bottling sucks... how do the pros do it ??

my first batch of beer I attempted to bottle it all... and it sucked ! since that first batch I have been kegging(on my 4nd batch now ) and would never go back to personal bottling...

BUT...

I want to brew some beer for gifts for the holidays, this will obviously require the use of bottles and such... I want to give away as much as possible, but dread the idea of bottling ALL that beer !

What do the pros do ? How do you guys go about bottling MASS quantities of beer without the headache ?? what bottles do you use?

I have heard 2 little soda bottles work well ? this way you don't need nearly as many bottles...

what techniques are you guys using that works for you?

for gifts, I use 1 liter flip-top style bottles (you can see them here: NORTHERN BREWER: Bottling)

and check out the sticky at the top for how to bottle from a keg for cheap

Check the sticky-

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

I bottle from the keg with a beer gun, works like a charm.

MoRoToRiUm said:

Check the sticky-

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

Click to expand...

+1 BigKahuna is forever indebted to BierMuncher for this lil invention.
But if I'm doing a batch as a gift, of for long term storage and aging..I just suck it up and bottle it. It's not nearly as bad as we (people that keg) make it out to be. I can bottle a batch in under an hour...start to finish, and it's kinda rewarding. The big thing is just pulling up your big boy panties and remembering that this IS what we do!

+1BK.
Is bottling really that much of a chore? I can do it in less than an hour and I'm a realtive n00b. As the Mighty Mighty Bosstones said, "Put on your big boy pants, tighten your grip and adjust your stance."

Off topic but had to share

You cant really see the details on what happens, but you must admit... that is impressive.





On the back end of the bottle filler you will see that it looks like there is a big wheel. This is a rotating counter pressure filler, very simular to a beer gun with a co2 purge. The speed at which it all happens is amazing... If you are ever in the area of a big brewery I HIGHLY recomend it. The Miller tour here in Milwaukee is totally free and it is amazing to stand in awe of the scale of the operatioin

ooooooo shiny things... MMMMM BEER!

Bottling, like any brewing related chore, is all about developing a system that works. I can bottle a full batch in about an hour by myself- about 1/2 if SWMBO lends a hand (I sanitize, she fills, I cap).

Now cleaning and delabeling bottles? I despise that.

Agreed- A keg is so much easier, but they both have they pros and cons. I've always used twist on caps, does everyone else use crimp on? (Just curious, I've about given up on bottling, but with the holidays coming up...)

Speaking as someone who has been bottling for 15 years, and does not really have a yen for a keg system:

A good bottle filling wand with valve on tip.

A good bench capper.

Organization.

Can probably help you more if you detail what was so horrible for you about doing it.

Bottles - after a brief fling with flip tops (AKA Grolsch-type) I chose to disagree with John Palmer and others that love them, and use crown caps.

I use a mix of 750 mL (USA) "champagne" bottles, 750 mL cider bottles, 20, 16 and 12 oz beer (or soda) bottles - all glass. I do organize filling by size so that capper adjustments are minimized. I try to give away the oddball bottles and keep the bottle collection at home more uniform. I store all bottles in the dark so color is not a concern, though I also try to use the clear ones for mead, etc.

If you can enlist a spouse or someone perhaps interested in the brewing process (send them home with a few bottles) splitting the work up makes it go faster and easier. Usually one filling, one placing caps and capping. Otherwise fill and place caps on 6, then stop and run those through the capper, repeat.

As for "the pros", they have machines as big as my house....

MoRoToRiUm said:

I've always used twist on caps,

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as in you are using plastic bottles?
or you have a bench caper and just use twist top bottles?

or god forbid...you're not re-using beer caps are you?

BigKahuna said:

as in you are using plastic bottles?
or you have a bench caper and just use twist top bottles?

or god forbid...you're not re-using beer caps are you?

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Plastic bottles- I don't even think re-using twist on bottle caps would work... Or would they?

MoRoToRiUm said:

- I don't even think re-using twist on bottle caps would work... Or would they?

Click to expand...

I have heard of people doing it....very stupid people. To risk a $20 - $50 batch of beer on $3 worth of caps....please.

