How many batches/gallons have you bottled?

[bryanjints]

I was just reading some posts on how bottling sucks and how kegging is so much better. I have been brewing for a year and a half and have only bottled. My hope however is that I have only 2 more batches to bottle. I have made 17 batches of beer but 2 are currently fermenting. They are both going to be bottled because they are gifts for other people. So I have bottled a total of 65 gallons of beer with 10 more on the horizon.

With the last 2 batches I bottled I just got fed up and sick of the whole process. It is tedious and time consuming. I figure kegging will be easier and frankly I enjoy draft beer more than bottled beer for the most part.


So how long did you last before you started kegging?

 

[boo boo]

Hmmmm... I brewed and bottled each batch for about 15 years give or take a few years for my poor memory and then went kegging. I still bottle about 20 to 30 dozen each year. I don't mind it as much as some here say they do.

 

[motobrewer]

i bottled 5 gallons, said "f this" and bought a 3-tap system.

i then bottled once more since then - i brewed some beer for a friend. i almost made him buy a tapper system...

 

[Golddiggie]

Since I'm new to home brewing, I only have six [5 gallon] batches that have been bottled so far... Another gets bottled this weekend/early next week (so 7 batches, 35 gallons by then).

Even when I do, eventually, start kegging (hope to sometime before the end of this year) I plan on bottling some anyway. It's easier, I feel, to give away some bottles, and have the balance in a keg. The plan is to keg 3 gallons (using 3 gallon corny kegs) and bottle the balance.

I'm also thinking that I'll try filtering the lighter colored brews, and carbonate slow with CO2 (the 2 week plan)... Not sure about the heavier brews, like stouts and porters. I do plan on bottling really big brews, like old ales, barleywines, strong Scotch ales, etc... Mostly because I don't expect to drink those as often. I'd rather have the keezer space for things I'll drink more often.

I've been using Grolsch style bottles for most of my brews. I have used Belgian's for the old ale and first barleywine I made. A little more involved than the Grolsch bottles, but still not too bad. You just need to plan out your bottling a little (soak corks, etc.)... Still, for the easiest bottling of all time, Grolsch wins, hands down. I can fill one bottle, while moving the previous one over, while closing that previous bottle with my other hand. Maybe I'm just talented. :rockin:

 

[Clann]

Man, I bottled 150 gallons last year alone. All with a hand capper

I have most of a kegging system but bottling is part of the hobby to me

 

[Barnzy02]

I've bottled about 60 gallons in the last year.

I am making the move to kegging with my current batch that just finished fermenting, it's been in primary for about 3 weeks now and i have a dual keg system on its way.

Bottling wasn't so bad when you have someone helping, but i did about 40-50 gallons by myself and grew tired of it. I am also moving and don't feel like moving my entire bottle collection, which would be the 3rd time i'm doing so. I had about 8-9 cases of bottles.
I'm down to two cases of bottles and about 8-10 22s, which will be more than enough for any bottling i might do, which is only when i have a beer i know friends/family will want.

 

[samc]

In the middle of my second batch I decided to move to kegging and did so for the next batch. I bottle about 5 bottles a year now.

 

[weirdboy]

I would still be bottling except that we moved last year and suddenly I didn't have space for cases and cases of bottles anymore, but I did have space for a kegerator and a few kegs.

 

[bruin_ale]

I bottled 2 batches before I went to kegging. Best move ever...

 

[bryanjints]

Since I'm new to home brewing, I only have six [5 gallon] batches that have been bottled so far... Another gets bottled this weekend/early next week (so 7 batches, 35 gallons by then).

Even when I do, eventually, start kegging (hope to sometime before the end of this year) I plan on bottling some anyway. It's easier, I feel, to give away some bottles, and have the balance in a keg. The plan is to keg 3 gallons (using 3 gallon corny kegs) and bottle the balance.

I'm also thinking that I'll try filtering the lighter colored brews, and carbonate slow with CO2 (the 2 week plan)... Not sure about the heavier brews, like stouts and porters. I do plan on bottling really big brews, like old ales, barleywines, strong Scotch ales, etc... Mostly because I don't expect to drink those as often. I'd rather have the keezer space for things I'll drink more often.

I've been using Grolsch style bottles for most of my brews. I have used Belgian's for the old ale and first barleywine I made. A little more involved than the Grolsch bottles, but still not too bad. You just need to plan out your bottling a little (soak corks, etc.)... Still, for the easiest bottling of all time, Grolsch wins, hands down. I can fill one bottle, while moving the previous one over, while closing that previous bottle with my other hand. Maybe I'm just talented. :rockin:

I think I will prolly follow this as well. The bigger more complex beers will get bottled. The more common quicker to drink beers will get kegged. Grolsch is the way to go. I used the same technique closing one bottle while fill the next. About half of what I bottle is grolsch. I have a free supply of Grolsch which I had to stop because I am well over 100 bottles.

Brown 12 oz I have way too many last time I counted it was over 300 and I got a bunch since then. I am just going to give most of them away to people. I am trying to convince a friend to start brewing and I think I might give him some of the bottles.


I don't object totally to bottling just that it takes so much time. I do too many things and trying to fit in bottle is just gettign to be too much of a PITA. Maybe the real solution would be to worry less about everything else and more about beer.

 

[VoodooManX]

I bottled 2 batches before I went to kegging. Best move ever...

I've bottle my first 3 batches. Kegerator arrived today. Corny's arrive on March 1st with fittings. I still plan on bottling some, but the stout sitting in the fermenter will be going straight to the keg.

 

[IffyG]

I haven't bottled a full batch. I jumped in head first and bought a chest freezer and a 1 keg set up to start and have slowly been adding to it. I do bottle a six pack here and there to share with other people, but that's about it.

 

[ksbrain]

Since I'm new to home brewing, I only have six [5 gallon] batches that have been bottled so far... Another gets bottled this weekend/early next week (so 7 batches, 35 gallons by then).

Dude you got 1000 posts and only brewed seven batches!!! LAWLZZ

Post Count != Brewing Experience

That is so friggin' cool!

:rockin::cross::fro:

 

[Golddiggie]

Well, since I'm between jobs right now I have plenty of time to post...

I hope that changes soon. Actually could since I have a few promising prospects...

For the record, I have two batches still in primaries, plus four batches of mead with another 3 gallon of hard lemonade that was just started...

 

[C-Rider]

I've only bottled 15 gallons (3 batches). Three of use brewing and bottle together. It's an assembly line and it doesn't take long at all to get 49 bottles of good brew.
One fills
One hands to capper
One caps and stacks.

 

[Bulls Beers]

I think I bottled 3 or 4 batches, until I said screw this and went to a two tap system. I still bottle when I make a batches of Apfelwein. But that's only a couple times a year.