Bottling rant

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treacheroustexan

treacheroustexan

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I just bottled my first all grain batch. I'm soaking wet. It started over 2 1/2 hours ago. Everything that could have went wrong, did. Someone tell me why I bottle again?
 
Join the dark side....*evil breathing*

5-Gallon-Pin-Lock-Keg-Home-Brew-Draft-Beer-Corny-Kegs-Coke-Soda-Tank-5-Gal-Kegs-p31527.jpg
 
I feel you, man. If bottling hasn't bothered you in the past, don't give it up. Probably just a bad night. Have yourself a beer (e-cheers!) and live to fight another day.

FWIW, I bottled with 22's and 750 ml to make bottle day go faster. I also did half batches at times knowing that I wasn't feeling that batch 100%.
 
FloppyKnockers said:
I feel you, man. If bottling hasn't bothered you in the past, don't give it up. Probably just a bad night. Have yourself a beer (e-cheers!) and live to fight another day.

FWIW, I bottled with 22's and 750 ml to make bottle day go faster. I also did half batches at times knowing that I wasn't feeling that batch 100%.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I unfortunately dumped about 1.5 gallons just because I didn't want to deal with it. I shall start saving more of my 22s and use them instead of 12s. This batch ended up at 1.000... i mashed too low i believe. My first all grain but it didn't taste bad so I bottled it.
 
I laugh because I've done that.

Me: F**k this! I'm dumping this s**t. This is so dumb!
Wife: Why? Whats going on? Why don't you just finish bottling it?
Me: I'm fed up. It'll probably taste like s**t anyway. I had a bad feeling about it while sparging. Whatever...I'll make another one later on, just f**k this one.
Wife: Why don't you just bottle the rest and see where it goes?
Me: Why don't you bottle the rest and drink it?!?
Wife: ........
Me: *48 ounce pity party...
 
Would be easier if kegging was cheaper than it is. I desperately want to keg, but the cheapest estimate I figured on was $500+. Eventually I guess.
 
wtaylor3 said:
Would be easier if kegging was cheaper than it is. I desperately want to keg, but the cheapest estimate I figured on was $500+. Eventually I guess.
Click to expand...

Yeah when I initially kegged about a year ago, I was lazy and just bought a kegerator for $400, its obviously cheaper to do it yourself. Plus the ball lock conversion, and the kegs. I spent probably $600 alone and I only kegged one batch.. It took up so much room in my apartment that I needed and i was worried it would start to ruin my carpet from leaking, etc.
 
I bottle, I keg, I bottle from the keg.
Sometimes the stars align and I'm done before you know it. Other times the whole damn universe is against me and fights me every step of the way.

Welcome to every hobby. At least we have beer at the end and not stamps. :mug:
 
I'm in favor of bottling from the keg like a case or so. The biggest problem is cleaning used bottles that I acquired
 
My keys to not getting fed up with bottling:

Good music
Couple of good beers to drink at the ready
Clean and empty dishwasher (bottle staging area)
A small step stool to sit on
An extra set of hands so you're not constantly getting up and down or bending over all the time.
Spring loaded bottle filler.
More 22 oz bottles than 12s.


Extra set of hands starts sanitizing bottles as first set of hands racks into bottling bucket. Sanitized bottles go into dishwasher for easy access.

By the time beer has been racked, all bottles are ready and I start filling. Extra set of hands takes filled bottles and places on counter for me to cap, leaving me to fill bottles constantly and nearly effortlessly.

The 22 ounce bottles are great, not only less to bottle, store, and cap, but also gives you time to drink your other beers while filling.

Just my 2 pennies.

Gotta find that process that works for you.
 
Ridire said:
I'm the rarity around here, in that I don't mind bottling. Then again, I don't brew the kind of volumes some others here do.
Click to expand...


I'm with you, yea it's kinda time consuming and can be a pain in the ass; but I enjoy bottling. I take my time and put a lot of pride into it. Same with labeling. It makes me feel accomplished that I make a good product with nice presentation that others have enjoyed so far. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424545194.497664.jpg
 
treacheroustexan said:
I just bottled my first all grain batch. I'm soaking wet. It started over 2 1/2 hours ago. Everything that could have went wrong, did. Someone tell me why I bottle again?
Click to expand...

You might try using 1L fliptops, easier & less to cap. Also, use a bottle tree with a vinator, you can use it with Starsan. I attach my bottling wand to the valve on my bottling bucket & put it on the kitchen counter, with a cookie sheet & a folded towel on the floor underneath to catch any drips. Then it's easy to pull up a chair & fill bottles. If I don't have a helper to move bottles for me, it's easy to simply close the valve & move some bottles, then sit down & resume bottling. It's a lot quicker & easier this way. Actual capping is just aligning the cap & pushing down on the bail.
Regards, GF.
 
I don't mind bottling. I like dislike keeping the old labels, so the worst part for me is removing them.

After that, it's a small bit of time to get the setup ready (depending on how long it's been since the last time I bottled) and the actual bottling goes really quickly.

Autosiphon to rack beer into bottling bucket with priming sugar.
Bottling wand on bottling bucket with a 3/4" 90 degree elbow on the inside to get nearly every last drop.
Bottle tree or fastrack, or dishwasher for keeping sanitized bottles ready.
Second person to fill or cap bottles.

I can do it myself, but it's more fun to have someone there to hand bottles to. I've bottled 3 of the last 4 batches. Some of them were partial batches, but honestly, once you get everything ready, a half batch is nearly as much work as a full batch.
 
