinator - how have I bottled without these?

Among the rest of the amazing Christmas haul from my wife was a bottle tree and vinator. I have used them for the first time, and cannot believe the time and effort that this $46 investment saves me.

If you bottle, you might really want to consider these.

I did a full blog entry on the bottle tree and vinator, if you care to read it.

Easy on the vinator I'm about to buy my third one. They can crack just above the threads. Or I'm too aggressive with sanitizer.

LouBrew13 said:

Easy on the vinator I'm about to buy my third one. They can crack just above the threads. Or I'm too aggressive with sanitizer.

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What threads? I've been using mine for years and bottle everything, 180-200 gallons a year!

yeah i love my vinator, only thing is the spring inside of mine is too large and does not fit perfectly in place along the base, it has to bend in order to fit into the bottle spout. unless i set it up wrong.....

The white center with the pump screws into the center red part on mine.

I guess I'll just have to see how mine holds up. Still, if I get even a year out of the thing, it will have paid for itself many times over in time savings.

I don't bottle very often, but when I do I'm glad to have the vinator. My empty dishwasher is my bottle tree.

27 dozen bottled yesterday...yes, the bottle tree and vinator are worth their weight in gold.

Will bottle my next batch with mine. I tried it out wuth water and was super impressed so I can't wait to try it.

I think that the bottle tree should have come with one extra level, giving you space for 99 bottles instead of just 90. But other than that, yes, a bottle tree and vinator are really great for bottling.

Love the vinator. I could see the little + shaped part getting worn out and breaking somehow. The rest of it seems OK

osagedr said:

27 dozen bottled yesterday...yes, the bottle tree and vinator are worth their weight in gold.

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I do not know if I should bow in the presence of the bottling god or slap you and ask what in the heck prompted that. That is a ton of bottling and I salute you:rockin:

Love the bottle tree and Vinator. I have to wonder if all the bottling haters out there have ever taken the time to get a good bottling system figured out. Those two tools and attaching the bottling wand directly to the spigot have my bottling time and clean up down to just over an hour. I don't see myself kegging any time soon at this point.

matt2778 said:

Love the bottle tree and Vinator. I have to wonder if all the bottling haters out there have ever taken the time to get a good bottling system figured out. Those two tools and attaching the bottling wand directly to the spigot have my bottling time and clean up down to just over an hour. I don't see myself kegging any time soon at this point.

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Yes, the bottling haters perfected the bottling process a long time ago and still are not fans. Yes, I'm one.

LouBrew13 said:

Easy on the vinator I'm about to buy my third one. They can crack just above the threads. Or I'm too aggressive with sanitizer.

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Yep, The white piece that screws into the red base cracked on mine. I successfully glued it, but the glue didn't hold. I think it's made from HDPE which superglue has no affinity for. I need some thing stronger. I think I'll take my heat gun and just weld the thing on there. Argh.

osagedr said:

27 dozen bottled yesterday...yes, the bottle tree and vinator are worth their weight in gold.

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Good crap! That's almost 34 gallons of beer!

mewithstewpid said:

yeah i love my vinator, only thing is the spring inside of mine is too large and does not fit perfectly in place along the base, it has to bend in order to fit into the bottle spout. unless i set it up wrong.....

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Nope, that seems to be the thing with mine. I love it, but try no to take it apart unless I absolutely have to.

LandoLincoln said:

I think that the bottle tree should have come with one extra level, giving you space for 99 bottles instead of just 90. But other than that, yes, a bottle tree and vinator are really great for bottling.

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99? Just 'cuz you love Gretzky?

You can't expand yours? The style I have has levels of 9 bottles each, you can add as many as you like.

(it just so happens I have 10 levels )

neko said:

I don't bottle very often, but when I do I'm glad to have the vinator. My empty dishwasher is my bottle tree.

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Ditto, bottle tree not needed, dishwasher works great!

el_horno said:

Ditto, bottle tree not needed, dishwasher works great!

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I used my dishwasher for this purpose for a year. I'm stunned at how much the bottle tree improves the process.

homebrewdad said:

Among the rest of the amazing Christmas haul from my wife was a bottle tree and vinator. I have used them for the first time, and cannot believe the time and effort that this $46 investment saves me.

If you bottle, you might really want to consider these.

