How many bottles to sanitize?

I did a search of the forum and found a lengthy discussion on the number of bottles a 5 gallon batch will make, and how it varies due to the amount of trub in left in the primary, how many hydrometer samples were taken, etc. The mathematical conclusion was that if there were no losses, then 5 gallons of beer will produce (53.3) - 12 oz bottles. Now the books I read mention sanitizing extra bottles (and caps) in case you break one, the dog licks it, or whatever.

So my question is how many bottles do you sanitize to be prepared for the what ifs? I was planning on sanitizing (12) - 22 oz bottles, (30) - 12 oz bottles, and all 50 caps that came with my first kit. Is this gonna be enough for my first batch?

That should be plenty for a 5 gallon batch. I tend to get ~48 12 oz. beers per batch, but I know Revvy gets a few more because he uses a dip tube (I can't wait for my racking tube to break so I can make one too) to get every last little bit out of his bottling bucket.

With 12 X 22 oz. bottles and 30 X 12 oz. bottles, you're looking at 4.875 of brew when all's said and done. You're pretty close to 5 gallons there, and with the volume lost to trub, gravity samples, and the angel's share, you should be golden.

It should be, the 22's will cover about 1/2 of your batch & the rest should easily go into 30 bottles.

I end up with 45-55 bottles per batch - the exact number depends on my efficiency, i.e. how much water I need to add in excess of five gallons to hit my desired original gravity.

Until you know what to expect, do the +10% rule like your book suggests. My first batch had two bottles snap their tops off during capping, and my second nearly died when 2/3 way through the bottling process, I accidentally waved my arm across the counter and shot 6 empty (sanitized) bottles into a million pieces on the tile floor. SWMBO and dogs weren't happy. I had enough spares sanitized to finish the operation. WHEW!

I generally sanitize about 50-54 bottles... with a few left-overs most of the time.

Your count adds to 52x 12-oz, so you're right on target.

Thanks for the advice. I just finished bottling and to my amazement got it dead on for the number of bottles. Lifting the bucket up as high as I could in one arm and lowering the bottle & filler as low as I could in the other drained mostly everything and resulted in a full bottle.

I was feeling pretty cocky about myself with my dead on calculation. That is until I started cleaning and realized there was still an empty 6 pack of bottles on the table that I forgot to sanitize. I guess I wasn't smart, just damn lucky!

Thanks to everyone who posted on my couple topics as I was brewing my first batch, I can't wait to taste in 3 weeks.

My dishwasher holds -exactly- 54 12 oz. bottles; it must be a sign......