Am I the only one who enjoys bottling?

[rock_n_herm]

Sierra Nevada bottles actually have a decent lip and work well for me with a wing capper. Others like you mentioned, Founders, Lagunitas, Abita and some others have the other kind of lip that doesn’t work well with wing cappers. I don’t know why different companies use one over the other.

The 2 photos I’m attaching show the difference. One is a Sierra Nevada bottle (I actually like those). The other I didn’t get the label off of before taking the photo is from an Anchor bottle - thats the type that doesn’t work well with wing cappers. You can see the difference.

View attachment 763875
View attachment 763876

For me, bottling is just part of the process, and it’s the only thing I’ve known in my 3+ years of brewing. I found out that Lagunitas bottles don’t work with my wing capper after filling 6 bottles and trying unsuccessfully to cap. So my regular bottles are all Sierra Nevada. I also have about a case of long necks, all with the same neck ring as the Sierra Nevada bottles.

 

[Yesfan]

My go to bottles back in the day were the Redhook bottles. I love their beers and their short stubby bottles were a lot easier to store compared to the typical long neck bottles. Unfortunately, I don't see Redhook in my neck of the woods anymore. I loved their brown ales and ESBs.

 

[T Murph]

Packaging (and solving packing problems) is a personal preference. And it's not "either/or": for many people, it's both.

Numerous ancedotals mention brewing six gallons, kegging five, and bottle conditioning the the other gallon (sometimes after adding additional flavorings )

@Murph4231 : you make many solid points as to why kegging is right for you. That being said ...



Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, after all these decades of brewing, still comes in bottles.

Lol, and it's still better on tap. One of my all time favorite APA/IPA beers ever made. Is it an APA or is it an IPA? Oh never mind, let's not start that discussion.

 

[Drewch]

I like bottles and packaging in general ... I have Pinterest boards full of modern and historical labels and bottles and closure styles.

And I don't mind the process of it so much since I got a bench capper to replace the (evil) wing capper. Much less frustrating.

What I don't like is fussing with priming. Right now, I'm scheming on how set up to keg condition / spund and then bottle from the keg.

 

[z-bob]

I like bottling, but I like it better when I use bigger bottles so there's not so many of them. I know that is a bit contradictory.

 

[T Murph]

A counter pressure bottle filler is what you need. You can bottle anytime that you want to keep carbonated.

 

[jcfontario]

I like bottling, but I like it better when I use bigger bottles so there's not so many of them. I know that is a bit contradictory.

+1

I use 1 liter plastic bottles so I never need to handle more than 20 at a time. Makes the cleaning and filling much less onerous.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I use 1 liter plastic bottles so I . . .

. . . feel really mellow after having "just a couple of beers."

 

[jcfontario]

. . . feel really mellow after having "just a couple of beers."

But dear....I only had one beer...hic!

 

[BrewZer]

I’ve found Sierra Nevada labels to be a bear to get off by the way. Even soaking in pbw those seem to take 3 or 4 days to fall off, long after others.

I use one of these after a short soak in hot, soapy water .... the bottles, not me...

 

[Drewch]

I use one of these after a short soak in hot, soapy water .... the bottles, not me...

A PBW soak works for almost any paper label (i.m.e.). But some breweries have taken to using foil-backed plastic labels which pull off easily but leave an annoying adhesive residue that is immune to PBW.

 

[BrewZer]

A PBW soak works for almost any paper label (i.m.e.). But some breweries have taken to using foil-backed plastic labels which pull off easily but leave an annoying adhesive residue that is immune to PBW.

The razor blade will make quick work of any label and its accompanying adhesive.

 

[z-bob]

Try using charcoal starter fluid (naphtha) on stubborn adhesives. If alkaline cleaners won't remove it, naphtha usually will.

 

[rock_n_herm]

I have found that elbow grease has worked to rid all of my bottles of sticky glue residue.

 

[Drewch]

Try using charcoal starter fluid (naphtha) on stubborn adhesives. If alkaline cleaners won't remove it, naphtha usually will.

I've been using GooGone, but naphtha/lighter fluid might be cheaper.

 

[davidabcd]

The first beers were carbonated naturally. It's a fine way to do beer.
EDITED: to delete an overly aggressive stance.
Full apologies.

 

[Inclinejj]

Oxi clean powder, One plastic scoop and cold water and the labels pretty much start coming off the bottles in about an hour.

 

[z-bob]

Oxi clean powder, One plastic scoop and cold water and the labels pretty much start coming off the bottles in about an hour.

It depends what kind of glue they used. That's certainly the best way to go if it works. (I use cold water and a little ammonia or washing soda) If it just takes the paper off or makes it easy to peel but leaves the glue stuck tight, try a petroleum solvent.

 

[Rish]

What I do is, uh, hand them to my wife.

 

[Nubiwan]

yeah dude...ur all alone...lol

it has it's place...small batch and such...but after your first keg you will never look back...

The issue here is that its not just a keg. Its taps, fridges, tubes, co2 refills, might be more, I dunno. It aint cheap.

