Man, I HATE Bottling....

[jeffk14]

Just bottled my first batch in many years. Now I remember 1/2 of why I quit brewing 8 years ago. Bottling is such a hassle! I bottle with plastic amber PET bottles, since I thought they would be easier than glass. They have draw-backs too though.

You can't sterilize with heat. That rules the dishwasher out. I do mine overnight in a giant plastic tub filled with soduim percarbonate solution, then rinse and try to find some way to leave them upside-down till I bottle. I have to do all this leaning over the bathtub because I don't have a sink big enough to accommodate the operation.

I've got 2 more batches to bottle, then (before the Apfelwein is ready) I'm calling Keg Connection for a setup.

 

[HOOTER]

Just sanitize right before brewing with Iodophor or Starsan. I give mine a half hour soak in Iodophor, drain and then fill them up.

Bottling certainly does suck though. I'm planning on kegging in the near future.

 

[jeffk14]

Just sanitize right before brewing with Iodophor or Starsan. I give mine a half hour soak in Iodophor, drain and then fill them up.

Bottling certainly does suck though. I'm planning on kegging in the near future.

You know, I thought about that. I use Iodophor on my fermenters, utensils and such, but I thought the cumulative effect of the residue in all those bottles might effect the taste. It seems that a bottle, on a percentage_of-volume basis, retains more residue than a fermenter or other large container.

 

[HOOTER]

You know, I thought about that. I use Iodophor on my fermenters, utensils and such, but I thought the cumulative effect of the residue in all those bottles might effect the taste. It seems that a bottle, on a percentage_of-volume basis, retains more residue than a fermenter or other large container.

You do need to clean used bottles before sanitizing of course. I give mine an overnight soak in hot water and PLC. Using a bottle brush is wise also. If you clean your bottles properly they won't have any residue prior to sanitizing.

Bottling really does suck!

 

[SurfBrew]

I'm with you. I soak mine in star-san and then drain. Foam gets annoying though.
However, I just bought a kegging setup and hopefully will never bottle again.

 

[Revvy]

The reason most people hate bottling is simple...they haven't pimped their process to work for them.

I and others have put several tips to make bottling a lot easier here...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

You'll find it less onerous if you tweak it to have an easier flow...it could be as simple as using one fo the tips in there, and you'll find the process is much smoother, and takes less time.

 

[jezter6]

I'll add my $0.02 to this.

1) Bigger bottles means LESS capping.
2) A bench capper is awesome. After using one to cork my mead and finding I could cap with it too, I will NEVER touch that lever capper again, even for just 1 bottle.
3) Get a brew-partner. It's much better to have one filling and one capping and trade off those duties as it becomes tedious. I'm thankful my roommate brews too because I would never have wing-capped 53 bottles alone.

 

[bruin_ale]

Yeah, you can make bottling easier, but it will never be as easy as kegging. Plus, there's something that's so rewarding about pulling a tap handle to fill a beer rather than opening a bottle and pouring into a glass...

 

[HOOTER]

My process works well for me and I consider myself to be an efficient bottler. I use a bottling bucket (like Revvy) and have the process timed quite nicely. I even have an assistant (SWMBO). All that being said, I still don't look forward to bottling and am very glad when it's over. Kegging is definitely in my near future, not for all of my beer though. I'll always bottle beer, just less than I do now.

 

[Revvy]

Yeah, you can make bottling easier, but it will never be as easy as kegging. Plus, there's something that's so rewarding about pulling a tap handle to fill a beer rather than opening a bottle and pouring into a glass...

And once again...the inevtibale happens...someone just HAS to mention kegging in a thread about bottling

As if the OP has never HEARD of it....or the fact that this thread is in the bottling/kegging forum.....

Someone ALWAYS feels the need to mention it.....

*sheesh*

Someone should jump into a keggin problem thread and for the hell of it up and say..."well you wouldn't have this leak in your regulator if you bottled!!!!

 

[boo boo]

The reason most people hate bottling is simple...they haven't pimped their process to work for them.

