i hate bottling day

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Walker

Walker

I use secondaries. :p
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<BOTTLE_RANT>
:mad: :mad:
nothing worse for me. More equipment needs cleaned than for any other step (if you count each bottle as a separate entity.) Then there are the caps. I hate them. I always am paranoid that they are not on properly (even though I lay them down on their sides for 1/2 hour to check for lraks before calling them 'good'.)

But, the one thing that ticks me off the MOST (and saddens me to some extent) is that, no matter how carefully I think I have calculated things out, I always seem to end up with more clean bottles than I needed, and the number of filled bottles always seems too small. Argh!

I don't know how it happens, but I seem to lose a lot of beer in the bottling process. I don't mean that I spill a lot of it... In fact, I spill VERY little. I mean that some of it simply seems to vanish, totally unaccounted for.

Yes, I use a bucket and wand, and yes, I can see that after racking out of the secondary I have a little over 4.5 gallons to bottle, and yes, I pretty much get ALL of the beer in the bottling bucket into the bottles.....

But I still have more clean bottles with no beer in them. And, if I sit down and add everything up when done, it seems that a decent number of ounces have simply vanished into thin air.

Argh.... I need to start kegging this stuff and save my sanity.

anyone know off hand how many ounces are in the big sammy smith and big guiness bottles? That's one place I know I have error in my calculations, but I only used a small number of these, so they cannot possibly account for my total amount of missing beer.

I guess if I am getting an ounce more into each bottle than expected, that can add up quickly, but damnit.... there seems to be too few bottles.

The Kaduva IPA ended up as follows:
2 sammy smiths (yes, they are clear, but great for tracking conditioning)
2 big guiness bottles (gifts)
12 12oz bottles
6 22oz bottles
7 half-liter(?) EZ Caps
2 liter(?) EZ Caps

just doesn't seem right.....​
:mad: :mad:
</BOTTLE_RANT>

-walker
 
Have a couple of beers man! Relax! :cool:

I totally understand - I never look forward to bottling.
 
gibfried said:
Have a couple of beers man! Relax! :cool:

I totally understand - I never look forward to bottling.
Click to expand...

I can't have a couple beers! There aren't enough! :(

I guess I should get started on the next batch. :)
 
Walker said:
<BOTTLE_RANT>
:mad: :mad:
nothing worse for me. More equipment needs cleaned than for any other step (if you count each bottle as a separate entity.) Then there are the caps. I hate them. I always am paranoid that they are not on properly (even though I lay them down on their sides for 1/2 hour to check for lraks before calling them 'good'.)

But, the one thing that ticks me off the MOST (and saddens me to some extent) is that, no matter how carefully I think I have calculated things out, I always seem to end up with more clean bottles than I needed, and the number of filled bottles always seems too small. Argh!

I don't know how it happens, but I seem to lose a lot of beer in the bottling process. I don't mean that I spill a lot of it... In fact, I spill VERY little. I mean that some of it simply seems to vanish, totally unaccounted for.

Yes, I use a bucket and wand, and yes, I can see that after racking out of the secondary I have a little over 4.5 gallons to bottle, and yes, I pretty much get ALL of the beer in the bottling bucket into the bottles.....

But I still have more clean bottles with no beer in them. And, if I sit down and add everything up when done, it seems that a decent number of ounces have simply vanished into thin air.

Argh.... I need to start kegging this stuff and save my sanity.

anyone know off hand how many ounces are in the big sammy smith and big guiness bottles? That's one place I know I have error in my calculations, but I only used a small number of these, so they cannot possibly account for my total amount of missing beer.

I guess if I am getting an ounce more into each bottle than expected, that can add up quickly, but damnit.... there seems to be too few bottles.

The Kaduva IPA ended up as follows:
2 sammy smiths (yes, they are clear, but great for tracking conditioning)
2 big guiness bottles (gifts)
12 12oz bottles
6 22oz bottles
7 half-liter(?) EZ Caps
2 liter(?) EZ Caps

just doesn't seem right.....​
:mad: :mad:
</BOTTLE_RANT>

-walker
Click to expand...
Your eyes may have deceived you. Have you accounted for boil off and hop absorpsion (if you used whole hops not to worry if pellets were used). How much water did you use? 6 gal? 5 gal? Boil off loss is about .5 gal for extract batches and about 1 gal for the full wort boil in an all grain batch(at least). If you add in other variables such as hop absorpsion(especially for the large quantity needed for IPA), the loss of wort for an extract batch is about 1 gal and for A.G. about 1.5 gal min. my guess is that your batch lost OVER a half gal of wort and was short before it got to the fermentor. If so, the 4.5 gal you saw in the bottling bucket was probably closer to 4. For a 5 gal extract batch I would use at least 1 extra gal of water and for an A.G. batch I would collect close to 2.5 extra gal of wort to boil. If you have already taken these factors into account then disregard my guess and focus on the bottle math, sam smith is around 18 to 20 oz .
 
