bottling with the minumum

[rjm]

Later this afternoon I will be bottling my first batch, and I have a few questions. First off, I do not have a bottling wand or a bottling bucket, but I do have one of the plastic fermenters without a spigot. I plan to rack the beer into the sterilized plastic bucket, after having boiled ¾ cup of corn sugar for 10 min, and then use the siphon again to get the beer into the bottles. I will have to use the little hose clip to stop the flow between bottles. This will be a drag, I know, but c’est la vie, as I have what I have.

I plan to soak the bottles in a mild bleach solution (they are clean, as I rinsed them all after I consumed the beer, and also soaked them yesterday and cleaned off all the labels). I was thinking a tablespoon per gallon of water? How long do I need to soak them? I figure 30 min should be enough, but I read somewhere that overnight is best (seems like over kill to me – does the bleach not dissipate quickly?). Can I rinse with tap water? I am hoping that I do not need to boil water and cool it in order to rinse the bottles of the bleach solution, as I usually rinse things 3 times to be sure that the residue is gone. Is is a good idea to soak them in the bleach solution, pull a bottle out, fill it with rinse water from another bucket, shake around, drain, fill with beer? I do not have a dishwasher. Also, can I soak the caps in a mild bleach solution, and then rinse with cooled pre-boiled water, pulling them from the water one at a time as needed?

I appreciate any help here, and any other advice that you might have.

Cheers,


Rob

 

[cweston]

All your plans should work. You're right: filling bottles that way will be a PITA, but it will work.

30 minutes contact time is good for bleach at that strength. Just rinse very thoroughly: I would rinse from the faucet rather than in a bucket, since bleach would start to build up in your rinse water that way.

Rinsing is a very controverial topic here: suffice to say that if your water is OK to drink then it's probably OK to rinse your bottles, too. RDWHAHB.

 

[BeanPot Brewery]

Geez. Good luck. I hate bottling with the bucket and wand, I can't imagine doing it the hard way.
I would have lots of mops and towels handy. Sounds like it could get ugly.

 

[El Pistolero]

I plan to soak the bottles in a mild bleach solution (they are clean, as I rinsed them all after I consumed the beer, and also soaked them yesterday and cleaned off all the labels). I was thinking a tablespoon per gallon of water? How long do I need to soak them? I figure 30 min should be enough, but I read somewhere that overnight is best (seems like over kill to me – does the bleach not dissipate quickly?).

If you are going to use bleach to sanitize, then according to Papazian you should mix 1 teaspoon bleach per 5 gallons water, soak for 1/2 to 1 hour, then drip dry and don't rinse. A tablespoon per gallon is overkill for sanitizing and will require a very thorough rinse.

 

[cweston]

If you are going to use bleach to sanitize, then according to Papazian you should mix 1 teaspoon bleach per 5 gallons water, soak for 1/2 to 1 hour, then drip dry and don't rinse.

Yeah, but has a single poster here ever copped to doing it this way? It seems that no one actually follows Charlie's advice on this.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I have to agree with El P here. I just started using Iodophor due to time constraints. But when using bleach, I usually use a 'generous' couple of tablespoons for five gallons and then, rinse the hell out of it with hot tap water. I just think a teaspoon of bleach for five gallons is too weak. Plus, I don't want to wait two hours!

 

[Kevin K]

I use iodaphor, and bottled my first batch last night. 53 12oz bottles took me a little over an hour and a half. (working by myself).
I've got a racking cane/syphon tube and a bottling wand. I can't imagine doing it any other way.

 

[kornkob]

Yeah, but has a single poster here ever copped to doing it this way? It seems that no one actually follows Charlie's advice on this.

My father and I both used this method years back when he was broke because he had 3 kids and when I was broke because I had to pay for college. Bleach is the cheapest way to sanitize and raises no eyebrows from your partner because it is a household item.

It works exactly as written in the Joy of Homebrewing.

The only reasons we switched: a) we have more disposable income now and b) other sanitizers are faster.

 

[casebrew]

I probably use a stronger bleach solution, one ug per 5 gallons. I figure if it smells like a public pool, that's good. But then I let the bottles drain, and leave them unside down in the paper six packs for a while. Havn't had to dump any yet, either for infections or bad tastes.

I didn't buy a wand 'til last batch. I used a vinyl hose, and just held a loop in my hand. As bottle filled, I would fold the hose, crimping it til I could move to next bottle. I think that will work better than a clamp that takes two hands. I fill about 12 bottles at a time, setting a cap on each as I fill the next. Then crimp the caps, and box the bottles before lining up the next 12 on a towel to catch drips. But I use a bench capper. With a wing capper you might want to keep them in the sixers so you don't knock them all over, like bowling or 'beer bottle dominos'.