I and others have put several tips to make bottling a lot easier here...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

You'll find it less onerous if you tweak it to have an easier flow...it could be as simple as using one fo the tips in there, and you'll find the process is much smoother, and takes less time.

I don't have to read the rest of the thread. This is excatly what I do.
I look at it as a process of love, Either 1 bottle ( keg ) or 48 glass bottles.
It is just a fianalization of my brewing process. Think of all the goodness going into each bottle.

 

[HOOTER]

And once again...the inevtibale happens...someone just HAS to mention kegging in a thread about bottling

Well, the thread is titled "Man, I HATE bottling..."

It seems only right to discuss the most viable alternative to bottling in such a thread.

It also makes sense to mention ways to make bottling easier and more efficient (which you did quite well BTW).

I'd say the bases have been covered with this one.

 

[bruin_ale]

And once again...the inevtibale happens...someone just HAS to mention kegging in a thread about bottling

As if the OP has never HEARD of it....or the fact that this thread is in the bottling/kegging forum.....

Someone ALWAYS feels the need to mention it.....

*sheesh*

Someone should jump into a keggin problem thread and for the hell of it up and say..."well you wouldn't have this leak in your regulator if you bottled!!!!

Haha, you miss the first two posts? I wasn't the first one to mention kegging, wasn't even the second or third! hell the OP said he was calling kegconnection asap and then the second poster said he was going to keg soon also.
You could go onto a kegging thread and mention bottling will fix the leaking regulator, but then they'd say, "well yeah it might, but for those extra 2 hours I spend cleaning/sanitizing/bottling each batch I'll take the occasional leaking keg/regulator anyday."

 

[bruin_ale]

well put Hooter, if it was an honest question about bottling I wouldn't have suggested kegging as an alternative. But a general gripe about what a PITA bottling is deserves a nudge towards the alternatives.

For those of you that make bottling work, I commend you.. for me, I bottled two batches and decided it was too much work so I got a keg setup.

 

[mkorpal]

I actually like bottling. You know by then that you have good beer, and are only three weeks away. Plus, you have just freed a carboy/bucket for a new beer.

Anyway, it helps to have a friend.

I just put my fermentor on the kitchen table, take readings, sanitize bottling bucket/tubing, transfer sanitizer to a smaller bucket, add boiled priming sugar to bottling bucket, siphon, move bottling bucket to counter, attach wand, put several bottles in bucket with sanizizer, take them out after a few seconds, hand them to a friend who fills and he gives them back to me to bottle. It's easy as pie and usually only takes 30 minutes to do. I can do it while mashing or boiling if I want to.

 

[TechyDork]

I agree that bottling suck, but it can also be fun. you just have to make the process work for "you". I found that if i put the bottling bucket on the counter just above my dishwasher, that i use as a drying rack for my bottles, with the bottle filler attached to the spigot it works well for me. i can then sit comfortably on a chair and fill a few bottles, then cap them and put them in my rubbermaid totes. or i can get my wife to help out and she loves to use the capper. so bottling is what you make of it, but having said all that i would love to be able to move in to kegs when i have a home that is more permanant.

 

[SurfBrew]

What Hooter said

 

[DeafSmith]

I've bottled three batches so far, and don't find it to be all that bad. Using Revvy's bottling tips helps a whole lot. Also the fact that I sanitize my bottles in the oven a day or two before bottling day keeps things a little simpler during the bottling process. See this thread for how I sanitize: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/bottling-110645/index2.html#post1219872

I'll probably move to kegging some day, but that is at least a few months away; more than that if I move to all-grain before kegging.

 

[alpo]

The worst part about bottling, IMO, is just the sheer amount of bottles you need, always having boxes of them laying around, having 70 empty bottles in your kitchen after a party, etc. Besides even the cleaning and sanitizing (which does suck), it's just a hassle to have to deal with so many objects, in general.

Using 32 oz fliptops helps a ton. I know some people still love bottles over kegs, but after I started kegging, I will never go back.