Bottling doesn't sound like much fun, however... I am looking forward to un-bottling.
:drunk:
 
nick1023 said:
Your eyes may have deceived you. Have you accounted for boil off and hop absorpsion (if you used whole hops not to worry if pellets were used). How much water did you use?
...
If you have already taken these factors into account then disregard my guess and focus on the bottle math, sam smith is around 18 to 20 oz .
Click to expand...

You missed one part of my rant. :)

When I racked from the carboy to bottling bucket, I had just over 4.5 gallons. Still, there seems to be less than 4.5 gallons in bottles.

I think part of my error comes from the fact that I (also) don't know off hand if the sammy and guiness bottles are 18 or 20 or 21 or .... a few errors like that can add up to a whole bottle of beer bretty quickly.

Anyway, I was only upset because the Kaduva AIPA tasted very VERY VERY good, and I simply want more of it than I have. :D

-walker
 
gaelone said:
The only thing worse than bottling is cleaning up.
Click to expand...

I've been verbally abused by an obsessive/compulsive clean freak (aka; my wife) for about 7 years now. :) I find that I make little to no mess during by brewing. The kitchen stays near spotless because I keep a bleach-water soaked rag nearby and mopping up the little spills as I go. A few seconds here and there makes for an easy post-process clean-up. Plus I cover the floor in old towels, which can be tossed in the laundry before I go to bed.

The only thing that remains to really be cleaned at the end of the night is the plastic bucket, a hose, and maybe 4 small pieces of equipment (and the brew pot if I was boiling that night). I fill up the bucket with hot water, toss in the few pieces of equipment with a couple ounces of bleach and go to bed.

The wife loves to drink the beer as much as I do, and is more than willing to clean these few things the day after. She just requires the floor, stove, and counters to be free of stains and stickiness. She spends maybe 30 minutes cleaning compared to my multiple-hours of brewing, racking, and bottling. No complaints from either of us.

We have a very workable relationship in that sense. :D

-walker
 
The more 1L grolsch type bottles I acquire, the less I hate bottling. Glory be the day when I only need to bottle 16-18 bottles!

I did acquire a soda keg for a party a friend and I had (he has the CO2), and frankly, I've convinced myself the "one big bottle" is the way to go as soon as I convince myself to drop the change for the CO2 setup. I'm sure I'll still bottle, though, just for portability.
 
Walker said:
I've been verbally abused by an obsessive/compulsive clean freak (aka; my wife) for about 7 years now.

We have a very workable relationship in that sense.
Click to expand...
You're a masochist? :confused: ;)
 
BeeGee said:
The more 1L grolsch type bottles I acquire, the less I hate bottling. Glory be the day when I only need to bottle 16-18 bottles!
Click to expand...

I always bottle up two six-packs of 12oz'ers and two 20oz'ers for gifts. This time, I went a little further with capping because I'll be bottling another batch this coming weekend, and I wanted to split my flippers evenly between the two batches.

In retro-spect, I could have probably bottled all of my beer in flip-tops.

At the end of the night, I had only used a small number of flippers (because of my bad calcualtions, I guess), so even though I capped a bunch of bottles last night, I am sitting on top of probably 15 liters of flip-tops that are still empty (and clean).

Oh well...

I have asked for cash and/or homebrew supplier gift certificates for xmas from every single person that has inquired about what I want, and I plan to have enough flip-tops for 3 or 4 batches by the end of the year.

I'll still bottle up the six packs and pair of 20oz bottles for gifts, but every other drop of beer will be going into EZ Caps after that.

-walker
 
El Pistolero said:
You're a masochist? :confused: ;)
Click to expand...

I don't see it that way. She just barks for me to keep things clean. Other than that I can do what I want, when I want.

Besides... she looks terribly good in her daisy dukes, and I don't even hear what she's saying half the time. :D

-walker
 
I actually dont mind bottling day. I took the advice of another member and use my dishwasher. The day before i bottle I soak my bottles in my basement wash tub in bleach water for a few hours, then the day of I run them through the dishwasher. My dishwasher is "certified to sanitize," has a little button you push. Then when its time to bottle i just bottle right on top the open dishwasher door, and all the mess is contained. After its all bottled the beer goes back in the dishwasher for the rinse cycle and everything is sqeaky clean. :D
 
I have just bottled for the first time this weekend (I have previously dumped my brew in the keg, but that is half-full at the moment), and I couldn't agree more...I hate bottling day too!! What a pain in the rumpus!! It took me ages to clean and sanitize the bottles. :mad:

I've decided that next time I'm going to put the beer in the keg with the priming sugar, and use the keg to draw off half a dozen bottles to put aside, then I can tuck into what's left in the keg, and let the bottled stuff age a bit longer.
 
