Any tips on bottling?

[ncbrewer]

I start bottling day with previously cleaned bottles. Put Star San in a vinator. Spray a bottle on the vinator - wait 40 seconds - fill - while filling, spray Star San into the next bottle - repeat. Every bottle is freshly sprayed with Star San when filled.

 

[VApatriot]

I only bottle my beer, I don't do kegs. To wash my bottles, I fill my large sink in the laundry room with very hot water and Oxyclean, soak for at least an hour, rinse with very hot water and the bottle washing attachment on the laundry room sink. I hang them on the bottle tree, dry off with a clean towel and then down to the kitchen to bottle. I fill a 5 gallon bucket w/ Starsan solution, submerge the bottles and dump out right before filling each one. I also put the caps in a bowl of Starsan. I have a bottling bucket and attached spring loaded filling wand attached to the spigot on the bucket. I place the full bucket of beer on the edge of the counter over the dishwasher, open the door to the dishwasher and fill the bottles over the open door. There will be drips, and excess Starsan which will fall on the open dishwasher door. When you're done, close the dishwasher and all of the liquid mess goes into the dishwasher not on your floor. I learned that tip somewhere here on the forum. Works like a charm.

 

[kh54s10]

I start bottling day with previously cleaned bottles. Put Star San in a vinator. Spray a bottle on the vinator - wait 40 seconds - fill - while filling, spray Star San into the next bottle - repeat. Every bottle is freshly sprayed with Star San when filled.

Almost the same here but I have often heard that it takes at least a minute for the Starsan to fully sanitize. Therefore I spritz all the bottles and put then on the bottom dishwasher rack then fill them all.

 

[mattdee1]

I've always rinsed after drinking with hot water, inspect for crud. Sanitize with star san before bottling, fill and cap.

^^ Anything more than this is a waste of time, energy, and water, IMO. I keg nowadays, but using the above mentioned simple steps I bottled dozens of batches with not a single problem that could plausibly be attributed to the bottling process.

Of course, it really helps to make sure to rinse out the bottles ASAP after pouring so crud isn't allowed to dry out. When the yeast and sediment is still "wet" it is very easy to remove with a simple water rinse.

On bottling day, I'd take my cases of rinsed out bottles, and dunk 6-8 of them at a time into a 5 gal bucket filled with Star San. Grab 2 at a time, dump out the star san, fill them, and set them aside. Once the 6-8 bottles are full, dunk 6-8 more and let them soak while you cap the full ones. Repeat. I made a bottling bucket with 2 spigots so I could fill 2 bottles at the same time, so it really went quite quickly.

 

[CodeSection]

Almost the same here but I have often heard that it takes at least a minute for the Starsan to fully sanitize. Therefore I spritz all the bottles and put then on the bottom dishwasher rack then fill them all.

You heard or read correctly. Directly from Five Star "Allow for contact time of at least 1-2 minutes." https://fivestarchemicals.com/star-san-sanitizer-8-oz

 

[ncbrewer]

You heard or read correctly. Directly from Five Star "Allow for contact time of at least 1-2 minutes." https://fivestarchemicals.com/star-san-sanitizer-8-oz

In this podcast (https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/39...80416419&hwt=d3f206bc8615001eedea54ce421c63e6) Charley Talley explains that Star San kills in 30 seconds. The label (at that time) stated 2 minutes because the EPA tests were always at 2 minutes, and the label must reflect what the EPA test is. As home brewers, we're free to make our own judgement.

Edit: This is at 39 minutes. The whole podcast is worth a listen.

 

[CodeSection]

In this podcast (https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/39...80416419&hwt=d3f206bc8615001eedea54ce421c63e6) Charley Talley explains that Star San kills in 30 seconds. The label (at that time) stated 2 minutes because the EPA tests were always at 2 minutes, and the label must reflect what the EPA test is. As home brewers, we're free to make our own judgement.

Edit: This is at 39 minutes. The whole podcast is worth a listen.

Five Star stills has that recommendation on their website. I really, really, really do not think one's time is so valuable that another 30 seconds (or in your case, 20 seconds) is going to change one's day or life in any significant manner. Since I only bottle (10 gallon batches), I'm guessing I probably am bottling more than most who have posted here.

You are correct, as with everything, anyone can ignore any recommendations and make their own decisions and be accountable for their own choices made. I'm not sure why you wrote that....that's a given.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

When I bottled i did the bake the bottles method. All my bottles were already clean and dry. The day before bottling I took the number of needed bottles and covered each with a small square of aluminium foil so it was snug around the neck of the bottle. Put all the bottles in the oven, turn the oven on to 350 for an hour. Shut the oven off and let cool overnight. Thats like 5 minutes of work.

The next day i line all the bottles up in rows on my counter. Right next to the rows I stack two milk crates on top of each other. Put the full bottling bucket on top of the crates. Connect sanitized hose and bottling wand. Gravity does all the work. No bending etc. Everything is right in that comfy work zone.

As I'm ready to fill bottles remove the foil. I do this as i go. Bottle is full, place cap on top of bottle. Any leftover bottles will still be sterile (theoretically) until the foil is removed.

 

[kh54s10]

In this podcast (https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/39...80416419&hwt=d3f206bc8615001eedea54ce421c63e6) Charley Talley explains that Star San kills in 30 seconds. The label (at that time) stated 2 minutes because the EPA tests were always at 2 minutes, and the label must reflect what the EPA test is. As home brewers, we're free to make our own judgement.

Edit: This is at 39 minutes. The whole podcast is worth a listen.

Well, I try to allow one minute or more every time but I often grab a utensil and spray it. In those cases I am sure that I didn't wait that long. I have also dropped un-sanitized yeast packets, forgot to sanitize things that contacted the cooled wort or beer and have not had an infection. In almost 9 years of brewing I had one infected bottle of beer, and that had a nice sour flavor.

 

[ncbrewer]

Well, I try to allow one minute or more every time but I often grab a utensil and spray it. In those cases I am sure that I didn't wait that long. I have also dropped un-sanitized yeast packets, forgot to sanitize things that contacted the cooled wort or beer and have not had an infection. In almost 9 years of brewing I had one infected bottle of beer, and that had a nice sour flavor.

Mr. Talley also explained that. In another podcast he stated that theoretically, cleaning eliminates the need for sanitizing. Sanitizing is insurance. (I like the insurance.)