And You Say Kegging Is Easier...

[duckmanco]

I'm moving to kegging in the next week (parts/freezer on the way) but I am blown away by everyone that still dunks bottles in a bucket or sink.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

That rinser (only way I have ever bottled, I took the advice from revvy) is worth TWICE what they charge for it if you plan on bottling ever. It allows you a place to keep your caps sanitized, your hands stay dry as only the inside of the bottle gets blasted with sanitizer, it uses way less star san solution, and just flat out works.

That one piece of equipment made the decision to keg THAT much harder because it made bottling so much easier. You dunker guys owe it to yourselves, and you'll wonder why you didnt do it batches ago.... alright rant off.

 

[kpr121]

I'm moving to kegging in the next week (parts/freezer on the way) but I am blown away by everyone that still dunks bottles in a bucket or sink.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

That rinser (only way I have ever bottled, I took the advice from revvy) is worth TWICE what they charge for it if you plan on bottling ever. It allows you a place to keep your caps sanitized, your hands stay dry as only the inside of the bottle gets blasted with sanitizer, it uses way less star san solution, and just flat out works.

That one piece of equipment made the decision to keg THAT much harder because it made bottling so much easier. You dunker guys owe it to yourselves, and you'll wonder why you didnt do it batches ago.... alright rant off.

Yeah, I think that if I didn't move to kegging, I would have definitely bought a vinator a long time ago. I still may do it. Maybe next order. There goes another 20 bucks to HB.

 

[Golddiggie]

bmantzey, StarSan only needs a minute, or two, of contact time in order to fully sanitize what you put into it. Actually I believe that's "wet time" so you could dunk it, pull it out, and just not dry it and you'll probably be fine. I do prefer to let it sit submerged for a moment or two though, just to be sure...

HoboBrewery, I don't think you'll find many of us going that route here... BUYING ~250 bottles every stinking time will become an expense we'd prefer to not have. When you pour out a bottle, it only takes a moment to rinse it out and set it aside for later.

There are plenty of options for storing those 'dead soldiers' for later. Including putting the empties right back into the same box you pulled it out of, when full. I would rather do that than get nasty bottles from a distributor that has who knows what in them. Having to inspect each and every bottle probably takes more time than simply rinsing what you just drained.

I also wouldn't even THINK about going the oven route for sanitizing... For one thing, you want to sanitize right before you fill them. Otherwise, unless you can store them where it's completely sanitary, and NOTHING will get into them (ever) it's taking more risk. It also won't work with Grolsch style bottles, since it means you'll have to take them apart, cook them (burning gas/electricity when you don't need to) and then reassemble them before using... Taking even MORE time than simply using StarSan solution.

Another thing, I don't know where distributors are located in my area, and seriously doubt they would even HAVE any bottles for me to purchase (IF I wanted to)... The liquor stores in my area have since converted over to having the bottle crushing/busting machines, that put the glass/plastic/cans into bags for pickup. Means they can take a lot more bottles/cans in, and use less space for storing them (more room for product to sell)... Also means that they don't need to worry about miscounting bottles brought in, or taking ones that don't have a deposit on them (such as purchased from another state)... Makes lots of business sense, for them.

 

[weirdboy]

I have a vinator and I STILL use it even after moving to kegging. I still bottle some for parties, competitions, etc. It is very handy for bottling.

Also if you are bottling from a bucket, one idea I saw another guy did on here was attach TWO sets of valves/bottling wands to the bottling bucket, so that he could double-fist and bottle twice as fast. If I were still bottling all my beers I'd have done that long ago.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I also wouldn't even THINK about going the oven route for sanitizing... For one thing, you want to sanitize right before you fill them. Otherwise, unless you can store them where it's completely sanitary, and NOTHING will get into them (ever) it's taking more risk. It also won't work with Grolsch style bottles, since it means you'll have to take them apart, cook them (burning gas/electricity when you don't need to) and then reassemble them before using... Taking even MORE time than simply using StarSan solution.

.

Baking doesn't sanitize....it sterilizes (unlike starsan). I put foil on the tops of the bottels before I bake them and I usually bake the night before I bottle. Microorganisms can't teleport through foil. I just keep em in an out of the way place (or in the oven) until I'm ready for them. It's actaully less risk for infection vs using sanitizers. Plus I'm not a big fan sanitizer residue in my beer. I rinse my fermenters/starter jugs/kegs with sterile water after sanitizing. I know alot of the sanitizers are "No Rinse" but, I just like to keep things o-natural. However, I do use starsan on the fly when situations demand it.

