Curse You Bottling!!!

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Kalaloch

Kalaloch

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That’s it I’m done with bottling, I’m this close to quitting brewing altogether, due to bottling. The cleaning, the sanitizing, the capping, the mess.

Ok end of rant. I’m starting to keg from this day forward.
 
I feel ya! I quit brewing for about seven years due to the fact that I hated bottling so much. I got a single keg setup in 2014 and have brewed almost 70 batches! Bottling sux!
 
Let me know how it goes (and what equipment you pick up).

I work a few times a month at a small brew pub, and it kills me that I can fill 7 kegs at the pub in the time it takes me to fill 50 bottles at home.

Side note: Part of my hesitation to get into kegging at home is that I don't want to invest in a keezer, but want something with a minimum of 2 kegs.
 
Many years ago my brewing got ahead of my bottling such that I was faced with 25 gallons of beer that had to be bottled on what turned out to be the hottest damned day of the year here.

It...was...horrible.

That evening I started piecing together what I needed to build a keezer and went down to my lhbs the next day to buy kegs.
Have never looked back...

Cheers!
 
i also felt the same way. i switched to kegging and never regretted it. I also switched to swing-top Grolsch bottles for my occasional bottling, and that helped with the left-overs from trying to put a 23 l batch into a 19 l keg.
 
My old Garage fridge...

D9Dx5lS.jpg
 
Kegging is the only way to go when brewing regularly in my opinion, although I usually bottle 4-5 each time for travel beers. I have 100's of bottles and too cheap to buy a growler
 
Once I stopped using a wing capper and started using a Grifo Bench Capper, I now look forward to bottling about 27 bottles every Friday. I see no reason to switch to kegs....but that's just my opinion.
 
I have a kegging system--started to put it together after 3 or 5 batches, can't recall exactly.

I'm a little unclear about what is so horrible about bottling. I switched partly because I didn't want to bottle carb and have dregs left in every bottle. I also like being able to force-carb and speed up the process. I like having beer on tap, can have a little or more than a little...lots of reasons to like it.

But a time saver it is not. Between cleaning kegs, cleaning the system, racking time into the keg, using CO2 to push Star-san out of a receiving keg to purge it of O2--what takes so long about bottling compared to that?

The best tip I ever read about bottling from a bottling bucket was to do it over an open dishwasher door to catch drips and such. Fill half a dozen, cap 'em, rinse off in sink, set aside.

I do some bottling off my kegs. I use a vinator (like this) to sanitize; anyone who hasn't bought one yet should seriously consider getting one. The bottom part that fits it to the top of a bottling tree comes off so it will sit flat on a countertop or crate. Fill 2/3 with sanitizer, and go. I dip the mouth of a bottle into the sanitizer, then give it 2 or 3 squirts. Each time I take a bottle from it, I add another, dip, squirt, and then it drains while I fill the previous one.

What am I missing that people are struggling so much?
 
I resisted kegging for 30+ brews. Said I was fine with bottling. Found a single keg setup on CL last winter and bought it. Still was in no rush to use it, but finally got it set up this summer. Now planning the 4 tap keezer build this winter. :D
 
I started kegging about 4+ years ago and haven’t looked back.

I started making 10 gallon batches so that’s over 100 bottles, would take 2 hours with setup and clean up and then storage of them. I can keg the same amount in less than 45 mins.

Storing bottles is a pain and take up so much more room than kegs do.
 
I don't particularly mind bottling, but it doesn't lend itself to the kinds of "unstable" hop-forward beers I really like to drink and am primarily planning to brew for the foreseeable future. With the keezer build recently completed, I'm off and running with brewing these beers, with the occasional sours and big, aged, malty beers (which will be bottled) thrown in for good measure.

Also, the wife was getting sick of having all the bottles laying around, so she gave me a very enthusiastic thumbs up on building the keezer. Can't say no to that!
 
I bottled for 4 years. Then I bought a 15 gallon brew kettle so I didn't have to worry about boil overs. Figured I could also use it to do 10 gallon batches. Unfortunately the fermentation chamber (5 cf chest freezer with a temp controller) only held 1 brew bucket at a time. What shall I do? Bigger chest freezer. And what about this little chest freezer sitting in the corner? With a collar it fits 3 kegs and a 10 pound co2 bottle. Life is good. Packaging takes the same time it took to rack from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. Passed all the bottling equipment along to a friend from work that was just starting out.

The most difficult thing about switching to kegging, believe it or not, was disposing of the 30+ cases of bottles I had accumulated. These things were my friends. I had washed, dried, stored and refilled them each many, many times. I tried to find them good homes Really, I did. finally, I was forced to abandon them on the curb on trash day. 2 cases a week. It was so sad. Like a little puppy, sitting by the side of the road, waiting for their owner to come by and save them from a horrid fate. I try not to think about it. Perhaps some home brewer came by early in the morning and rescued them. Yes, that's what happened. I'm sure of it. It helps me sleep.
 
