Crown caps to be persice. Are we really only limited by the plastic hand cappers and bench cappers? Why hasn't someone come out with a better capping system? Something that last and will not break or crack bottles. Something that will last.
Bottling , by now you would think there is a better way
- Thread starter BronxBrew
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What's your idea? Personally, the most common system for homebrewers to me is incredibly simple, cheap, quick and fits our needs perfectly. Capping is certainly not an aspect of bottling that I'm inclined to complain about.
lowtones84
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've never had a problem with my good ol' red plastic capper. I know lots of other people have, but I've had mine for almost two years (I know that's not -that- long) and it has bottled several batches of beer, sometimes with inexperienced friends operating it.
I use one of these
Never damaged a bottle in hundreds of cases.
I still use it on occasion when I need some travelin' beer. Like tomorrow, we're going to putt down the Charles out into Bahstin Hahbah and need some brews for the boat.
Anyway...I'm betting the whole bottling thing disappears from the commercial scene within ten years. Only bombers or larger will exist in glass, everything else will be cans. Only home brewers will still use bottles.
Might want to start hoarding empties and stocking up on crowns right away
Cheers!
Never damaged a bottle in hundreds of cases.
I still use it on occasion when I need some travelin' beer. Like tomorrow, we're going to putt down the Charles out into Bahstin Hahbah and need some brews for the boat.
Anyway...I'm betting the whole bottling thing disappears from the commercial scene within ten years. Only bombers or larger will exist in glass, everything else will be cans. Only home brewers will still use bottles.
Might want to start hoarding empties and stocking up on crowns right away
Cheers!
If I bottled I'd love to have the one this guy made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yV3Xfe4lvGk#t=9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yV3Xfe4lvGk#t=9s
JeepDiver
Well-Known Member
BronxBrew said:
What are you doing, or what kind of bottles are you using? I have never broke a bottle with my wing capper
BetterSense
Well-Known Member
Fine with me. Twist-off bottles are worthless for homebrewing, and cans are better than bottles anyway because they don't break as easy and they keep out light.
I'm not sure how you come to see this trend, though.
Prionburger
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What takes me more time is cleaning bottles. I wish there were a faster way. Most of my time spent bottling is rinsing the oxyclean off, making sure no detergents get in the beer.
JeepDiver
Well-Known Member
Prionburger said:
Just be sure to rinse the bottles out as soon as you pour a beer. At the very least put water in them if you can't rinse right away. Then let them drain, on bottling day a few squirts of starsan VIA vintor and you are good to go. No need to oxy the bottles if you rinse them when you empty them
This is what I do. It's painless and foolproof. I cannot recommend this enough.
duckredbeard
Well-Known Member
day_trippr said:
Some states still don't allow beer to be sold in containers larger than 12 fl. oz.
I also do the rinse after pouring and drain then place them back in the case, and follow with some starsan on bottling day. If the bottles have been sitting a little long and have debris or have gotten manky somehow I throw them in a soapless dishwasher for a sanatize cycle while I move the bucket to a counter, let it settle, transfer to bottling bucket and get everything ready for the bottling ritual. I dont see the bottle cleaning as being too taxing. Now, delabeling can be a PITA, especially when you act like an idiot and try to cut your finger off with a razor blade...
Once every 2 days or so I rinse and shake all my used bottles with water and put em to the right of the sink, then dump the last few drops of water out the next time I do it and throw em i n boxes. Only takes a couple secs, I never wash bottles with cleaners, and I never get mold. A quick 4 second shake with a bit of starsan and I'm ready to go (one in each hand). Today I got my bottles all sanned before my siphon was even done. (I don't mean to brag, but I think I'm gettin pretty good at my sanitation practices). =)
BetterSense
Well-Known Member
I think that people who don't brush their bottles are just deluding themselves that the bottles are clean. No matter how clean the bottles look, there is always a thin film of foggy yeast and beer residue in them. Sometimes you can't even see it, but if you stick a toothbrush in the bottle and scrub a spot on the side, then you can see by contrast how it's there. I wish that I could just rinse and re-sanitize, but I have never seen a bottle that didn't come cleaner by brushing it. Ergo, the bottle was not clean before brushing.
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
Calichusetts
Well-Known Member
JeepDiver
Well-Known Member
If you rinse the bottle out well and shake it right after pouring I promise you there is nothing left on the side.
BetterSense
Well-Known Member
Sure, if you rinse it out with hot lye followed by hydrochloric acid, maybe. But not plain water or oxyclean or star-san.
Yall must have special space-age bottles, because all of mine (of many different brands) LOOK perfectly clean after rinsing, but if you actually check closely (like with a flashlight), and rub the inside with some kind of brush, you will see that there is a leftover film there. Is it hurting the beer? Maybe not. Are the bottles clean ENOUGH? Maybe. But they are not clean and it's not good to spread bad advice. The criteria for if a bottle is clean is not "it's clean if I can't see big chunks in the bottom".
Yall must have special space-age bottles, because all of mine (of many different brands) LOOK perfectly clean after rinsing, but if you actually check closely (like with a flashlight), and rub the inside with some kind of brush, you will see that there is a leftover film there. Is it hurting the beer? Maybe not. Are the bottles clean ENOUGH? Maybe. But they are not clean and it's not good to spread bad advice. The criteria for if a bottle is clean is not "it's clean if I can't see big chunks in the bottom".
That's is pretty awesome!
This looks like it could do the job well http://www.ebay.com/itm/Compact-Air...06127&pid=100009&prg=1004&rk=5&#ht_520wt_1185
In How to Brew, Palmer recommends the rinse-only method: If you are diligent in rinsing your bottles promptly and thoroughly after each use with your homebrew, only the sanitizing treatment will be necessary before each use in the future. By maintaining clean equipment you will save yourself a lot of work.
lowtones84
Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I always rinse mine right after pouring with a few doses of hot water and one of cold water. I stopped bottle brushing mine not because it was too much work, but because I -was- looking at the bottles and noticed it wasn't doing anything for me. Perhaps your water or something else just leaves a film?