I use a bench capper and twist off bottles....have great luck with that though...and they twist off.

any disadvantages to using 20oz or 2 liter soda bottles with the plastic twist caps ???

My budy has a BUNCH of growlers for me, I will probably use those, and some other big bottles that I can find...IE 2 liter.

My budy has a BUNCH of growlers for me, I will probably use those, and some other big bottles that I can find...IE 2 liter.

Click to expand...

Be careful with the growlers- they're not designed to take pressure.

flyangler18 said:

Be careful with the growlers- they're not designed to take pressure.

Click to expand...

just how so ?? like will they blow up ?? how much priming sugar should I use in one ?

Not 100% of the time...but yes they will....and NONE would be a good place to start with priming sugar.

IF you keg, you can fill a growler with carbed beer, and it'll hold for a day or 3...but DON"T carb in them, and Don't expect them to last for very long.

BigKahuna said:

Not 100% of the time...but yes they will....and NONE would be a good place to start with priming sugar.

IF you keg, you can fill a growler with carbed beer, and it'll hold for a day or 3...but DON"T carb in them, and Don't expect them to last for very long.

Click to expand...

really? so they are pretty much useless than... more like a portable way to BYOB...

so 2 Liter soda bottles it is than ??

illnastyimpreza said:

so 2 Liter soda bottles it is then ??

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Seems like it...given your needs and desires.

illnastyimpreza said:

... more like a portable way to BYOB...

Click to expand...

That is exactly what growlers are for.

Get used to bottling. It's what we do. ...until we keg.

Get used to bottling. It's what we do. ...until we keg.

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And even then, sometimes we still bottle...

Well, I bottled until about 10 months ago. I bottled about 150 batches of beer, and countless bottles of wine. I still bottle all my mead, wine and cider, and a few beers.

It takes about an hour. I rinse the bottles when I use them, and store them upside down so no mold grows in them. Then I sanitize with a vinator and stick them on a bottle tree. That takes about 10 minutes total. In the mean time, the priming sugar is boiling, and so I cool and dump that in my sanitized bottling bucket. (I sanitized that along with the tubing and bottle filler just by dumping some sanitizer in there, shaking it all up, pumping some sanitizer through the tubing, and then poured it out into the vinator.) I rack the beer to to bottling bucket. I lift the bottling bucket up to my island. I open the dishwasher door and pull up a chair. I line 15 bottles or so on the dishwasher door, fill them, and then stick a cap on them. The caps are just sitting there in a little sanitizer. Then, I lift them to the island and cap. I repeat until the batch is finished, usually three times. They go back into the case, and sit at room temperature until I either drink them or cellar them.

That's it. It's not that hard, it's not very time consuming. The only things I didn't like about it are the 100s of bottles I store in the basement, and the sediment in the bottom for my non-homebrew friends. I started kegging, and of course, I love kegging. No rinsing, and storing of the bottles. I can easily take beer to go by filling a growler or two.

I plan on 6.5 gal batches... 5 in the keg, 1.5 in the bottles.

Bottling doesn't suck. What's your process? You're probably doing something the hard way if you think it's that bad.

I don't care what anyone says, BOTTLING SUCKS! Finding bottles, getting the labels off, scrubbing bottles, rinsing bottles, etc... Sure filling the bottles and capping them is easy. It is kind of fun even for the first 10 or so.

With that said I bottle about 12 or so from each batch. I only have two corny kegs and sometimes I get tired of what is on tap. Plus you always want to save some to age.

As far as 2 liters, I use an adapter to pressurize the bottles. it has a ball lock connection and screws on like a cap. It is very handy for going to your buddies house, but kind of tacky to bring to a party.

I bought it at my local brew shop. here is their link.

Product Details for Bottle Carbonater

Sorry there is no pic there.

madewithchicken said:

I don't care what anyone says, BOTTLING SUCKS! Finding bottles, getting the labels off, scrubbing bottles, rinsing bottles, etc... Sure filling the bottles and capping them is easy. It is kind of fun even for the first 10 or so.

With that said I bottle about 12 or so from each batch. I only have two corny kegs and sometimes I get tired of what is on tap. Plus you always want to save some to age.