There are some nice aspects to kegging, and having the equipment allows for doing some things that can't be done with bottling, but there is some work to it. They still have to be cleaned and maintained.

I really appreciate having a kegging system, but I don't mind bottling too much. Once you get a system tweaked, it's not very difficult or time consuming.
 
NothingRhymesWithCurtiss said:
Side note: Part of my hesitation to get into kegging at home is that I don't want to invest in a keezer, but want something with a minimum of 2 kegs.
Click to expand...

I feel ya. While keezers are very cool, I didn't like the idea of lifting full kegs to drop in. So, I went the route of a mini fridge. Just slide the kegs in with no heavy lifting. Mine holds 3 kegs plus the CO2 tank with no issue.

:mug:
 
Homercidal said:
I really appreciate having a kegging system, but I don't mind bottling too much. Once you get a system tweaked, it's not very difficult or time consuming.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Having two people bottling is the real key in my opinion. One to fill, one to call, and it goes real fast.
 
I haven't bottled in a year now, but when I was, I found it relaxing once I had the process down. You just have to commit the time it takes to do it all.

Now I do enjoy how fast you can keg a beer and be done.
 
Got a new bottle capper. Was not really comfortable with it (is the grey plastic one at LHBS that probably everyone has seen) Capped my competition brew a few weeks ago with it (A DIPA) . Kegged most all of it, but bottled a few for the competition. It was a proven recipe that has done extremely well in the past.

Saw my score. crapped myself. It sucked. Went to the fridge and retrieved the bottle I saved for when I got my score, and ran a pint out of the keg to put them side by side. The kegged beer - slight haze, golden with tint of orange - very pretty and tastes fantastic, nose was amazing. The bottled beer? looked like apple cider and all hope notes were gone - just bitterness was left. Tasted like paper/cardboard

I have capped thousands of bottles. This has not happened until I used this capper. Ordered a new one the other day.

Next time, I will send a carb-capped bottle or something. that just ruined my day.
 
allanmorgan said:
I feel ya. While keezers are very cool, I didn't like the idea of lifting full kegs to drop in. So, I went the route of a mini fridge. Just slide the kegs in with no heavy lifting. Mine holds 3 kegs plus the CO2 tank with no issue.

:mug:
Click to expand...

What model fridge do you have? And did you convert it, or did it come with taps?
 
Took my wife into the lhbs the other day, and as we were sipping some samples she remarked how cool that freezer thing with all the taps would look in our living room. The clerk and I looked at each other for a sec and I almost stuttered as I said, " why, I think I could put one of those together!" She responded with, "does that mean you can get rid of bottles?" I was like, "I guess so!". I'm shopping for a 7cuft freezer now.
 
Homercidal said:
There are some nice aspects to kegging, and having the equipment allows for doing some things that can't be done with bottling, but there is some work to it. They still have to be cleaned and maintained.

I really appreciate having a kegging system, but I don't mind bottling too much. Once you get a system tweaked, it's not very difficult or time consuming.
Click to expand...

I have a nice kegging setup now, but I still mostly bottle. Having the "system" is the key. I have done it so many times, I've found a very fast and efficient way that works well for me. I bought 4k bottle caps all at once when I found them for sale for less than a penny a piece, so bottling is a money saver too, no electricity and no C02. Easy to transport, give away or send to competition.

I'm built for time not speed anyway, and I got into this hobby because I enjoy it, spending 30 mins bottling is not wasted time to me!
 
Jayjay1976 said:
Took my wife into the lhbs the other day, and as we were sipping some samples she remarked how cool that freezer thing with all the taps would look in our living room. The clerk and I looked at each other for a sec and I almost stuttered as I said, " why, I think I could put one of those together!" She responded with, "does that mean you can get rid of bottles?" I was like, "I guess so!". I'm shopping for a 7cuft freezer now.
Click to expand...

Your wife definitely talked to my wife about this...
 
Brew_G said:
Your wife definitely talked to my wife about this...
Click to expand...
Hah! :mug:
Well I'm still a beginner in brewing but my plan all along has been to draft her into helping me out with bottling so she can experience what a pain in the ass it can be, making my case for building a keezer even stronger. On the way home from the lhbs I said to her, not only can I build one, but its not even expensive. To her, the chest freezer seemed like the expensive part, but a 7cuft can be had for less than $200, and when Jet.com runs their 30% discount you can get one delivered for less than $110.

Of course, then I would spread out purchasing the rest of the kegging equipment over several months to lessen the blow to our budget. I've got my eye on some Perlicks, I think they will be my first purchase just to avoid the temptation to go cheap on faucets later on in the project when wallet fatigue sets in.
 
