Quick question??

I'm about to bottle my Australian pale ale extract tomorrow after 3 weeks in the primary.

Should I invest in a bottling bucket or a bottle tree to help speed up things on the day I can only buy one and some Star Stan.

I've got an auto siphon

Many thanks

Aidan

I would vote bottling bucket. I never use a bottle tree. The bucket will allow you to use a bottling wand to start and stop the flow of beer into the bottles and will also let you mix the priming sugar more easily

Bottling bucket with the wand attached to the spigot using a short piece of tubing.

You can use a dishwasher rack as a bottle tree.

Get a Vinator if you don't have one. Spritz all the bottles and store on the dishwasher rack then bottle.

Bottling bucket. As previously said, get a short length of hose, attach it to the bottling bucket, and attach a bottling wand on the other end. Use that to fill bottles. DO NOT fill from the spigot as this will create a huge amount of splashing/bubbles/foam which will oxidize the beer. I did this the wrong way for my first 3 batches and had random gushers and terrible off-flavors..like damp, moldy cardboard.

You can get around the need for a bottling tree many ways. There's several DIY projects that will do the same thing as an almost $50 bottle tree would do.

kh54s10 said:

Bottling bucket with the wand attached to the spigot using a short piece of tubing.

You can use a dishwasher rack as a bottle tree.

Get a Vinator if you don't have one. Spritz all the bottles and store on the dishwasher rack then bottle.

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I was going to get a Vinator and tree.

Was wondering, would just running the bottles on the sanitize cycle of the dishwasher be sufficient enough to NOT need to rinse in StarSans?

ncoutroulis said:

I was going to get a Vinator and tree.

Was wondering, would just running the bottles on the sanitize cycle of the dishwasher be sufficient enough to NOT need to rinse in StarSans?

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It seems good. A lot of people do this. I don't have that cycle on my dishwasher. Beware of the hot bottles. If you leave them to cool for too long I would not trust that they are still sanitary.

I have used the sanitize cycle for my bottles and have never had a problem

The bottling bucket with spigot is a must-have. A bottle tree is not.

Bottling bucket with a short hose and a bottling wand (spring loaded works best for me) is the first priority.. I wouldn't want to try it without that... trying to mix in priming sugar without stiring up trub and yeast would be painful.

That said, I just recently got a bottling tree with the vinator and love it. Before that I was using another bucket full of starsan solution and pulling out wet bottles and letting them drain a second before filling them. The last session I did with the bottle tree and vinator took about half the time, and I don't feel like I wasted a bunch of starsan filling up a whole 5g bucket.

The main reason I wouldn't try the dishwasher is I've had too many issues with crud being stuck in the bottom of normal dishes and glasses after a run.. given them smaller mouth of the bottles I have no confidence it would get clean or be rinsed properly. Other people may have a better dishwasher.

kh54s10 said:

Bottling bucket with the wand attached to the spigot using a short piece of tubing.

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^^^This. DEFINITELY get the wand. You'll thank yourself a thousand times.

mfgann said:

The main reason I wouldn't try the dishwasher is I've had too many issues with crud being stuck in the bottom of normal dishes and glasses after a run.. given them smaller mouth of the bottles I have no confidence it would get clean or be rinsed properly. Other people may have a better dishwasher.

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When using the sanitize cycle on the dishwasher the bottles need to be clean first. Then the heat sanitizes the bottles.

kh54s10 said:

When using the sanitize cycle on the dishwasher the bottles need to be clean first. Then the heat sanitizes the bottles.

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That makes a lot more sense

mrgrimm101 said:

Bottling bucket. As previously said, get a short length of hose, attach it to the bottling bucket, and attach a bottling wand on the other end. Use that to fill bottles. DO NOT fill from the spigot as this will create a huge amount of splashing/bubbles/foam which will oxidize the beer. I did this the wrong way for my first 3 batches and had random gushers and terrible off-flavors..like damp, moldy cardboard.

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Is this true? I've been bottling straight from the spigot for a while now, and haven't had any off flavors. Maybe I've been lucky. I think I'm going to hook my bottling wand from here on out just in case.

Joewalla88 said:

Is this true? I've been bottling straight from the spigot for a while now, and haven't had any off flavors. Maybe I've been lucky. I think I'm going to hook my bottling wand from here on out just in case.

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Very true. Also, potential oxygenation issues aside, bottling wands are so much easier. You dont have to sit there turning the spigot on and off. Just press down, fill til the bottle is full to the top and pull the wand out. The space that the wand occupied will make the perfect headspace at the top of the bottle

How about you just start kegging?

just kidding, but lets face it it was only a matter of time

That actually makes a lot of sense. I'm glad I hung on to mine.

Definitely get a bottling bucket with spigot & a bottling wand. & the 45 bottle tree & avinator by Ferrari was a great investment, bar none. The avinator fits on top of the bottle tree to contain a small amount of Starsan that is pumped into the bottles by an up& down action. I don't think I need to explain that to the mens in here? Besides the fact that the bottle tree keeps 45 bottles (or 90 if you get the big one) in two square feet of space. I would advise not to try & go too ghetto & get the bottling bucket, bottling wand, bottle tree & avinator. They save me a lot of time & reaching/bending, which becomes more important with age or physical stress. They make life quicker & easier on bottling day. And by removing the bottling wand after filling the bottle to the top, the perfect head space for that bottle is created by volume displacement. Darn Handy! :rockin: