Bottling Motivation

[Echoloc8]

I have a barleywine, a raspberry Merlot, and a JAOM batch that all need bottling. They're batches that need and will benefit from aging.

Problem is: I hate bottling. I'm good at it, and when using Revvy's bottling tips it goes as smoothly as can be expected. I'm just a lazy dude with a busy schedule. Bottling is always a 1-3 hour investment (delabel/clean/sanitize/rack/prime/bottle), and it's hard to justify when I can either be making more batches, or handling one of the dozens of other timesinks in life.

I keg, and already have beers in or slated for the kegs, so kegging isn't really the solution. Or at least not a new one.

I guess I just need a kick in the pants. After all, bottling frees up vessels for more batches, too, right?

-Rich

 

[ja09]

Sounds like you need more kegs! I hate bottling too and I'm debating running to my LHBS to pick up another vs. bottling this week.

 

[Varmintman]

For me bottling is a pleasure. I start late at night when everyone is asleep (insomniac) put on the headphones and have a nice beer or 6 while I do it. Turns out brewing and bottling is kind of a "my time" and I really enjoy it.

 

[Calichusetts]

LOVE bottling...love anything that has to do with brewing. Think of it this way, its the final step towards you enjoying some amazing beer. Can't help you with the motivating/liking it part. Some do, some don't. Try to do it when you only have an hour, that way you don't feel like you're missing out on something else or its taking away

 

[jhoyda]

For me bottling is a pleasure. I start late at night when everyone is asleep (insomniac) put on the headphones and have a nice beer or 6 while I do it. Turns out brewing and bottling is kind of a "my time" and I really enjoy it.

Me too, head to the garage, turn on the TV and get it done. By the way, I bought a vinator and that is the way to go. I used to squirt Star-San in the bottles with a hand sprayer. Using the vinator probably cut 10 mins off of bottling a batch. In reality, it only takes me an hour or less and I really do enjoy it.

 

[chicken]

Do some of your work ahead of time. Rinse out bottles as soon as they are emptied, and de-label and clean them a few at a time whenever you have the chance. I soak bottles in hot water and oxiclean, and never have to use my bottle brush. The labels fall off pretty easily, and bottles need only a little scrubbing to remove label residue. Rinse in hot water, and let dry.

Store the clean, dry bottles in cases upside down or covered (to keep dust out). Then on bottling day, just grab a couple cases of clean bottles and sanitize. Vinator and star san makes it very quick and easy.

 

[ja09]

Do some of your work ahead of time. Rinse out bottles as soon as they are emptied, and de-label and clean them a few at a time whenever you have the chance. I soak bottles in hot water and oxiclean, and never have to use my bottle brush. The labels fall off pretty easily, and bottles need only a little scrubbing to remove label residue. Rinse in hot water, and let dry.

Store the clean, dry bottles in cases upside down or covered (to keep dust out). Then on bottling day, just grab a couple cases of clean bottles and sanitize. Vinator and star san makes it very quick and easy.

+1 to everything here. Keeping the bottles rinsed/clean ahead of time is by far the easiest way.

...but don't any of you guys use dishwashers to sanitize? I dislike bottling anyways and I couldn't imagine doing it without one.

 

[AlCophile]

I think of a bottle as one experimental point on a graph: you can make changes as you bottle, or, after, without screwing up the batch. You can see/taste the progress over time, different temps., different headspace treatments(think!), anything you want. See what strong light does to a bottle. Be creative.
Try this: sanitize, drain, cover with a new Kleenex(never had a problem) and a rubber band, invert to drain. Kleenex eventually dries. When ready to bottle, moisten the kleenex w/ sanitizer, bottle.

 

[Echoloc8]

Do some of your work ahead of time. Rinse out bottles as soon as they are emptied, and de-label and clean them a few at a time whenever you have the chance. I soak bottles in hot water and oxiclean, and never have to use my bottle brush. The labels fall off pretty easily, and bottles need only a little scrubbing to remove label residue. Rinse in hot water, and let dry.

Store the clean, dry bottles in cases upside down or covered (to keep dust out). Then on bottling day, just grab a couple cases of clean bottles and sanitize. Vinator and star san makes it very quick and easy.

Yeah, this seems like the best advice. I have a new Vinator in the box waiting for its first use. I think I need to get a Delabeling Tub (one of those lidded big plastic bins from Walmart etc.); just make up a truckload of Oxiclean solution and soak a whole batch at a time, delabeling and rinsing as I can.

-Rich

 

[Echoloc8]

For me bottling is a pleasure. I start late at night when everyone is asleep (insomniac) put on the headphones and have a nice beer or 6 while I do it. Turns out brewing and bottling is kind of a "my time" and I really enjoy it.

I did this once and got no end of grief for the noise it made, even through wifey's earplugs. My house is small enough that the bedroom's right next door to the kitchen.

-Rich

 

[dstranger99]

I once hated it too, but since I got a Vinator, bottle tree, and bench capper, I can sanitise and bottle a 5 gallon batch in 40 minutes.

 

[Cyclman]

A few tips from my experience- keep a bucket of starsan on hand and use it to sanitize (clean) equipment- saves tons of time / effort- I use a pH strip to be sure it is still acidic enough, it lasts for months. Vinator is a must. Clean / delabel bottles as you drink them, then doing a few at a time isn't so arduous- I have 2 extra bins I use for empties. Buy a bench capper. With a little practice, you can cap one bottle while filling the next.

Revvy's tips are great, he is the Revvy after all. I far prefer bottling to cleaning. With my 3-tier gravity, cleaning is much easier, but it's still a pain.

 

[63belair]

De labeling prior to bottling day is key. I mainly keg but bottle from time to time. I got a small, maybe 1.5 gal bucket from HD and keep it with about a gal of oxy clean. When I finish a commercial beer I rinse and throw them in at the end of the night. No delabeling on bottling night.

Bottle tree is a great investment too.