Jayjay1976 said:
Hah! :mug:
Well I'm still a beginner in brewing but my plan all along has been to draft her into helping me out with bottling so she can experience what a pain in the ass it can be, making my case for building a keezer even stronger. On the way home from the lhbs I said to her, not only can I build one, but its not even expensive. To her, the chest freezer seemed like the expensive part, but a 7cuft can be had for less than $200, and when Jet.com runs their 30% discount you can get one delivered for less than $110.

Of course, then I would spread out purchasing the rest of the kegging equipment over several months to lessen the blow to our budget. I've got my eye on some Perlicks, I think they will be my first purchase just to avoid the temptation to go cheap on faucets later on in the project when wallet fatigue sets in.
Click to expand...

FWIW, you can also shop around at appliance stores for clearance/dmged items.

I was able to get myself a new, warranty in tact, 16cuft Whirlpool chest freezer for $100.00. It had dents on the back side.
 
I'm just not that fast with 5 gallons of beer that I could keep enough kegs around for all the different beers I like to drink, also tend to age beers.

I prefer bottling, grolsch pints for quick rotating beers and finnish stubbies for the ones I want to age, also couldn't really afford to make a setup I would like to have ;D
 
Jayjay1976 said:
Hah! :mug:

Well I'm still a beginner in brewing but my plan all along has been to draft her into helping me out with bottling so she can experience what a pain in the ass it can be, making my case for building a keezer even stronger. On the way home from the lhbs I said to her, not only can I build one, but its not even expensive. To her, the chest freezer seemed like the expensive part, but a 7cuft can be had for less than $200, and when Jet.com runs their 30% discount you can get one delivered for less than $110.



Of course, then I would spread out purchasing the rest of the kegging equipment over several months to lessen the blow to our budget. I've got my eye on some Perlicks, I think they will be my first purchase just to avoid the temptation to go cheap on faucets later on in the project when wallet fatigue sets in.
Click to expand...


It’s really scary how similar out situations are! The big difference is that I bought all the faucets (Perlick 630SS), line, QDs, etc. first, then decided to use our old 7.1 cu ft freezer to build the keezer. It was almost two years between buying the guts of the keezer and actually building it!
 
I keep thinking about'd moving to kegging but it looks too overwhelming to me. I have almost no idea how any of it works or what steps I'd have to take to move away from bottling. But I don't brew a lot, maybe 4 batches a year or so. So I'm not sure making the change would be all that beneficial in my circumstance anyway.
 
I'm not sure if I'd be able to keep brewing if I didn't keg at the moment. I didn't really mind bottling but the time commitment is a dealbreaker now with work, school and a kid on the way. I can keg way faster than bottle without taking over the entire kitchen for a few hours. Sure kegs need maintained too but for me the process is much easier. Rinse the keg out with water, soak the posts in Oxyclean (if needed) and starsan. Clean out the diptube, shake a few quarts of Starsan around the keg and you're ready to rack.

That said I never really minded bottling. If I timed it right and did it first thing in the morning or late at night it was pretty relaxing. Very happy I went to mostly kegging though.
 
Brew_G said:
It’s really scary how similar out situations are! The big difference is that I bought all the faucets (Perlick 630SS), line, QDs, etc. first, then decided to use our old 7.1 cu ft freezer to build the keezer. It was almost two years between buying the guts of the keezer and actually building it!
Click to expand...

I bet this strategy is fairly typical! I've only recently finished my electric biab rig, which took 11 months to piece together. I know I could have started brewing with a far simpler setup, but I can't afford to buy things twice so I just decided on what I wanted and bought it one piece at a time. As a product designer I know the touch points are the most critical aspect of any product, that's why my keezer plan starts with the perlicks I'd like to be pulling beers on, and works backward to the things that are less important to the overall experience, like choosing ball lock vs pin lock, new kegs or used kegs.

:off:The brew rig itself is just a massive constellation of touch points, and with the constant stirring of the mash, frequent working of the valves, connecting hoses, and especially hoisting the bag and cleanup, there were a lot of ergonomic considerations. As it ended up I can conduct the entire operation from a single standing position, everything within easy reach (still working on a pipe mount for the controller, for now it's sitting on a tool box on the floor).

Brew rig-1.jpg
 
I went the fridge route with my old garage fridge. Old Frigidaire that had a couple broken shelves so was relegated to my water/beer/soda fridge and holiday leftover over flow storage. Made a small shelf across the compressor hump in back to hold 2 kegs. Advantage is the freezer still works so ice cream, freezer overflow of stuff I don't want rock hard in the deep freeze goes in it. Plus I lay boards across the kegs for thanksgiving and Christmas to hold excess food hat won't fit the main fridge.

D9Dx5lS.jpg


NothingRhymesWithCurtiss said:
What model fridge do you have? And did you convert it, or did it come with taps?
Click to expand...
 