I did a full blog entry on the bottle tree and vinator, if you care to read it.

Click to expand...

Same here, I got mine in October, It makes bottling a breeze !!!, I recently got a bench capper that makes it even easier !!!.

homebrewdad said:

I used my dishwasher for this purpose for a year. I'm stunned at how much the bottle tree improves the process.

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Same here. Dishwasher did work fine, but I was fooling myself for a long time that it was easier than the vinator.

I just got my bottle tree and vinator. Bottling my first batch tomorrow.

ryangsams said:

I just got my bottle tree and vinator. Bottling my first batch tomorrow.

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sanitize your caps in the sanitizer reservoir at the top of the vinator.

Got those last Christmas. Saves so much time it's sick.

passedpawn said:

sanitize your caps in the sanitizer reservoir at the top of the vinator.

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Wow, I feel like a moron for not thinking of that.

I have been using a vinator and a bottle tree for about 9 months, love'em. They are perfect for the homebrew bottler.
I also use my bottle tree as a drying rack for just used bottles. I will pour a glass and immediately was the bottle out and put it on the bottle tree. Next day I can put the clean bottles in storage.
The other important part of the vinator, bottle tree team is a Colonna bottle capper. Those three items make my bottling experience a breeze.

The spring for the vinator is a little to long, I cut a few rounds off mine and it works much easer as the spring stays straight. Maby the spring being to long would cause it to break at the threads.

homebrewdad said:

Wow, I feel like a moron for not thinking of that.

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Yep, I toss all my caps right into the star san foam after I bottle wash....

vetbrewer said:

The spring for the vinator is a little to long, I cut a few rounds off mine and it works much easer as the spring stays straight. Maby the spring being to long would cause it to break at the threads.

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I did notice that mine seemed a tad long, but I got it to crunch in there after a second try, and it seems to work great.

homebrewdad said:

I did notice that mine seemed a tad long, but I got it to crunch in there after a second try, and it seems to work great.

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It will probably get bent before long. That is what happened to mine.

aubiecat said:

It will probably get bent before long. That is what happened to mine.

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Heh. Get bent!

dstranger99 said:

Yep, I toss all my caps right into the star san foam after I bottle wash....

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I toss them in before, while the reservoir is still full. Never a problem.

osagedr said:

99? Just 'cuz you love Gretzky?

You can't expand yours? The style I have has levels of 9 bottles each, you can add as many as you like.

(it just so happens I have 10 levels )

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4 cases of beer = 96 bottles, which is pretty close to what I get out of my 10 gallon batches.

I just found a place that will sell the "limbs" individually for $4.50, so I guess if I do want one more level I can get one without spending $30 for a whole new tree.

LandoLincoln said:

4 cases of beer = 96 bottles, which is pretty close to what I get out of my 10 gallon batches.

I just found a place that will sell the "limbs" individually for $4.50, so I guess if I do want one more level I can get one without spending $30 for a whole new tree.

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I could definitely see adding one limb to my tree, so that I could fit those last three bottles (with room to spare).

Glad I found this thread - I am looking into investing in a bottle tree and a vinator myself. I see there are a few models of trees available. There is an orange one, and a red one, some rotate, and some do not. Also some have handles on top of them, and I believe some you can add more capacity to some models. Is there a preference to any of the aforementioned options? I believe one manufacturer is Ferrari. Where also could I find the best price on a tree and vinator?

Thanks!

Nathan

I bought a vinator locally today - I really dont have a place to keep a tree, I could stick it in the garage but it is kinda dusty in there so it would probably defeat the purpose. The vinator locally was $19.99 and it totally saves on shipping and helps the local small business. When I was in there, I also bought some supplies to make some homemade wine from juice - 2 glass gallon jugs and additional stuff - all under $20...

Broke down and bought a 45 bottle tree this weekend at LHBS...I'll find a place to put it...
Will be bottling tomorrow. Since the vinator pretty much keeps itself sanitary with it being contained with all the San Star I am not worried abot it, but .... would you have to sanitize the tree before you put the bottles on it to dry?

Yes, sanitize the tree before use.

I use a bottle tree, vinator and bench capper. I still despise bottling but I do it like a well oiled machine. Looking forward to moving into a place where I have room for a keezer some day.