When we were registering for baby presents, I noticed so many wonderful products that could be used on Bottling Day: a bottle sanitizer, a bottle rack, and a variety of brushes sure to clean all the nooks and crannies.

Spend a little time at your local Babies R Us and take a look at the bottling aisle. Then feel guilty for using these products for drinking purposes.
 
Cheesefood said:
Spend a little time at your local Babies R Us and take a look at the bottling aisle. Then feel guilty for using these products for drinking purposes.
Click to expand...

When a buddy of mine had a "co-ed" baby shower we had contests to see who could drink a bottle of beer from a baby bottle the fastest. Didn't feel guilty at all, although the flow rate was totally unsatisfactory! Hmmm...wonder if a breastpump could be used to start a siphon...
 
OtherWhiteMeat said:
After its all bottled the beer goes back in the dishwasher for the rinse cycle and everything is sqeaky clean. :D
Click to expand...
Why do you run beer through the rinse cycle of your dishwasher? Doesn't it all just flow right out the bottom drain? ;)
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Thanks, but that's just a large flippie. :D

I've still never seen a 1 liter Grolsch bottle. :(

I see they do advertise it as a "Grolsch style" ... like the Dutch invented flippies...:mad:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I said "grolsch type" since grolsch has become ubiquitous with flip tops. Mine have come from several sources, the lion's share going to The Weeping Radish in Manteo, NC, a restaurant/brewpub who apparently also offer a brewing class I'm going to be investigating.

I've also picked up a few of the heavy ceramic type bottles such as the Rogue Imperials come in, although they seem to be closer to 1/2L.

I could just buy a batch of empties and be done with it, but I enjoy the emptying process so much...
 
I decided at the start that bottling would be a big problem, so I went right to kegs. I've never had the "short a few bottles" blues, but I suspect the hiss of an empty cornie is just as sad!
 
Bottling went well for me today. I ended up with 13 22oz bottles and 24 12oz bottles. I had to scavenge for 12oz, so I ended up with Corona, Smithwicks, Sam Adams and a couple of Goose Island and Blue Moon twist-offs simply because I ran out of bottles and had a couple of empties from last night on the counter. I was in a pinch, so I quickly rinsed them in hot water and used them. They'll be my "carbonation tester" bottles.
 
not to switch topics too much, but i was wondering how the hefeweizen came out homebrewer. My hefeweizen is in 2ndary now and i am thinking of bottling tonight (although the gravity is 1.013 and its only been 7 days in 2ndary) -- what do you think?

~mix
 
trailmix said:
not to switch topics too much, but i was wondering how the hefeweizen came out homebrewer. My hefeweizen is in 2ndary now and i am thinking of bottling tonight (although the gravity is 1.013 and its only been 7 days in 2ndary) -- what do you think?

~mix
Click to expand...

Well, I think it came out great. Almost every other batch I make is a HW. I've been drinking them since my first day in Germany in Feb 1975.

I had mine in the secondary from 8 Sep to 8 Oct (today). My OG is 1.054 and my FG is 1.007, approx 6% ABV. :drunk: A bit high, but not bad.

At 1013 that's a bit higher than I like. I think you should leave it for at least another week. What's OG and temp?

I'm repeating myself here, but a lot of brewers try to rush the process. Let it finish itself. Instead of hurrying why don't you brew another batch? :D
 
temp holding steady at 66-68 and OG was 1.053... and actually I just bottled her up. I read an article on hefeweizen that supported a fermentation of 10 days and bottle-aging 4 weeks. I'll let you know how it comes out.
 
I was at a local liquor store here in north TX, a huge place with a wide selection of wine and beer. I picked up 40 bottles of Grolsch 16 oz flip-tops, and will force my friends and I to suffer through consumption so I can use them for home brewing. I know, it's a sacrifice! ;)

One of the managers told me that the flip-top Grolsches were going the way of the mastadon, that they were stopping production soon in favor of "regular" caps. Not sure if this is true, but those of you who want these Grolsch bottles might want to make your move.

Of course, brew supply houses will have the empties, and as others note, Grolsch is not the only brand with flip tops.
 
Thor said:
One of the managers told me that the flip-top Grolsches were going the way of the mastadon, that they were stopping production soon in favor of "regular" caps. Not sure if this is true, but those of you who want these Grolsch bottles might want to make your move.
Click to expand...

I believe it. I can easily get Grolsch at several nearby grocery stores here, but none of them are fllippies.

-walker
 

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