Filling multiple bottles at once?

So I had this idea last time i bottled, and wasn't sure if anyone had already come up with something similar. If someone has, I'd love to discuss with you.

So, does anyone see any issues with adding several spigots to a bottling bucket, having several fillers, and raising and lowering into the bottles? I have this telescopic piece of metal about 2" in diameter, and it would be perfect. That piece of metal is what got me thinking about this.

Basically I would have a "table" with a hole in the center (think umbrellas on a patio table) for the metal to go thru. The table has some indentions for bottles (so they don't tip or fall over), and the bottling wands can lower into the bottles (say, 6 at a time), and i would raise it up when they are filled. The metal has tabs in it, so it can stay up no problems, and since i would have to raise it when the bottles are filled, i would keep it from going too far.

I've got the mechanics of it in my head (will do a rough sketch and post it), just not sure if anyone has played with something like this in homebrew land. Would the output be close to the same on each wand? I know if you split a hose at the faucet, and have them both going at once, they both drop in pressure. But I don't see a similar issue here. Am I in the ballpark in my thinking? I would think gravity fed spigots and bottling wands would output the same, regardless of how many spigots there are.

I'm not "in love" with this idea, so any and all comments are welcome. don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. if the idea sucks, it sucks. I've got the stuff to do it (other than spigots and wands) so its not a huge investment either way. Plus, it would be super sweet to only have to fill 8 6packs, and not 48+ beers.

*edit. i did realize that sometimes when bottling, depending on where the spring thing is at the bottom of the bottle, some bottles do fill faster than others, but if i can make it to where they hit the same spot, who knows.

I thought about doing this but my main concern was not all the bottles filling in sync. But, like you said, if you can make it where they hit the same spot...it may be worth a shot. My other concern was moving a large amount of liquid up and down. I was thinking about doing the reverse, raising and lowering the bottles instead of the bottling bucket. I ended up just putting another spigot on my bottling bucket, like AUMonkeyBoy did, so I can fill two at a time. This definitely made the process go faster. If you do go through with it I would be curious to see the final product!

I once thought of that. It seems like it would work. I encourage you to try it. I got my kegs about a week later. Now I'm trying to find a way to fill Multiple bottles from a keg!

I had some of those same ideas. Bottle fillers would have to have float valves so they didn't overfill. Otherwise, there'd be some disasters for sure.

I did make this, a 2-wand filling bucket:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/double-barrel-bottling-now-twice-fast-257264/

Seems everyone's thinking that. There's been several threads in the last month about this. Look at my bottling sticky, toward the end, one of the guys posted it in mine.

Usually it's just two spigots on the bucket.

I assume something like this coudl be addapted for beer

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/buon-vino-table-top-fill-jet.html

For those who don't want to follow the link, it is a 2 bottle wine filler with pump. As one fills, you put the bottle on the other side and at some point it stops filling one side and starts the other. Midwest also ahs a stainless contrations that fills 3wine bottles and another that fills 5 or 6 bottles at once. I don't know if the cost (over 300 for the pump and 450 for the 3 bottle stainless) is worth it.

Revvy said:

Look at my bottling sticky, toward the end, one of the guys posted it in mine.

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Link please? I looked at the bottling sticky, couldn't find this. Thanks.

Revvy said:

Seems everyone's thinking that. There's been several threads in the last month about this. Look at my bottling sticky, toward the end, one of the guys posted it in mine.

Usually it's just two spigots on the bucket.

Click to expand...

Your bottling thread was a beer god send.

I built some prototypes along these lines, but never got somewhere I was happy with. I built several with sensors and solenoid valves, but overflow systems were much simpler. I couldn't find a float valve small enough that worked reliably.

In the end, I skipped it all and now bottle from a corny using a beer gun and CO2 to drive it. I can fill 48 bottles in 6-7 minutes, which is fast enough that I lost all interest in finding better methods.

MalFet said:

I built some prototypes along these lines, but never got somewhere I was happy with. I built several with sensors and solenoid valves, but overflow systems were much simpler. I couldn't find a float valve small enough that worked reliably.

In the end, I skipped it all and now bottle from a corny using a beer gun and CO2 to drive it. I can fill 48 bottles in 6-7 minutes, which is fast enough that I lost all interest in finding better methods.

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48 bottles in 6-7 minutes? That's incredible! What beer gun did you get?

-d

logdrum said:

48 bottles in 6-7 minutes? That's incredible! What beer gun did you get?

-d

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Blichmann. That's only fill, mind you, not cap or clean. Still, I can go from deciding to bottle to cleaned up and put away in about 30 minutes.

It seems to me like more trouble than it's worth. Getting consistent fills seems like the hardest part to me. Although it would be cool to see in action.

motleybrews said:

I've got the mechanics of it in my head (will do a rough sketch and post it), just not sure if anyone has played with something like this in homebrew land. Would the output be close to the same on each wand? I know if you split a hose at the faucet, and have them both going at once, they both drop in pressure. But I don't see a similar issue here. Am I in the ballpark in my thinking? I would think gravity fed spigots and bottling wands would output the same, regardless of how many spigots there are.

Click to expand...

Each wand would fill less quickly, since there would be 1/6th the head pressure on each one. Still, if you can get all the bottling wand plungers to depress properly, it should work.