For this reason alone (minimal cost), i love bottling. My post fermentation cost has been $30. Simply asked a local recycler to save all the grolsch swing tops that came back. I gave him a dime a bottle. The deposit. I now have about 300 of the suckers. Keep them in plastic milk crates my local convenieince store is only too glad to give away. Swinger bottles save me a lot of time capping, and i can just wash them all in a dishwasher.

Takes me around 90 minutes, including cleanup, to bottle and cap my 6 Gallon batches. Another bonus. i am not restricted to 5 gallon batches with my keg. I make the odd 6-7 gallon batch, and have enough bottles on hand to package it all. Keggers would have to bottle any remainder, or dump it.

I take a six pack of my bottles out the fridge to my friends house. Its convenient too.

Maybe i'd like to keg, but I simply cant justify the expense, the space it takes up, and further risk my marriage. Lol

 

[danielthemaniel]

1. Kegging
2. Canning
3. Pouring Starsan directly into my eyeballs
4. Bottling

 

[Sam_92]

I really enjoy bottling as well! Collecting bottles is almost a second hobby for me. Lately I've been trying to collect pint bottles because my favorite glass is a british pint (20oz) and I want it to be full so I've been trying a lot of German beers. Ayinger beers are delicious and their labels come right off. Pfriem makes damn delicious beers but their labels are very stubborn and have a nasty glue residue. I use oxyclean soak and then SOS pads for any glue residue and it works well.

 

[balrog]

A counter pressure bottle filler is what you need. You can bottle anytime that you want to keep carbonated.

Meh.
You can have mine. PITA to set up, use, and clean. I also got the Foamless Finish stopper/thingie. Unimpressed.
Color me lazy I guess.

 

[Drewch]

Meh.
You can have mine. PITA to set up, use, and clean. I also got the Foamless Finish stopper/thingie. Unimpressed.
Color me lazy I guess.

Didn't BYO or somebody have an article a while back comparing bottling from a keg using counter-pressure, cap-on-foam, and one or two other techniques?

 

[Drewch]

Pfriem makes damn delicious beers but their labels are very stubborn and have a nasty glue residue.

Monday Night is the same. I love their sour / wild yeast program, but their labels are pure evil.

 

[balrog]

Sam Adams uses a label glue that yields after about 5m in warm-to-very-warm water.

Tuckermans uses label glue that was only previous seen used in such high quantity when affixing heat shield tiles to the space shuttle.

 

[bwible]

I've been using GooGone, but naphtha/lighter fluid might be cheaper.

I haven’t much that GoofOff won’t get rid of. Stuff is awesome

 

[bwible]

Meh.
You can have mine. PITA to set up, use, and clean. I also got the Foamless Finish stopper/thingie. Unimpressed.
Color me lazy I guess.

I agree. But I have the old style one. I haven’t seen a beer gun or one of the new ones that claim you can bottle directly from the tap on your kegerator.

 

[bwible]

1. Kegging
2. Canning
3. Pouring Starsan directly into my eyeballs
4. Bottling

 

[Dancy]

It seems pretty clear there’s often a relationship between how often one brews, quantity brewed and if you hate bottling or don’t mind it (or even like it). I brew several times a year (but less than 10x for sure) 5-6 gallons. Bottling is fine by me. I’d change my tune if I brewed every 2-3 weeks or brewed 10-15 gallons.

 

[hout17]

It seems pretty clear there’s often a relationship between how often one brews, quantity brewed and if you hate bottling or don’t mind it (or even like it). I brew several times a year (but less than 10x for sure) 5-6 gallons. Bottling is fine by me. I’d change my tune if I brewed every 2-3 weeks or brewed 10-15 gallons.

I agree that could be swaying ones opinion on bottling. I didn't brew a ton last year only about 11 batches or 55 gallons. I bottled all but one that I put on tap in my kegerator. I like my kegs but I still tend to gravitate to bottling.

Now if that were eleven 10 gallon batches I would've probably kegged half and bottled half.

 

[rock_n_herm]

I put 17 batches in bottles last year, although small at about 2.5 gallons. Usually, 24 bottles were filled. It is just part of the process, what I do to enjoy my own homebrew.

 

[Nubiwan]

Concur with frequency comment. I probably brew 10-15 times a year. I’m usually the only person drinking it. At 40 pints a batch, I’m averaging 1.5 pints a day. I’m pretty startled by this revelation, in fairness. Bloody home brew is just to handy every day.

 

[Gorm]

Well, I bottle only and up to this year I was brewing 30 to 50 5 gallon batches a year. Had a lot of party’s and gave a lot way. After COVID I think the parties are over. So now 25 gal batches should do fine

 

[Dancy]

Gorm, I suspect statistically speaking, you are what's called an "outlier"!

 

[Taket_al_Tauro]

It seems pretty clear there’s often a relationship between how often one brews, quantity brewed and if you hate bottling or don’t mind it (or even like it). I brew several times a year (but less than 10x for sure) 5-6 gallons. Bottling is fine by me. I’d change my tune if I brewed every 2-3 weeks or brewed 10-15 gallons.

Very good point! I brew 15 gallon batches but only 3 times a year on average, so I don't mind bottling either