Top 10 Lessons Learned on my first bottling experience

10. Try out the siphon in the sink before you stick it in the beer. I figured it out, but I wound up spilling a bit because I didn't keep it consistent.

9. Buy an extra hose, one for the siphon, one for the bottling bucket. I broke my siphon trying to get it off when I was bottling.

8. Go ahead and buy the bottling rack, it's not fun sanitizing and setting the bottles upside-down on the counter, I swear it's worse than playing Jenga.

7. Keep plenty of towels around. You may need fewer as you bottle more, but it will never hurt to have it.

6. Have your caps out of the package before you start filling the bottles. If you open the package with your teeth, they will fly everywhere.

5. Put a towel under the bottles if your doing it on the floor.

4. Do 12 bottles at a time if you don't have a rack. More gets cumbersome, less wastes time.

3. Fill the bottles with the wand to the top just to the point of overflowing. When you pull the wand out, you have the perfect freeboard above the bottle. It may be easier to let SWMBO do the filling, next time I'll invite her to join.

2. The easiest way for me to clean out the wood chips is to dump the fermenter in the garbage disposal, let it clog, then strain them out with a collander.

1. Simple Green seems to work really well to clean up the spilled beer.

It was a lot of fun. I'll let you know how the IPA turns out.

--Dennis

An open dishwasher lid is a good place to fill the bottles, too. Then if it spills, just close it and it runs into the dishwasher.

+1 on using the dishwasher. I also use it to rack my bottles after cleaning, and run it without detergent.
I still throw some towels down.

I planned on using the dishwasher, but it had dishes in it and I didn't have time to wait for it.

Bonus lesson: Guessing from the performance of the bottling bucket gasket on the outside, I think the gasket should be on the inside.

Richabt said:

+1 on using the dishwasher. I also use it to rack my bottles after cleaning, and run it without detergent.
I still throw some towels down.

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We definitely use the dishwashing rack once we pull the bottles from the sanitizer, so much easier to have them on hand. Trees are nice too though and I would consider one later.

The dishwasher trick is great. I love it.

I also use the dishwasher to sanitize my bottles-- it has a sanitary heat cycle.

Even if you don't use the dishwasher for sanitizing, the dishwasher racks are a good makeshift bottle tree.

+2 on the dishwasher!

Also, the easiest way I've found for getting a hose off of the auto-siphon is to slip one prong of a small fork (usually a salad fork) in between the two and twist back & forth. Usually works best under running water.

How about the poor design of the connection between the racking cane and the tubing, you know, the hard plastic shallow orange connector... Really?? Would've it killed them to make it just a tad deeper or softer to make it air tight? Fortunately, black electrical tape makes a pretty airtight seal

You'll find plenty of tips for making your process easier, here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

+ 1 on Revvy's tutorial on bottling.

I enjoy the whole bottling thang - takes me an hour start to finish (cleaning, sanitizing, filling, capping, cleanup) to bottle a batch. Here are some pictures from the world headquarters of Singing Boys Brewing that show a little bit about our setup for bottling.

82ABShizzle said:

How about the poor design of the connection between the racking cane and the tubing, you know, the hard plastic shallow orange connector... Really?? Would've it killed them to make it just a tad deeper or softer to make it air tight? Fortunately, black electrical tape makes a pretty airtight seal

Click to expand...

Yeah, our racking cane broke already at the bend, still works but we bought a replacement just in case it does go all the way. I'm finding now on bottling day the bottle filler tube leaks down the filling siphon now just a little. I would think it would bounce back after the tube was removed. Hopefully it doesn't get worse.

Rick500 said:

An open dishwasher lid is a good place to fill the bottles, too. Then if it spills, just close it and it runs into the dishwasher.

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My last apartment had a dishwasher... I miss it so much!!! :'(

Nice tips / humorous presentation! Thoroughly enjoyed by myself, +1!

My advice to all on bottling is two utilize the SWMBO and the little SWMBO clones to help....

After bottles are cleaned and sanitized I use this process...
Daughter 1 hands bottle to wife from dishwasher "rack" to fill.. she fills bottle I cap bottle and I hand it to daughter 2 who places bottle in case. I call it the sweet shop not a sweat shop due to they are paid in gumdrops and candy canes

A sample of the bottling process....


Question though is that on your bottling process I boil my caps and leave them in the pot and grab and go as required. You should always boil/sanitize the caps prior to bottling to insure no contamination.

DEFINITELY recommend reading all pages of Revvy's tutorial - there are a ton of great ideas in there that have helped me a lot. Also great to see how different people solve the same problem in slightly different ways, since your particular system might accommodate some methods better than others.

Also, one thing:

dfhussey said:

6. Have your caps out of the package before you start filling the bottles. If you open the package with your teeth, they will fly everywhere.

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You know that you should be sanitizing bottle caps, right? Just checking ...

Top two lessons I learned about bottling:
1. This sucks
2. Keg the beer instead, and if I want to bring a couple of bottles to a party, chill the bottles in the freezer, put up the co2 a little and after the bottles are cold, fill em' the way brewers do growlers (I use flip tops -specifically the 1 liter clear ikea ones).

Dalarast said:

My advice to all on bottling is two utilize the SWMBO and the little SWMBO clones to help....

After bottles are cleaned and sanitized I use this process...
Daughter 1 hands bottle to wife from dishwasher "rack" to fill.. she fills bottle I cap bottle and I hand it to daughter 2 who places bottle in case. I call it the sweet shop not a sweat shop due to they are paid in gumdrops and candy canes

A sample of the bottling process....

Question though is that on your bottling process I boil my caps and leave them in the pot and grab and go as required. You should always boil/sanitize the caps prior to bottling to insure no contamination.

Click to expand...

+1 to getting the SWMBO and family involved. I got my two little boys involved in our first bottling adventure and they had a blast. One sanitized and one filled the bottle. Dad did the bottle capping.

The kids had so much fun that they are asking when I'll be bottling next.

I have been setting the bottling bucket on a chair on top of the counter. Set up all the bottles in rows of nine (that is how much space I have) and then use the hose with the botteling want to fill. Then take the chair down and grab a bottle and cap, place it where the chair was and I can do all 50ish bottles there.

I use the 90-hook bottle tree... clean bottles and start from the bottom. Set the Vinator on top with Star-San solution, pour in bottle caps, and sanitize the bottles, hanging them 18 at a time from the top hooks (plenty of space between the clean and sanitized bottles). That setup is the bomb!

Also, hooking up the bottle filler cane to the spigot on the bottling bucket is easy peasy.