Bottling is for the birds.....

[Bulls Beers]

I've been kegging for a couple of years now. I bottled a batch of Apfelwein last night. Man, What a pain in the ass. I don't now how you guys bottle your beer over and over. It took 2 hours and I made a friggin mess of the kitchen. I forgot how much fun it is..Never again!! If I ever bottle a batch, I'll give whoever helps me a 12 pack and let them drink off my taps all day...

 

[babalu87]

I like having big beers in bottles
You certainly are going to have last yeasr Barleywine laying around in the basement for 10 years like I am , thats a HUGE +1 for bottling some beers

 

[northernlad]

If you were going to continue I would recommend taking a hard look at your process. The first time I bottle it took me 45 minutes.

 

[Pappers_]

Takes me a total of one hour to bottle a 5 gallon batch, plus I enjoy it.

 

[Revvy]

If you have issues with bottling, it's not with bottling, it's with your process.

I still maintain that if bottling is "so hard" it's your own damn fault for not pimping the process to work for you.

Repetitive, yes (and if repetitive is "hard" then you have attention deficit issues you instant gratification, mtv watchin, text message sending attention span of a gnat young un, who would never hack an assembly line job.)

But hard, no....all it takes is adapting the process to work for you and where you are the most comfortable doing it.

No one SAYS you have to do it like it is described in papazain or palmer's books...sitting on the floor with your bottling wand on a hose and your bottling bucket on a counter, spilling half your beer because your back hurts and you can't see the beer actually filling the bottles so you end up with more on the floor. And knocking your bottles over while you try to hold them with your legs and cap them.....

That's why we have a ton of tips here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

Pick up a few of them and you'll be bottling easy peasy and quickly in no time.

It takes me on average about 45 minutes to bottle a 5 gallon batch of beer. I can do it and be cleaning up before the CD or basic brewing podcast I was listening to while bottling has ended.

It's funny, we adapt all manner of the brewing process to work for us...Hydrometer or not, carboy or bucket, secondary or long primary, yadda yadda yadda...

But most brewers bottle exactly how it is written in the book, get pissed off, and either make it a chore to dread, or switch to kegs and feel the need to bash bottling left and right, and mention "kegging" in every bottling thread, like the poster is an idiot who doesn't know kegging exists to begin with.

But never do they actually try to become it's master.....If you ***** about it I think you're still a wuss.

 

[mrk305]

For me, the worst part is rinsing all the bottles after drinking them. Sometimes I would get lazy and leave them on the kitchen counter, and the next thing you know there are 24 if them. It would be worse after a get together. The next day I would have dozens of bottles to rinse and store.

The bottling is not so bad. I can do a 5 gallon batch in 45 minutes, too. I just hate rinsing all the empties.

 

[greenandgold]

45 minutes? Really?

I discount the rinsing time, but I sanitize before putting them in storage. Then I sanitize again before bottling. The bottling is easy. The sanitizing actually takes more time, but all told it must take close to an hour and a half.

Do you guys not sanitize on bottling day?

 

[Revvy]

45 minutes? Really?

I discount the rinsing time, but I sanitize before putting them in storage. Then I sanitize again before bottling. The bottling is easy. The sanitizing actually takes more time, but all told it must take close to an hour and a half.




Do you guys not sanitize on bottling day?

I outlined my process in great detail in the bottling tip thread I posted...I wouldn't do anything other than sanitize on bottling day....

 

[mrk305]

Dishwasher, Greenandgold.... dishwasher, no soap, pot scrubber cycle, hot dry

clean sanatized and ready when I get home from work

 

[northernlad]

45 minutes? Really?

I discount the rinsing time, but I sanitize before putting them in storage. Then I sanitize again before bottling. The bottling is easy. The sanitizing actually takes more time, but all told it must take close to an hour and a half.

Do you guys not sanitize on bottling day?

I clean my bottles and store them upside down. Currently i run them through the glass cycle of my DW. There is some concern about residual detergent and/or food from this, but I have not had a problem so far. I don't use heat dry as it will bake on any residue and the thermal shock will shorten the life of the glass. Sanitizing before storage is definately overkill.

 

[TheCapn22]

I agree, I hate, HATE, bottling. I'll be investing in kegging shortly.

 

[jmlabeck]

Been bottling for over 20 years. I have nothing against kegging. It's just not for me. It takes about an hour or so to bottle and clean up. Bottles are free, kegs regulators, etc. aren't.

 

[Pappers_]

45 minutes? Really?Do you guys not sanitize on bottling day?

1 hour, for everything, including sanitizing with idophor, a vinator and a bottle tree.

 

[FlashRedGLS18T]

Takes me an hour. I like to bottle because it's easier to take my beer when I go somewhere (to the firepit, camping, brother's house, football games).

Though I am sweating a keg setup.

 

[mindcrime]

bout an hour for me, not including sanitization time, which doesnt really count. I do it in the dishwasher. Bottles get cleaned when emptied, and placed in closed container. Then thrown in the dishwasher on the sanitize setting about an hour or so before I intend to bottle, or even a bit earlier. Takes all of 3 minutes to load em. Then about 5 min of set up, 40 minutes of bottling, and 10 min or so of cleanup/labeling/marking/coding/storing.

 

[Budzu]

I only keg now, but there's always a reason to bottle some of it sometimes. I always bottle from the keg now with carbonation. That presents a whole new set of difficulties and considerations. A beer gun would make things alot easier... but even doing it this way (sanitizing, co2 purging, bottle freezing, low pressure filling) I've come to sort of nail down a process and even look forward to it!
It is nicer only bottling 6-12 bottles at a time though

Revvy do you ever bottle this way (BMBF)? If so I'd be interested in how you streamlined that procedure. Not demanding any write-ups, just curious

cheers to bottling!