First time bottling

[bfgcdub]

So I'm going to be bottling my first batch in the next couple of days but I need to know how much time to budget. I read a few threads and it looks like when people get experienced it can take an hour or two. So how long do you think it will take for me a first batch newbie.

 

[Mozart]

Hard to say. A lot will depend on how much you are bottling, what equipment you have, and what your process is like.

My suggestion is to read Revvy's bottling sticky if you haven't already.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

You may find a couple of little tips and tricks there to speed up the process even if you don't incorporate the whole process.

And were it me, I'd give myself plenty of extra time, and just relax and enjoy.

Hey, it's your first beer! Congrats!

 

[boydster]

I'd say to give yourself a 4 hour block. You probably won't need more, and you might need less. Be sure to give yourself some time to research you next brew by trying examples of the style.

 

[mrphillips]

Including sterilizing time and cleanup, it takes me and my girlfriend about 1 1/2 hours - it might take less time if we weren't drinking along while doing it

If it was just me, probably add another 45 minutes to that. I recommend doing with a friend/family member. It's more fun and goes faster.

 

[woozy]

Give yourself several hours of uninterupted time. You won't need it but it's essential that you don't feel rushed and pressured or crowded. (Then again I have ADD so I *always* feel rushed pressured and crowded.)

Give yourself an hour to simply clear your counters, put the dishes away remove anything distracting. Give yourself twenty minutes to put all your materials on the counter and to look at them (including the boxes you are going to put the bottles of beer in afterwards) and look at them a again. Give yourself twenty minutes thinking about how you are going to sanitize everything including the bottle caps. Give yourself twenty minutes to practice siphoning and at the same sanitizing the siphon and hosing. Then do the bottling; that part will go *really* fast. Then put on some nice music and spend a leisurely hour cleaning up.

 

[narl79]

Give yourself at least 4 hours or more. I have to move my fermenters from one shed to another to bottle so I give it plenty of time to settle before transferring into my bottling bucket. And then I give that time to settle as well. Don't rush it and don't forget to have your suger water ready before it goes into the bottling bucket. Have a few beers and just think about what you'll brew next. Welcome to the club.

 

[unionrdr]

Here's a two part video I did for my Brewvision youtube channel that shows how my bottling set up. Def shortened my videos after that;
Part 1-

Part 2-

Pay no attention to the fat guy behind the curtain!

 

[homebrewdad]

Assuming that I have bottles that are already clean and delabeled, I can bottle two cases (aka 48 bottles) of beer in less than an hour... close to 45 minutes.

However, this was not possible until I got the vinator/bottle tree combo... this easily cut an hour off of my time. Also, I have done it enough times now to have it down to an assembly line science.

As a raw newbie, it took me a good 2-2.5 hours to bottle.

 

[C-Rider]

Two friends and I did 96 bottles in about an hour. That's just bottling.
One person grab the empty off the tree and fills it.
Two grabs the full bottle and puts it on the counter where
Three runs the capper and slides the capped bottle to the end of the counter.

 

[truvr]

My suggestion is to read Revvy's bottling sticky if you haven't already.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

...

Hey, it's your first beer! Congrats!

This. The one single thing that has saved me the most time and trouble during bottling is attaching the bottling wand directly to the spigot of the bottling bucket, as suggested by Revvy. Cheers!