Man, I HATE Bottling....

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I toned down to 1 or 2 batches a year, because I hated bottleing. No matter how efficient i got at it, it still sucked for me. I understand some people enjoy it.

Kegging renewed my love for the hobby, and I have brewed more in 2 months, than the last 4 years...

Nope! Sorry! I still don't understand it!

 

[jeffk14]

That part of the OP is just strange IMO. :cross:

How could anyone quit brewing just because of a minor hassle? My flabber has been ghasted.

Well, I DID say that was 1/2 the reason ( I guess "one of the reasons" would be more grammatically correct). I also didn't know back then that sanitization could be so easy. I was using bleach at the time & had to rinse and rinse and rinse. There were other factors at work too, not the least of which was the amount of time I spent working in those days.

Things are different now. I've got more time, I've mostly figured out how to avoid or at least simplify racking, I AM getting a kegging system and I've discovered the miracle of Iodophor.

 

[WorryWort]

I keg, but I still bottle occasionally. When I make a 10gallon batch I often bottle half of it so that it's around longer and I'm starting to a mass some inventory for competitions.

When I bottle I use bombers. I find that once you get the damn labels off of them its' not so bad. Throw'em in a bucket with oxyclean the night before, or bathtub, give 'em a rinse. A quick sanitization in the dishwasher, boil up some sugar and make a bucket of sanitizer. Grab a clean, santized pail and get to it.

My keg fridge is a source of pride, but so is looking at 28-30 little brown soldiers from time to time.

 

[timmystank]

Ive got 3 batches sitting, waiting to be bottled cause it does kinda suck. But im looking forward to it.....Its a love hate relationship.

 

[HillbillyDeluxe]

I drink from the kegs at home, and bottle for the road(swmbo drives). I'mcompletely "pff the grid" for bmc's.

 

[ChickenSoop]

I use 18 1L PET bottles plus a few 500ml PET bottles for testing. So easy with those twist tops. Just rinse them right after using to wash out the yeast and store them on the bottle tree. Then just sanitize before bottling and good to go.

Crank on the tunes and open up a beer while bottling. Done in no time.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I use 18 1L PET bottles plus a few 500ml PET bottles for testing. So easy with those twist tops. Just rinse them right after using to wash out the yeast and store them on the bottle tree. Then just sanitize before bottling and good to go.

Crank on the tunes and open up a beer while bottling. Done in no time.

Same here except I also do a few glass bottles for good measure. I tend to forget that when people are complaining about bottling they could well be talking about close to 100 12oz bottles.

Yeah, that would become tiresome.

 

[WorryWort]

I tend to forget that when people are complaining about bottling they could well be talking about close to 100 12oz bottles.

Yeah, that would become tiresome.

Yeh me too, that would certainly suck @ss.

For what it's worth Ray Daniels was just bitching about bottling on twitter yesterday. So we're not alone, even famous homebrew authors whine about it!

 

[jeffk14]

After starting this thread on 5/25, I bottled another batch on 5/26. My hatred of bottling is now ten-fold. It went something like this:

On the night before, started a soak of all my (plastic) bottles in sodium percarbonate. Bottling day, got up & started tedious task of rinsing all the bottles. I don't sanitize after the rinse, since I brew with my tap water & I consider it to be clean, but I digress. Shove all bottles in a couple of buckets upside down to drain.

Go to kitchen to measure & boil priming sugar. Make up sanitizing solution for utensils, racking cane and such. Haul bottling bucket up from basement to be sanitized. Sanitize bucket. Dump now boiled priming solution into bucket. Haul bucket back down to basement. That's where the bottling will take place.

Run back upstairs & fill racking cane/hose with sanitizing solution. Run back downstairs with racking cane, put cane in beer on bench, clip the clip thingy on edge of beer bucket whilst I attempt to run off the first few ounces of sanitizer into a small container.

Just as beer starts to flow, racking cane comes flipping and flying out of the beer bucket, slinging beer all over me, the floor and the wall. Stare in disbelief for 5 seconds. Commence inventing cuss words. Regain composure, gather up cane, head back upstairs to resanitize racking cane (still inventing/recycling/modifying/ cuss words).

Head back downstairs with now resanitized racking cane, primed (I thought) with more sanitizer. Start racking procedure again. Flow stops because I didn't have enough solution in the tube to get it started. Stare in disbelief. Invent still more cuss words.