I certainly dont mind bottling, but it can be a pain every now and then. I try to get as much done as possible the day before like priming sugar solution, making sure the bottles are rinsed out, getting my labels printed, etc. And I also dont like other people helping me haha. I have a good system down that works with one person. Fill a bottle, place the cap on top, keep filling until that row off my bottle tree is done (9 bottles total) and then cap all those before bottling more. It normally takes a few hours from start to finish, but its certainly not terrible enough to justify the $500+ kegging setup.

Maybe Im just crazy, that's possible. :D
 
I only bottle my beer, I don't have space for a kegerator, that and I don't want to spend the money for one. I actually don't mind the bottling process. The best tip I ever found for bottling was here on HBT. Put your bottling bucket on the counter right over the dishwasher and fill the bottles over the open dishwasher door. That way any drips or small spills land on the door, close the door and any mess goes down the drain. I also like the satisfaction of opening the bottle and knowing I made this and it's really good.
 
VApatriot said:
I only bottle my beer, I don't have space for a kegerator, that and I don't want to spend the money for one. I actually don't mind the bottling process. The best tip I ever found for bottling was here on HBT. Put your bottling bucket on the counter right over the dishwasher and fill the bottles over the open dishwasher door. That way any drips or small spills land on the door, close the door and any mess goes down the drain. I also like the satisfaction of opening the bottle and knowing I made this and it's really good.
Click to expand...

Due to the process of processing dishes at my house, I cannot rely in the dishwasher being empty at any given time. I've even tried washing the dishes myself ahead of time only to find someone has helpfully FILLED THE DANG THING before I could get to bottling...

So I place a short-sided baking pan under the bottling wand instead. Then I rinse that off or put it in the dishwasher when I'm done.

I could literally bottle a batch of beer in under an hour if I had the sugar solution made up and the bottles washed ahead of time.
 
I switched to kegging some time ago, but that doesn't mean I have rid myself of bottles or the process of filling them. There are those half batches of rarely drank or experimentals (I don't have a half keg). Finally I don't brew exactly five gallons so I fill 3 - 20 bottles of what doesn't go in the keg.

I didn't switch to kegs to avoid bottling, but, man does it cut down on bottling time...besides, there are not a whole lot of cooler things on this earth than pulling a tap handle for a pint of your own beer.
 
Meh, I just kegged my first in a used pin lock keg (got 3 kegs and a tank for free)... I've sprayed down every post and fitting and connection with star-san like 20 times to check for leaks.

Haven't found any, but it's not helping me sleep any better. Also, I'm worried something is going to be forked up... the lid didn't want to seat and the whole time I'm like "AGHHHH I'M RUINING MY BEER!"

I dislike this feeling more than bottling.

Hopefully that goes away with time.
 
Homercidal said:
Due to the process of processing dishes at my house, I cannot rely in the dishwasher being empty at any given time. I've even tried washing the dishes myself ahead of time only to find someone has helpfully FILLED THE DANG THING before I could get to bottling...
Click to expand...

Well, if the dishwasher isn't already running, or full of clean dishes, so what. If it's loaded full of dirty dishes, the open door is going to catch any spills, so when you close the door that liquid will empty into the bottom of the dishwasher and go down the drain and you won't have anything to else to wash. That's the only way I bottle.

I have a spring loaded fill tube that mounts on the bottom of the spigot at the bottom of my bottling bucket. The fill tube hangs over the edge of the counter and right over the open dishwasher door. I usually sit on an upside down empty bucket to fill the bottles next to the door. I put a starsan filled bowl with the caps right on the open door, fill the bottle, put a wet cap on it, put it on the counter until they're all filled. Close the dishwasher door, then cap them, all done, no mess at all. Anyway, it works good for me, less mess and less stuff to clean.
 
VApatriot said:
Well, if the dishwasher isn't already running, or full of clean dishes, so what. If it's loaded full of dirty dishes, the open door is going to catch any spills, so when you close the door that liquid will empty into the bottom of the dishwasher and go down the drain and you won't have anything to else to wash. That's the only way I bottle.

I have a spring loaded fill tube that mounts on the bottom of the spigot at the bottom of my bottling bucket. The fill tube hangs over the edge of the counter and right over the open dishwasher door. I usually sit on an upside down empty bucket to fill the bottles next to the door. I put a starsan filled bowl with the caps right on the open door, fill the bottle, put a wet cap on it, put it on the counter until they're all filled. Close the dishwasher door, then cap them, all done, no mess at all. Anyway, it works good for me, less mess and less stuff to clean.
Click to expand...

I see. I thought you put your empties on the top rack while you filled.

I still find the pan on the floor works better for me because I can sit more comfortably without the large door in front of me.

Plus, if I open the dishwasher the wife might accidentally think I was planning on doing the dishes and then when I don't, she would harbor some resentment, even if it's subconscious. if she is going to resent me for something, I want it to be something worth resenting me for!
 
Homercidal said:
Plus, if I open the dishwasher the wife might accidentally think I was planning on doing the dishes and then when I don't, she would harbor some resentment, even if it's subconscious. if she is going to resent me for something, I want it to be something worth resenting me for!
Click to expand...

Funny thing is we haven't used the dishwasher since last April. There's only me and SWMBO and I can get the dishes washed by hand faster, way cheaper, and cleaner than the stupid dishwasher can. The only time it get's opened is when I do bottle a batch. The other thing I do is to have a bucket with ~ 31/2 gallons of starsan in it right next to the open door and rinse each bottle just before filling so it gets a little wet under the filling station.

Anyway, whatever works for you:)
 
I just bottled 10 gallons today! 96 bottles. Washed, sanitized, filled, capped. Took me about 5 hours cause it was 2 different styles and had to wash/sanitize in between. A pilsner and an Irish red. Next week, labeling...
 
Were you using 12oz bottles??? if so, time to step up to 22oz bomber bottles.
quicker to clean and quicker to bottle ...
 

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