I hate bottling

[sdhucks7]

That is it. I just spent the better part of 3 hours this morning bottling up some Cream Ale. I could not believe that it took that long! I wasnt even hung over! Dang i got to get into keggin, and fast. Just wanted to put that out there.

SD

 

[c.n.budz]

Yeah, kegging eliminated the worst part of this hobby for me. Though I do still bottle some brews. Kegging is definitely worth the money

 

[david_42]

I've got some mead and hop wine I need to bottle. But, I really, really hate bottling!

 

[Iordz]

I bottle "special" brews only, but kegging is definitely the best. However, I don't mind bottling that much, especially after I bought this: http://morebeer.com/view_product/15682/102377!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I agree. Bottling sucks. After 30+ batches I finally had enough and started kegging.

 

[Melana]

Eh, we don't mind the bottling so much... Just bottled a batch of Apfelwine and another IPA... with the two of us working on it the task went by quickly!

 

[Yooper]

I just started kegging and that means I bottled all of my beer until two weeks or so ago. I hated it! But I loved drinking it, so I put up with it. If I hadn't have won the HBT Survivor football pool, I'd still be bottling! Thank goodness for football!

The thing is, it's always kind of a pain, but believe me it does go faster each time. I was able to do it in less than an hour or so after I did it about 20 times. The first time took me forever. The second time was a bit quicker (I had already clean bottles, for one thing!) and by the fifth or sixth time, I had the process pretty well down. It's never really enjoyable, but it's not too bad.

 

[malkore]

bottling sucks because its tedious. i'm not a huge fan, and only bottle certain batches.

 

[menschmaschine]

Ah, it's not so bad. I bottle 10-12 gal batches at a time. When I'm done, it's nice to see 4 cases of homebrew waiting to be drank (OK, in 3 weeks). I don't mess with chemically sanitizing the bottles, so it makes it easier. I just make sure I rinse my bottles soon after drinking, then on bottle day, I put them in the dishwasher with no soap and on high heat. The bottling part isn't so bad either. SWMBO tends to find something else to do that day so I can have the kitchen and I find it sort of quiet and peaceful to sit there filling bottle after bottle, contemplating the wonders of beer.

I looked into kegging, and it just seemed like a lot of money between cornies, kegerator, CO2 tank, CO2, regulator, beer lines, CO2 lines, etc. I'm not against it though. I might do it someday. That's what I love about homebrewing. You never run out of new things to try.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Im trying to get into kegging soon. Im trying to pick up what Ill need piece by piece so its not such a big hit on the wallet all at once.

 

[IowaStateFan]

Ah, it's not so bad. I bottle 10-12 gal batches at a time. When I'm done, it's nice to see 4 cases of homebrew waiting to be drank (OK, in 3 weeks). I don't mess with chemically sanitizing the bottles, so it makes it easier. I just make sure I rinse my bottles soon after drinking, then on bottle day, I put them in the dishwasher with no soap and on high heat. The bottling part isn't so bad either. SWMBO tends to find something else to do that day so I can have the kitchen and I find it sort of quiet and peaceful to sit there filling bottle after bottle, contemplating the wonders of beer.

I looked into kegging, and it just seemed like a lot of money between cornies, kegerator, CO2 tank, CO2, regulator, beer lines, CO2 lines, etc. I'm not against it though. I might do it someday. That's what I love about homebrewing. You never run out of new things to try.

I could have written that! Someday I'd love to have a bar with my brew on tap, but the cost is keeping me back. The only thing about bottling that I hate is storing the empty bottles. They just seem to be multiplying, and I don't have a good place to store them. I tried storing them in a trash can outside, but it's just too cold in the winter, and when I went to use them they were filthy and needed to be cleaned again before sanitizing.

 

[Soulive]

Put me down for hating bottling. If nothing else, it takes much longer than kegging. I can use the time for brewing instead...

 

[uglygoat]

just went to kegs after three years of bottling. it's much easier now. my trouble is i have been making six gallon batches, so i've a spare gallon in each carboy after racking to the keg. this saturday, i found my self standing there with the syphon hose, instructing my little bro where to find already clean bottles in the cellar...