Look up on shelf and see my cheap bottle of vodka that I use on my airlocks sitting there. Lean over trashcan, spit snuff out, grab vodka, wash mouth out and siphon away.

The rest of bottling day went without incident, but now, the kegging system is on the fast-track.

 

[Nurmey]

I keep reading these threads but I don't really get them. I think you guys need to streamline your procedure if it's taking you that much time and trouble to bottle.

This past weekend, we bottled 8 cases (12 oz bottles) of various brews. We spent maybe a little more than an hour bottling the 8 cases with another 45 minutes between gathering equipment and cleaning up after we were finished.

Now the fact that I fill while hubby caps cuts our time a bit but since I do the gathering and cleaning, it's not much time saved.

So two hours of time and 8 cases of brew equals about 15 minutes per case. Doesn't sound that bad to me.

 

[jezter6]

After starting this thread on 5/25, I bottled another batch on 5/26. My hatred of bottling is now ten-fold. It went something like this:

1) Why do you run up and down the steps? Cant you take your sanitizer with you?

2) Invest in auto-siphon or bottling bucket. Using a normal siphon for bottling has GOT to be teh sucks!

3) Use a no-rinse sanitizer like iodophor or star-san. No more need to rinse the hell out of your bottles after sanitizing, just pour out the san and pour in the beer!

 

[jeffk14]

1) Why do you run up and down the steps? Cant you take your sanitizer with you?

2) Invest in auto-siphon or bottling bucket. Using a normal siphon for bottling has GOT to be teh sucks!

3) Use a no-rinse sanitizer like iodophor or star-san. No more need to rinse the hell out of your bottles after sanitizing, just pour out the san and pour in the beer!

I make an Iodophor solution in a big tray/tub for sanitizing utensils and stuff. I have no running water in the basement.

I do have a bottling bucket. I was trying to rack to it when I had my issues.

I'm concerned about the Iodophor leaving a taste in my bottles. I just rinse them.

I will probably just do that mod to my racking cane where a plastic tee is used to create a "suck tube". That would be simpler than the autosiphon, I think.

From now on (since I'm getting an early jump on my pipeline), I'll probably just have one fermentation going at a time (except for my Apfelwein). For my beer fermentation, I'll use my Cooper's fermenter. I LOVE that thing. It will ferment a 6 gallon batch with plenty of head-space to spare. It also has a spigot so I can rack directly to my bottling bucket when bulk priming, or bottle from it if I use the carb drops.

Or, when I get my kegging setup, I'll put 5 gallons in a keg, then bottle the extra gallon. Straight from the fermenter.

 

[alpo]

I'm not trying to be a hater or anything. If you enjoy bottling and your pipeline is big enough to negate the bottle carb time, then more power to you. I totally understand getting enjoyment out of certain procedures (heck, if I didn't, I wouldn't brew in the first place).

I also totally understand that kegging isn't attractive to everyone either...you have additional costs and equipment, major reduction of portability, added complexity, more space needed, more electricity used, a lot more DIY $hit going on, etc.

I know that this issue has been done to death a million times over, so I am hesitant to even type this at all.

Anyway, I guess I just want to point out that we all have different opinions about the different components of the overall experience. Personally, the time I spend is a major component, second to only quality/taste. There is no question that kegging and force carbing take a small fraction of the time and effort compared to bottle conditioning. For me, this is the deal breaker.

Perhaps me being impatient is a personality flaw. Call it whatever you want.

 

[Dave R]

I keep reading these threads but I don't really get them. I think you guys need to streamline your procedure if it's taking you that much time and trouble to bottle.

This past weekend, we bottled 8 cases (12 oz bottles) of various brews. We spent maybe a little more than an hour bottling the 8 cases with another 45 minutes between gathering equipment and cleaning up after we were finished.

Now the fact that I fill while hubby caps cuts our time a bit but since I do the gathering and cleaning, it's not much time saved.

So two hours of time and 8 cases of brew equals about 15 minutes per case. Doesn't sound that bad to me.

I agree totally about the streamlining.

I get out 10 2-liter bottles that have already been rinsed after emptying, spray two or three squirts of StarSan in each one, swirl around for a second or two, let sit for about 30 seconds, dump out the liquid, and bottle immediately. 10 minutes tops!