As far as 2 liters, I use an adapter to pressurize the bottles. it has a ball lock connection and screws on like a cap. It is very handy for going to your buddies house, but kind of tacky to bring to a party.

I bought it at my local brew shop. here is their link.

Product Details for Bottle Carbonater

Sorry there is no pic there.

Click to expand...

Ah, but preparing the bottles is the big difference. if you only had to sanitize and fill your bottles, it would not suck nearly as bad.

I like the growlers for carrying to parties. I got a few from a couple of sources, and look forward to using them when my beer is done. Well, if I had a party to go to anyway.

I've bottled until recently, and I just got my first keg in the kegerator. Yes, it's much easier and faster, but except for taking off labels, and scrubbing the gunk off the bottom, bottling is not that bad, once you get the equipment.

BigKahuna said:

I have heard of people doing it....very stupid people. To risk a $20 - $50 batch of beer on $3 worth of caps....please.

I use a bench capper and twist off bottles....have great luck with that though...and they twist off.

Click to expand...

Sooo........do you just use Crown caps with the twist-off bottles, as well as the regular bottles??
Hel, I've been throwin' the twist-off bottles away.
Guess I'll have to try that. combination.
Thanks!

I didn't think you could re-cap the twist-off bottles. I've been throwing them away too. Anyone else cap them with success? Or is BigKahuna just very talented?

I didn't think you could re-cap the twist-off bottles. I've been throwing them away too. Anyone else cap them with success? Or is BigKahuna just very talented?

Click to expand...

If you have a bench capper, you can certainly use them.

I have done it (bottled twist offs) with a wing capper. I am still doing a test on them so not to much to report on the subject. Avoid bottles with little to no lip. They simply will not cap without using a bench capper.

The most important one to test, as i see things, is bud light. This is what I find when i go to the local bar and ask for their bottles. I did cap a bud light bottle and so far the seal at the cap seems okay. The glass is super thin though so I am worried about it exploding.

I plan to test one with an over carbonated beer. Man I need to go to the bar to get bottles.

shipyard uses twist off bottles. I had my first batch sitting under my bed for like 6 months in those bottles, that I capped with my regular red foldy capping device... just cracked one open and "pppssssshhhh" still fully carbonated.

i use champagne bottle...more beer less bottling

monty73741 said:

i use champagne bottle...more beer less bottling

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what do you use for caps ?

Dagatris said:

I didn't think you could re-cap the twist-off bottles. I've been throwing them away too. Anyone else cap them with success? Or is BigKahuna just very talented?

Click to expand...

I've used twist offs pretty much exclusively since 1991, except for the few odd non-twist off bottles I had around. in + or - 18 years I only had 1 bottle that was flat when opened. I've also re-used the same bottles for many many years, There are probably a few left in my collection that are original from my first bottling.

I now Keg, and am happy to be doing that, if not for Kegging, I would've had to bottle about 280 bottles 3 weeks ago.

dp

A bench capper and a bottle tree are the bottler's best friends.

My dishwasher does a pretty good job of steaming the labels off of bottles. It also sanitizes on its dry cycle if the bottle is actually clean. The only bad part is I have to reach way back and pull out the mass of soggy labels from the drain filter.

hook_dupin said:

My dishwasher does a pretty good job of steaming the labels off of bottles. It also sanitizes on its dry cycle if the bottle is actually clean. The only bad part is I have to reach way back and pull out the mass of soggy labels from the drain filter.

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haha sounds like a good trade-off

madewithchicken said:

I don't care what anyone says, BOTTLING SUCKS! Finding bottles, getting the labels off, scrubbing bottles, rinsing bottles, etc... Sure filling the bottles and capping them is easy. It is kind of fun even for the first 10 or so.

With that said I bottle about 12 or so from each batch. I only have two corny kegs and sometimes I get tired of what is on tap. Plus you always want to save some to age.

As far as 2 liters, I use an adapter to pressurize the bottles. it has a ball lock connection and screws on like a cap. It is very handy for going to your buddies house, but kind of tacky to bring to a party.

I bought it at my local brew shop. here is their link.

Product Details for Bottle Carbonater

Sorry there is no pic there.

Click to expand...

how long does a Force carbed soda bottle stay carbonated ??