 

[rabidgerbil]

I still bottle for special occasions, like two weddings that I am working on right now, but now I can carbonate in the keg and bottle the beer clean, so that I don't have to worry about trying to explain to 200 people at a wedding why they should pour their beer into a glass and not drink it out of the bottle. The last place I want to be is with 200 people who have been drinking yeast out of the bottle.

 

[Dampy]

The last place I want to be is with 200 people who have been drinking yeast out of the bottle.

LOL ..I needed a smile today, thank you!

I'm OK with the bottling so far, I make sure I've at least 2 or 3 22oz'ers ready at fingertips. Love this hobby, kegs are in my future though

 

[colinwollmann]

Im trying to get into kegging soon. Im trying to pick up what Ill need piece by piece so its not such a big hit on the wallet all at once.

YUP that's what I'm doing,all a matter of time,kant wait to get kegging!!

 

[Bulls Beers]

Ah, it's not so bad. I bottle 10-12 gal batches at a time. When I'm done, it's nice to see 4 cases of homebrew waiting to be drank (OK, in 3 weeks). I don't mess with chemically sanitizing the bottles, so it makes it easier. I just make sure I rinse my bottles soon after drinking, then on bottle day, I put them in the dishwasher with no soap and on high heat. The bottling part isn't so bad either. SWMBO tends to find something else to do that day so I can have the kitchen and I find it sort of quiet and peaceful to sit there filling bottle after bottle, contemplating the wonders of beer.

I looked into kegging, and it just seemed like a lot of money between cornies, kegerator, CO2 tank, CO2, regulator, beer lines, CO2 lines, etc. I'm not against it though. I might do it someday. That's what I love about homebrewing. You never run out of new things to try.

+1..I agree. It's nice to see all those cases of beer. UNTIL I started kegging. Last weekend i bottled a batch and kegged my first batch..Kegging is much easier..

 

[sirsloop]

I hate bottling

welcome to the club

 

[Evan!]

3 hours? Good god, man! It might not be so bad if you just tightened up your act a little bit.

Everyone complains about bottling, but that hour out of my life for 2 cases a beer is a very small price to pay. I can't complain, myself. Of course, I am in the process of building my kegerator, but I'll still bottle even after it's operational. I've been bottling for a year and a half now, and I just don't mind it as much as most people seem to.

 

[Reidman]

Once the bottom fell out of my case and 6 bottles of sticky beer broke on my entry floor, I never looked back to bottling, bought a fridge, 2 kegs, co2 and couldn't be happier.

Plus, with the addition of the newly patented BMBF, bottling is easier than ever off the keg if I need some...

 

[sdhucks7]

Well 3 hours may have been just because it was only my second batch to bottle. On my first batch i had a bunch of 22oz bottles so it went alot faster. This time almost entirely 12oz ers. I cant wait for income tax return to get here so i can go for the kegging set up!!!

SD

 

[bigben]

I kegged my first batch a while ago...it sure was quicker. But even after I kegged, I got a Bench Capper and I will be bottling my latest batch this weekend. I still like bottles. I like bottle conditioning them better.

O and I was sick of dealing with keg leaks and running out of CO2...but that was probably cuz I did something stupid...o wellz.

I'm with you Evan!! and I have already kegged.

 

[Evan!]

Yeah, I take my beer all over the place...kinda hard to do that with kegs.

 

[c.n.budz]

Yeah, I take my beer all over the place...kinda hard to do that with kegs.

I picked up a beer gun. Now I can bottle a few at a time whenever I want to bring some brew somewhere or give some away

 

[PseudoChef]

I don't mind bottling either, really. Takes me about 45 minutes start to finish. I do everything on the dishwasher door, so no mess, and I kill a Jamil show on my mp3 player in the meantime.

I'll make up the priming sugar solution a day or so before hand and pressure can it. I'm already in the kitchen as is (look at my name), so it's minimal extra effort on my part.

 

[Melana]

I also love that i can squirrel away bottles to save for some undetermined date in the future!

 

[cheezydemon]

I just love a bottle of beer. It is a measureable, self contained, visible fruit of my labor.

Cleaning kegs and gas lines etc., getting and keeping C02, hauling kegs around, etc. honestly sounds like more of a pain to me then running a load of bottles through the dishwasher and filling them.

