I'm tired of bottling

I have a nice batch of kolsch sitting in the secondary and I keep putting off bottling it. I have a bottling wand and I usually put all of my bottles on the racks in the dishwasher after sanitizing them. I suppose it really doesn't take all that long, but I still wish there was a better or more automated way to do it.

I know that lots of people here do kegging, but I'm a little reluctant to switch to it. I don't have a fridge to keep the kegs cold in and I don't know how easy (or difficult, actually) it would be to find someone to fill a CO2 tank around here.

I keep thinking the same thing. Like, get 6 bottling wands rigged to the syphon so you could fill a six pack all at once.

I think I would have quit if I still bottled. But I brew about two times a month so that could also be my bigger reason for hating bottles. If I was 10 batches annually I could probably accept bottling but... There's got to be tons of places around Milwaukee to refill CO2. Ask our fellow cheeseheads who haven't moved where they go.

PS - I plan on bottling my two wheat beers in primaries I brewed last Sat and already am dreading the thought...

I don't have a spare fridge yet either, but I was reading in this forum somewhere about keeping your mugs in the freezer until you want a brew. It'll get cold for ya, and you can set your kegs somewhere outta the way. Kudos to whoever started that thread, it was a great idea!

Bottling sucks, but I couldn't see not brewing because of it. I'll eventually move on to kegging. But when you have to budget you can't get all the cool toys at once. Fridge first, then if I can succesfully make it into a kegerator, then ill pick up some cornys

Bottling is the one part of the process where having a helper or two is incredibly useful--speeds the process up considerably. I usually recruit two of the kids (we have three)--SWMBO has even been roped into it once or twice.

cweston said:

Bottling is the one part of the process where having a helper or two is incredibly useful--speeds the process up considerably. I usually recruit two of the kids (we have three)--SWMBO has even been roped into it once or twice.

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Oh, when mine are old enough they won't have a choice. It will be part of their chores :cross: I guess it could be worse.

I recruit two of my younger brothers for the washing and label removal. They get a 12 pack out of the deal to split between them

Radarbrew said:

I don't have a spare fridge yet either, but I was reading in this forum somewhere about keeping your mugs in the freezer until you want a brew. It'll get cold for ya, and you can set your kegs somewhere outta the way. Kudos to whoever started that thread, it was a great idea!

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Sacrilege!!!! The only reason you would ever put a beer glass in the freezer is to kill the taste of the beer. Only bars that serve Bud, Coors or Miller (BMC) freeze their glasses because those beers have to be ice cold to taste good. Craft brews need to be in a room temp glass to help release the aromas and flavor as you drink it. Try drinking a Belgian Dubbel in a frozen mug and then another in a room temp chalis. The warmer one will taste better.

Bottling sucks,

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that really depends. i bottle and i brew every other weekend. bottling takes me about an hour per batch. no biggie