 

[StoutFan]

Wow, I guess I'm in the few who actually enjoy bottling their beer. Me and SWMBO knock out a 5 gallon batch in about 30 minutes, from cleaning to drinking. Helps to start with clean bottles that only have to be sanitized. I look what I needed from Revvy's bottling thread, and the rest is made up as I go. Kegs will come some day, till then, rinse, sanitize, fill, cap, enjoy! She fills, I cap, and I highly recommend the partner system.

 

[SeamusMac]

I share a fridge with 2 roommates and I pay electric in my apartment... These are the only reasons I'm forced to bottle, I hate you all.

 

[Runyanka]

I like bottling for this one main reason...

When SWMBO opens my closet and sees mounds of filled bottles on one side, and mounds of empty bottles on the other side. Its like her shoes, but better! :rockin:

 

[pnj]

My girl just bought me a bottle tree and now I'm really stoked to bottle. I use 22 ounce bottles that I rinse after I drink them. So when it comes to bottling day I fill my sink w/ sanitizer, soak the bottles for a few then drain. I'd go to kegs but I live in an apartment and don't have another fridge to keep them cold... (plus I'm broke , etc..)

 

[bruin_ale]

Me and SWMBO knock out a 5 gallon batch in about 30 minutes, from cleaning to drinking.

Now that's doin it right! Why even use bottles if you're drinking it all in 30 minutes? Just syphon straight into your mouth

 

[mrweenis]

We just bottled our sencond batch, and I have to say, I kind of enjoyed it this time. our first bottling session was chaos, we lost 4+ bottles due to spilling, a stream of beer actually shot straight out of the spigot across the kitchen, and everything and everyone was sticky and wet afterwards.

this time, everything went amazingly smoothly, we lost almost NO beer in the process, and it was relatively quick too, about 1 1/2 or 2 hours! It was kind of relaxing...

So, even if i ever have enough money to buy a kegging setup, I'll probably still bottle some of my batches. it just feels right

 

[KatoBaggins]

So, even if i ever have enough money to buy a kegging setup, I'll probably still bottle some of my batches. it just feels right

I'm at batch number 17 or so, and I used to think like this, but I don't anymore. I live in an apartment and don't have the room or I would go to kegs in a heart beat.

 

[alpo]

Yeah, everyone likes it at first. It gets old fast.

 

[size]

I've just made the decision to go to all bottling except one batch at a time.

I have one corny keg with a CO2 tank. I have very little money for brewing, and i recently came into a few hundred i could set aside purely for brewing (which paid for my membership, btw). I was planning to buy a freezer that i'd convert into a nice temperature control area, and then buying another couple of kegs.

but i figured that money is probably better spent on an all-grain setup. i've been wanting one for a while, and why spend money on kegs/freezers when i can just bottle? i know it's a pain in the ass, but it doesn't cost any money to bottle. plus i think it'll be handy to have bottles i can give to friends, take to BBQ's, etc. i can honestly say that i'd rather be doing almost anything to do with home brewing than pretty much anything else. just more time i get to spend with my beer

 

[woollybugger2]

last batch was bottled and capped in 45 minutes (after racking) -- had to get to a meeting... then came back to clean up... didn't like the rushing but I got it done... have 3 batches to be bottled in the next week or two. I'm definitely not looking forward to it...

 

[SmugMug]

This is my process for bottling (assuming the bottles are already relatively clean)

1. - Fill sink with OxyClean
2. - Put bottles in sink for Oxy soak
3. - Rinse bottles and put them into dishwasher
4. - Set dishwasher on highest heat (w/ heat dry) setting WITHOUT detergent
5. - place bottles in boxes and cover lids with cling wrap until ready to fill

While the dishwasher is running I take the time to clean and sanitize my bottling bucket and bottling equipment (with Iodaphor) and get my bottling area setup. It's not that hard if you have a bottling buddy to cap as you fill. 40 min is avg from clean to bottle.

Now if only I could get my bottling wand to work consistently....