skifast1
Well-Known Member
...with the following lessons learned:
1) Sanitizing bottles took longer than I expected, though had I used a no-rinse solution instead of bleach I would've easily cut the time in half. Not having a faucet that can hold a bottle washer also made it take longer, as I ended up standing there waiting for the rinsing water to empty out over, and over, and over... A corny keg is looking mighty tempting!
2) Using the "magic wand" bottle filler that came with my $50 equipment kit was a HUGE plus. Touch it to the bottom of the bottle to fill, lift to stop. Easy-peasy.
3) Bottling out of the "Ale Pail" with a spigot left more than I expected in the pail. I had racked to a secondary and had basically no trub in there, but it was awkward to tip the pail to get the last little bits out of there. Do the folks here consider that loss part of the 'overhead' in the whole process? I also had a couple of drips leaking from the seal where the spigot hits the pail, but it's kind of a flimsy connection, so not unexpected and easily managed with a towel underneath.
4) And on a more juvenile note, using the bottle capper was just too fun - I almost wished I had another case worth.
1) Sanitizing bottles took longer than I expected, though had I used a no-rinse solution instead of bleach I would've easily cut the time in half. Not having a faucet that can hold a bottle washer also made it take longer, as I ended up standing there waiting for the rinsing water to empty out over, and over, and over... A corny keg is looking mighty tempting!
2) Using the "magic wand" bottle filler that came with my $50 equipment kit was a HUGE plus. Touch it to the bottom of the bottle to fill, lift to stop. Easy-peasy.
3) Bottling out of the "Ale Pail" with a spigot left more than I expected in the pail. I had racked to a secondary and had basically no trub in there, but it was awkward to tip the pail to get the last little bits out of there. Do the folks here consider that loss part of the 'overhead' in the whole process? I also had a couple of drips leaking from the seal where the spigot hits the pail, but it's kind of a flimsy connection, so not unexpected and easily managed with a towel underneath.
4) And on a more juvenile note, using the bottle capper was just too fun - I almost wished I had another case worth.