You're right about not being able to use this method for grolsh style bottes though.......

 

[Golddiggie]

To me, it still seems like a lot more work to get to the same place... If it works well for you, do it, but I don't see it as a viable option for many of us.

I've not had any issues from StarSan 'residue' in my bottles. That's part of the reason to have a bottle tree. With using StarSan, or other no-rinse sanitizers, you don't need to plan X days ahead. You can just pick a day, that day, or minutes before, get everything together and go at it...

Besides, I have a small apartment (just over 500 sq. feet total). Even with a large kitchen (it's about as large as the living room and/or bedroom) I am running out of space. Next place I move to WILL be larger, so I'll be able to do things easier. I also won't have an ******* landlord to deal with. As it stands, I need to squirrel away the empty bottles in various places until it's time to fill them again. I'm bottle conditioning/carbonating in the living room, along one wall, most of my home brew. I have a batch of hard lemonade that will be getting bottled this weekend. I need to use a plastic bin to put those bottles in, just in case.

Oh, and running the oven is NOT something I want to do during the summer time in this place. It gets F'ing hot in the kitchen for those couple of months... So much that I do most of my cooking on the gas grill. I'll do some things in the kitchen, when I have to. Otherwise, I can't handle adding more heat into the place.

Next place... Next place...

 

[FortSanders]

I definitely feel you golddiggie on the whole summer heat thing. I live in a loft built in 1905 with no insulation. So when it gets 110 outside i'm suffering inside even with the A/C on. My kitchen gets extremely hot with the gas appliances. That being said, I still would consider the oven for sterilizing bottles in the winter.

also, I understand what it means to be tied for space in a small apartment. I have bottles under the sink, on top of the cabinets, refrigerator, and even above the oven between the pizza stone and the casserole dishes.

 

[Golddiggie]

I have almost zero storage space in the kitchen. Some drawers on either side of where the sink is, one pair of cabinets (two doors) above the sink, then a corner section next to the stove... That's it... I need all that to keep things like pots, pans, dishes, etc... No room for bottles there.

I also have all of two closets in the place. One in the living room (can't easily get to it most of the time) and one in the kitchen that's got 3 sacks of grain, plus other assorted goodies in it (like my 60 qt kettle)... I had to get a metal shelving unit for some additional storage space. Even with that, I have very little not already used. Boxes of bottles are kept where I can keep them... It doesn't make any sense for me to store sterilized bottles. Especially not when that's far more than you need to do (sanitized is all we need, sterilized is way over the top, bordering on paranoid)...

Being as tight for space as I am also means I'm limited to how often I can really brew, and bottle... Since I need to have a place to store the bottles once filled.

For the winter, I have forced hot air for heat, which is provided via a gas furnace in the attic (above me since I'm on the second floor). Since the stove is also gas, I have to watch what I use so that the bill doesn't get to be insane. $100 gas bills are not uncommon for me in the winter. That's with the heat set low too (in the low 60's even while I'm there, upper 50's when I'm not)...

All part of why I'm planning on getting the F out of this place as soon as possible, once working again. It's another reason I'm pulling for the job in NH, so that I can leave MA behind. I'll move into NH within a few months of starting that job (if I get it) so that I'm much closer to work, and in a more relaxed state (in more ways than one). They have good home brew laws there, no unrealistic limitations, or requiring licenses and such to do your normal 100 gallons per adult brewing in the household...

BTW, pizza stone: yes; casserole dishes: WTF?? You a man or no?

I also don't think I have the space to let the bottles that I COULD cook, cool down without major issues. I could, maybe, do that for the Belgian bottles. But, since they're thicker glass, they would need more time to cool before using. I'm trying to streamline my processes, not add more complications to them.

Well, Sunday is now my official bottling day this week/weekend. I have to do the honey cream ale as well as the hard lemonade... Thinking I'll take care of the hard lemonade first, then the cream ale. I'll need to get some more bottles during the week, so that I can take care of the ESB on Thursday too. I use the Grolsch style bottles for most of my stuff. I do use the Belgian for the bigger brews, as well as whatever else I need to. Which means part of the cream ale batch too. Just hope that I have enough of the bottles empty in time to bottle the next batch up...