Tools/Supplies/Set up used for bottling

Hi everyone,

I'm about to bottle my first 5 gallon batch of cider and have yet to find an effective and somewhat clean process for bottling. For my first 1 gallon I just used an auto-siphon and had to pinch the hose after each bottle was full which made a mess. I then tried an auto-siphon with a bottling wand on the other end. However the siphon wouldn't catch unless I had the wand pressed down the whole time; thus moving from one bottle to the next would break the siphon seal.

Does anyone have any tried and true supplies they use? Or a system they have set up? Thanks for any insight!!

Karra

 

Bottling bucket with a bottling wand on the spigot- problem solved.

 

+1
I do the same thing.
Gravity helps with keeping the liquid pressure positive, so situate the bucket higher than the bottle you're filling. If the bucket you're using doesn't have a cheap and easy spigot, buy one. Threaded spigots can be had with rubber seals and a fastening nut. Cut a circular hole near the bottom of the bucket that's the same diameter as your spigot and install.

I'd insert a link to Amazon for the item but the coding here isn't familiar to me.

 

Rack your beer to a sanitized bucket that has a spigot on the bottom of it.

Cut a little piece of clear tubing, maybe an inch or so long, and connect your bottling wand to the spigot. Open the spigot, and use the wand to fill the bottles. Super fast. Works really well.

 

A set up similar to this might help. Rack your cider from the fermentor to the bottling bucket for filling.

 

Ah thank you so much! I was trying to bottle from my 5 gallon carboy after my first racking. I just ordered a bottling bucket from Amazon so I will give that a try! Thank you for posting your set up; looks like a great work space!!

 

You can also get a 5 gallon frosting buckets from you grocery store deli. The bucket in the picture came with a kit many years ago. Other 5 gallon deli buckets I have were $0.50 each. Spigot is $1.99.

 

Do you just ask them for the buckets? Or go dumpster diving lol? I think it will be cheaper to find one not online so I will go hunting. Thanks!

 

Just ask. Here in town they are well rinsed. Lids have good O-ring seals. Bad time to ask is just before maple syrup season.

 

Ok I'll stop in and ask! I'm in Colorado so I don't think we have a maple syrup season Do you think one from Home Depot would work?

 

I prefer to use buckets that aren't dyed and originally had liquid or semi liquid food products in them. Don't have to guess whether or not they are safe for brewing.

 

That's how I do it. Just set the bucket on the kitchen counter, with the spigot/bottling wand hanging off the edge. I put a cookie sheet on the floor underneath to catch any drips. Also, if you haven't already, go with fliptop bottles, they're so much quicker & easier than crown caps.
Regards, GF.

 

I started out using flip top bottles but was told that when I go to pasteurize them they have a tendency to flip open. I have all the bottles and caps and a caper so I'll try it that way.

 

Yep, Home Depot buckets work fine. Be sure to wash them well then sanitize with StarSan or something similar. Be sure to buy bucket lids too. They come in handy.

Buy one of those handy Ferrari Automatic Bottle Fillers online or in just about any brew supply store. Put it in your first bottle, pump your siphon and the filler stops when the bottle is nearly full. Move to the next bottle, push down on the top of the bottle filler, wait for it to stop and repeat. If you do it right, you do not break the siphon until the bucket is empty.

 

I had the same problem. I bought a lawn irrigation system stop cock (in line tap)that fitted into to the flexible tube from my autosiphon then joined it to the rigidbottling want tube (I threw the bottling wand valve away in the end). So, a 1/4 turn stops the flow and lets the small amount in the bottling wand drain into the bottle (you just have to judge when to turn it off without overfilling the bottle). The liquid remains on the autosiphon side ready to flow into the next bottle when I turn the cock on. The autosiphon remains clipped in place in the carboy so it can even be a one handed operation.

 

I've pasteurized a couple dozen flip tops. Haven't seen them flip open yet, but I've seen them leaking CO2 because the seals couldn't handle either the heat or extra pressure for the heat. However, I bought these High Pressure Grolsch seals and they seem to hold up better.

 

The Lowe's near me has food grade 5gal buckets for about $4. You can add a spigot for a couple more bucks.

 

I don't pasteurize, so I wouldn't know.
Regards, GF.

 

I sit my bottling bucket up high, about 6 foot off the ground. I attach about 6 foot of tubing to the spigot with a bottling wand at the end of the tubing. Then I sit all my empty bottles on a table and just go from 1 bottle to the next with the wand, very quick and easy because I just move the wand and leave the bottles in place. gravity fills the bottles quicker if you give the bucket a bit of height.