 

[Joker]

I don't mind bottling either. I do look forward to getting my kegs set up but I still plan to bottle a small amount of each brew.

 

[Beerthoven]

I don't like bottling much and I'll probably start kegging in a year or so.

But I'm not looking forward to all the hassles that come with kegging, either. I can't count the number of threads I have read on burst faucets, line leaks, leaky regulators, foamy pours, popped seals, hassles refilling tanks, accidentally drilling holes in refrigerant lines, dead keezers, etc.

Bottle bombs are about the worst thing bottlers have to worry about, and those are easy to avoid.

 

[dpt222]

I bottle "special" brews only, but kegging is definitely the best. However, I don't mind bottling that much, especially after I bought this: http://morebeer.com/view_product/15682/102377!

What's the best kind of sanitizer to use with these things? Do you need to change out the solution after doing a certain amount of bottles or can you safely do 50 bottles in one go?

 

[Alamo_Beer]

I just bought everything to build 2 of these (just need to find some damn 5/8" washers!) http://home.swbell.net/bufkin/cheap_3_liter_kegs.htm

I filled 4 and a half 3 liter bottles with IPA the other day and it was INSAINLY easy. We'll see how everything works out after I "tap" my first one...

 

[Mustangfreak]

I dont mind it. Half of my bottles are big swingtops so its not a big deal.

 

[Finster]

I dont mind it. I started brewing about 2 years ago and the first batch I made went strieght into a keg. Made an outmeal stout a couple months ago and my keg was still half full,(only have one) So I bottled it. Guess I haven't bottled enough to get sick of it yet.

 

[Rick_R]

Quoth dpt222:
What's the best kind of sanitizer to use with these things? Do you need to change out the solution after doing a certain amount of bottles or can you safely do 50 bottles in one go?

I use Star San and did fifty bottles in one go, didn't need to add any. The bottles are clean, of course, to start with. With Star San there is a lot of foam; it foams anyway, and when you get the squirting action you increase its "foamation." I bought some iodophore for that purpose but ended up using Star San instead. I may try iodophore next time just to see how it works, but I wasn't sure about spraying the bottle stand with Star San then hanging the idophore'd bottles on there.

Rick

 

[Evets]

I don't mind it at all. In fact just today I bottled a nice smoked porter. I have one corny sitting in the garage. I'll probably, eventually, use it to keep a Haus Pale on tap, but I'll likely keep bottling everything else.

 

[TerapinChef]

I hear so many people complain about bottling but I don't understand it myself...I have never spent more than an hour bottling any batch of beer that I have made. I do have a bottling tree/vinator combo which makes the sanitation part very easy, but I still don't understand what it is that everyone hates about it! The actual capping part of bottling is what takes me the longest time, at about 15 minutes for a whole 5 gallon batch. This is all in 12 oz bottles also. I have done whole batches in Grolsch bottles, which makes things MUCH faster, and whole batches in 22's also, which is a bit faster due to the fact that there are less bottles involved. I don't mind bottling at all, and I hate to see so many people get so down on it on HBT because more and more new brewers seem to think that they need to go straight to kegging because everyone makes bottling out to be this tedious process....

 

[bgrand281]

I don't mind the proccess of bottling, and I love bottlrd beer. Just you can't drink out of the bottles anyway, i plan to keg just to have clean bottles stocked and ready to drink. No glasses is the goal.

 

[vtchuck]

As I have 2 kegerators.... one in the den that holds a cornie & a 5 lb tank and an ancient one in the cellar that has a 30 lb tank and will hold at least 2 cornies.

I've been trying to bottle a few of each batch I keg. Before I force carbonate the keg I draw off three bottles, drop in a Cooper drop and cap. As the first draws on the keg are usually a bit yeasty, I'm assuming that there will be enough for natural carbonation in the bottles.

Anyone else tried this?

 

[DrunkTrucker]

I have 10 gallons of beer to bottle soon. I dont mind the actual bottling, its cleaning bottles that sucks. I need to get my co2 tank filled soon.

 

[glennduggin]

I just bottled a 5 gallon batch tonight....probably 45 minutes (with my fiancee). It is an abbye ale, so I felt it needed to bottle condition. I do like the speed of kegging but bottle conditioned ales are where its at a lot of the time.