BongoYodeler said:
I keep thinking about'd moving to kegging but it looks too overwhelming to me. I have almost no idea how any of it works or what steps I'd have to take to move away from bottling. But I don't brew a lot, maybe 4 batches a year or so. So I'm not sure making the change would be all that beneficial in my circumstance anyway.
Click to expand...

Kegging is not as intimidating as some make it out to be. Takes a lot of initial investment, but once set up, IMO its easier than bottling. Don't think I could justify it though for 4 batches a year.
 
BongoYodeler said:
I keep thinking about'd moving to kegging but it looks too overwhelming to me. I have almost no idea how any of it works or what steps I'd have to take to move away from bottling. But I don't brew a lot, maybe 4 batches a year or so. So I'm not sure making the change would be all that beneficial in my circumstance anyway.
Click to expand...

But what if...
Kegging was easier, faster, more fun, and in the long run even cheaper (okay maybe not) than bottling? You might find yourself brewing more often!

Add to this the coolness factor of pulling a fresh pint for guests, not to mention the ultimate hipster cred you'll get when you show up to a party with a growler or two of cold, delicious beer you made yourself. Can you hear that? That's the breathless sigh of every woman in the room wanting you, and the desperate squeak of every guy in the room wanting to be you. Bottles have their charm, but unless you get custom labels and caps, sadly the sight of nondescript brown bottles, generic caps, and visible sediment will sow seeds of doubt and suspicion. Afterwards, you'll be dumping out barely sipped bottles of your beloved brew left behind by the nattering nabobs of negativism who simply couldn't be convinced of your abilities.

On the other hand, when you pull and/or pour a frothy pint for someone and hand it to them with a grin, they will look left, maybe right at the others who are either happily quaffing their own pint or looking on in anticipation. At that moment an overwhelming urge to drink takes hold of them, and as they draw deeply their eyes widen with a mixture of delight and misbelief just as they meet yours, your head nodding slowly with a cocked eyebrow that says "Yes I made this, and it is good."

I was once that innocent wide-eyed quaffer, so secure in my beard, my manliness, and my man-bun. But soon I too wished to be worshipped at the temple of cool, and that awakening has compelled each and every step of my journey. Though I still have a great distance ahead my heart is filled with hope, and though my wallet is empty till friday my man-satchel is filled with grain.
 
Wow, thanks for that. Whether I move on to kegging or stick to bottling that, sir, brought a smile to my face.


Jayjay1976 said:
But what if...
Kegging was easier, faster, more fun, and in the long run even cheaper (okay maybe not) than bottling? You might find yourself brewing more often!

Add to this the coolness factor of pulling a fresh pint for guests, not to mention the ultimate hipster cred you'll get when you show up to a party with a growler or two of cold, delicious beer you made yourself. Can you hear that? That's the breathless sigh of every woman in the room wanting you, and the desperate squeak of every guy in the room wanting to be you. Bottles have their charm, but unless you get custom labels and caps, sadly the sight of nondescript brown bottles, generic caps, and visible sediment will sow seeds of doubt and suspicion. Afterwards, you'll be dumping out barely sipped bottles of your beloved brew left behind by the nattering nabobs of negativism who simply couldn't be convinced of your abilities.

On the other hand, when you pull and/or pour a frothy pint for someone and hand it to them with a grin, they will look left, maybe right at the others who are either happily quaffing their own pint or looking on in anticipation. At that moment an overwhelming urge to drink takes hold of them, and as they draw deeply their eyes widen with a mixture of delight and misbelief just as they meet yours, your head nodding slowly with a cocked eyebrow that says "Yes I made this, and it is good."

I was once that innocent wide-eyed quaffer, so secure in my beard, my manliness, and my man-bun. But soon I too wished to be worshipped at the temple of cool, and that awakening has compelled each and every step of my journey. Though I still have a great distance ahead my heart is filled with hope, and though my wallet is empty till friday my man-satchel is filled with grain.
Click to expand...
 
I've been brewing for a little over two years. I brew about 2 times a month (3 gal batches). After my first bottling session (using an auto siphon) I cursed and swore I would get a keg setup. I've had the worst luck with auto siphons (went through 3 and none worked right).

For me, the bottling process was a PITA which led to frustration. It was mostly the fault of me but deep down I always wanted to keg. So I would look for every reason to hate bottling. Sterilizing bottles and components, clean up, etc led to my want to keg. I also hated the fact of all the sediment and having to put a couple bottles in the freezer for 10 min or so to set the trub. I just wanted to be able to pour a pint when i want and not have to wait.

So after over two years and 43 batches I am close to being set up. Have all the pieces for a two tap keezer except the freezer. That will be coming within the next month. Trying to hold out until Black Friday to see if I could snag a deal from one of the box stores. Not sure if I will be able to wait that long.
 

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