Bottling your brew

[mikep90]

So I just finished bottle my first batch, and I must say it required more labor than I anticipated. I assume this is because it was my first time, and I don't really have a system in place for bottling just yet. I had my fermenter on the counter, and was filling my sanitized bottles on top of a towel on the floor. Needless to say it was a lot of up and down. Just curious what kind of bottling setup everyone has? Any advice going forward? Recommendations? Thanks in advance!

 

[mikep90]

Correction: bottling bucket on the counter, not the fermenter.

 

[friarsmith]

I pilfered this pic from another HBT thread. This is what I do for wine and mead and how I used to bottle beer before kegging.

Bottling bucket w/ spigot, short length of vinyl tubing connected to a spring-loaded bottle filler. Keep the spigot in the "on" position and push the bottom of the bottle up against the spring tip. Simple and effective.

 

[TonyKZ1]

Hello and congrats on your first batch. The way I do it, I have my fermenter, or bottling bucket if I'm batch priming, set on the counter and a bottling wand (with a spring loaded valve on it) connected to it. I'm in a chair in front of it. The sanitized bottles off to the right also on the counter.

I reach for a bottle, turn it upside down over my sanitizing jug to drain out any excess sanitizing solution. Note: if bottle priming I now put in the specified amount of priming sugar in the bottle. Move the bottle to the wand, fill bottle up to top and when I move the bottle down, the valve shuts off the flow of beer. I then set the bottle on the left of the fermenter/bottling bucket.

I screw on the cap if it's the 1 Liter plastic bottles or just set the cap on it if it's the 12oz glass bottle. Then after I'm done filling the glass ones, I use my capper to seal the caps on them. Of course you or a helper could seal the cap after a few are done to reduce the risk of knocking over a bottle and spilling it's contents.
Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

OK, here is a tip I learned and I think he has been really helpful. I put my bottling bucket on the counter above my dishwasher. Then I put my bottling hose on and bring it down, opening the dishwasher and filling there. This way if I have any overflow or mess...it don't really have to clean it up I just have to close the dishwasher and run a quick rinse with no soap. Then once the bottle is filled I just sat it to my right and grab an empty to my left.

https://beerandbrewing.com/VKHTiCsAAGO273jk/article/dishwasher-bottling

 

[eadavis80]

Sanitizing 50 beer bottles sucks. Buy this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/vinator-bottle-rinser. Arguably the best $20 I've ever spent on brew equipment. I've got about 70 batches under my belt now and it only took a handful of batches to realize that dunking and draining 50 bottles every bottling day, like you said, is tedious and painful on the back. I can now sanitize a batch worth of bottles in under 5 minutes and I don't require 2 Advil at the end. Sanitize using this and then I put the bottles on this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/economy-bottle-tree. LIke others, I attach the bottling want to the spigot of my bottling bucket. I make my priming sugar solution first, then, while that's cooling, I sanitize my bottles and put them on the tree. Dump the priming solution into the sanitized bottling bucket, rack the beer into the bottling bucket, bottle and clean up. Alone I can do it in about 75 minutes. With a buddy, easily under an hour.

 

[orionol73]

Sanitizing 50 beer bottles sucks. Buy this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/vinator-bottle-rinser. Arguably the best $20 I've ever spent on brew equipment. I've got about 70 batches under my belt now and it only took a handful of batches to realize that dunking and draining 50 bottles every bottling day, like you said, is tedious and painful on the back. I can now sanitize a batch worth of bottles in under 5 minutes and I don't require 2 Advil at the end. Sanitize using this and then I put the bottles on this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/economy-bottle-tree. LIke others, I attach the bottling want to the spigot of my bottling bucket. I make my priming sugar solution first, then, while that's cooling, I sanitize my bottles and put them on the tree. Dump the priming solution into the sanitized bottling bucket, rack the beer into the bottling bucket, bottle and clean up. Alone I can do it in about 75 minutes. With a buddy, easily under an hour.

This!

 

[jbunton]

Definitely gonna pick one of these up. My first batch coming off in a bout two weeks!
My LHBS has em for $25, I have to go there anyway so the extra $5 doesn't really bother me

 

[eadavis80]

Yeah, flat-rate shipping is $8, so you're coming out ahead anyway. I order from NB when they offer specials like 3 kits for X price or whatever. They just had one where you could get three different IPA's for $19.99 each, but since I've been brewing so much lately, I passed.

 

[seatazzz]

I just ordered one from Amazon...for $20 I will get it today by 9pm. Guess what I'm doing tonight!

 

[jojacques]

I pilfered this pic from another HBT thread. This is what I do for wine and mead and how I used to bottle beer before kegging.

Bottling bucket w/ spigot, short length of vinyl tubing connected to a spring-loaded bottle filler. Keep the spigot in the "on" position and push the bottom of the bottle up against the spring tip. Simple and effective.

Oh I really like this idea. I'll try it next time!!

 

[mikep90]

Awesome thanks for the help guys! Definitely buying one of those along with the bottle tree. I really like the idea of attaching the filler right to the bottling bucket as well

 

[Johow]

I bought one of those vinators and it failed after just a couple brews. It would just stick in the down position. I found it just as easy to dunk a bunch of bottles in a bucket full os Starsan. I'm just about to fill my first keg though so I won't be doing that anymore either...

 

[J187]

Vinator + drying tree.
Bottling bucket on counter with spring loaded bottle filler attached by a very short tube to the spigot

 

[mattkm]

I also highly agree with this:

Sanitizing 50 beer bottles sucks. Buy this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/vinator-bottle-rinser. Arguably the best $20 I've ever spent on brew equipment. I've got about 70 batches under my belt now and it only took a handful of batches to realize that dunking and draining 50 bottles every bottling day, like you said, is tedious and painful on the back. I can now sanitize a batch worth of bottles in under 5 minutes and I don't require 2 Advil at the end. Sanitize using this and then I put the bottles on this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/economy-bottle-tree. LIke others, I attach the bottling want to the spigot of my bottling bucket. I make my priming sugar solution first, then, while that's cooling, I sanitize my bottles and put them on the tree. Dump the priming solution into the sanitized bottling bucket, rack the beer into the bottling bucket, bottle and clean up. Alone I can do it in about 75 minutes. With a buddy, easily under an hour.

 

[mcarmack]

OK, here is a tip I learned and I think he has been really helpful. I put my bottling bucket on the counter above my dishwasher. Then I put my bottling hose on and bring it down, opening the dishwasher and filling there. This way if I have any overflow or mess...it don't really have to clean it up I just have to close the dishwasher and run a quick rinse with no soap. Then once the bottle is filled I just sat it to my right and grab an empty to my left.

Same here, except I use my dishwasher to sanitize the bottles too. Run it on the anti-bacterial setting kills everything just fine. I let them cool for a little while (with the door still closed), and then open it up when it's time to bottle with the bottling bucket on the counter above. The bottling wand is attached to the bucket with about an inch of hose is all. So I grab a bottle from inside the dishwasher, fill it over the dishwasher, then set it on the counter.

Still a chore to be sure, but a lot less than I think some make it out to be. But I'm sure if/when I start kegging I will wonder why I ever bottled, that's what everyone says anyway.

 

[ncbrewer]

I sanitize with the vinator, but not all at once. While I'm filling one bottle with my right hand, I get the next and rinse it with the vinator with my left hand. It stays upside down on the vinator stem until ready to fill.

 

[Collmorgen]

I use the dishwasher to sanitize also. Just soak the bottles in Oxyclean and water for a day, rinse and put in the dishwasher the night before bottling. By myself, I can do two cases in an hour. With a friend, even faster.