 

[Arkador]

It is funny watching everyone try to talk the OP out of kegging.....

Kegging kicks ass! I'll bottle some beers from time to time, but I LOVE my keezer!

 

[Moose777]

I bottled my first batch a few weeks ago. I did maybe 8 12 oz bottles, the rest were either 16 oz swing top, or 22 oz..oh yeah, one 32 oz growler.

By next week I will have my kegging setup completed but I haven't written bottling off, in fact I think I'll continue to use the many swing top bottles...I'll just need to master bottling from the keg now.

 

[Boondoggie]

After starting this thread on 5/25, I bottled another batch on 5/26. My hatred of bottling is now ten-fold. It went something like this:

(cut out stairs and siphon story)

The rest of bottling day went without incident, but now, the kegging system is on the fast-track.

Seems to me that kegging would avert none of the problems you had with the day? You'd still have to siphon, and likely do it in the basement?

 

[syd138]

I actually like bottling.. I've got it down to a science right now..

from start to finish it'll take me an hour

Kegging would be nice, but I like the idea of letting this stuff bottle condition for awhile. Especially with stouts and belgians.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Buy this:

Search Results

and this:

NORTHERN BREWER: Sanitation & Cleaning

to go along with this:

Bottle Filler: Search Results

Combine those three things together along with the tips in the thread Revvy started (most importantly the bottling bucket diptube/racking arm) and bottling is much easier. I am telling you, the vinator makes sanitizing a snap.

First, all my bottles are already rinsed/cleaned right after pouring. Time saver #1. On bottling day my bottling bucket is on the counter above the dishwasher with the dishwasher door down, my chair is at the front of the dishwasher door, my bottle tree with vinator on top directly next to the dishwasher on the right hand side, and I line up a case of 20 .5l german flip-top bottles (one case of 20= 2.5 gallons) at a time right next to my chair.

(missing from the pick is bottle tree with vinator on top)

The actual process goes like this: pop the tops on all the bottles. Grab one bottle, sanitize it, and place it under bottle filler; open spigot, start to fill while holding bottle in left hand. With right hand grab new bottle and sanitize. Place sanitized empty bottle on dishwasher door. Start holding bottle being filled with right hand. Once the bottle is filled I remove the filled bottle and immediately using my left hand place the empty sanitized bottle in place and begin filling. I do not lose one drop. While the one is being filled I secure the flip-top onto the filled bottle with my right hand, and place it right back into the case. The process starts over with grabbing and empty, sanitizing, etc... I can bottle a case of 20 bottles in under 6 minutes with ease all by myself. With cleaning figure a total of 20-30 minutes.

I tried kegging, and still might do it for larger batches, but the time for me to transfer from into a keg, and then clean-up was not not significantly faster (2-3 minutes tops).

Just my suggestions, my process, and my way of doing things.... maybe it will help someone out.

PS. I also can do this without flip-tops and that does add about another 5-10 minutes to the process.

 

[bruin_ale]

Good tips.. I hated capping - it lost it's allure after half of a batch. Flip tops I guess save money and time.

Using bigger bottles is key, cleaning/filling/sanitizing 50 12 oz bottles sucks.

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

I bottled a batch of 50+ 12oz bottles a couple of days ago. I am seriously considering buying some 22oz bottles to half the work.

 

[Pappers_]

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.

+1,000,000 I *luv* bottling, its just so straightforward, means I'm at the end of the process, etc. I've got my operation pimped out, too, so its fast and smooth. :fro:

 

[KYB]

Yea I don't mind it at all. I have a bottle filler and it's awesome, makes it real easy. Doesn't take me long at all.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Just bottled my first batch in many years. Now I remember 1/2 of why I quit brewing 8 years ago.
I've got 2 more batches to bottle, then (before the Apfelwein is ready) I'm calling Keg Connection for a setup.

Can I just say amen. I got a basic kegging system as soon as I could afford one. Occasionally I still bottle to free up a keg, or with meads and ciders but I have to space it out a couple of months just to forget how much it sucks.

 

[Arkador]

Can I just say amen. I got a basic kegging system as soon as I could afford one. Occasionally I still bottle to free up a keg, or with meads and ciders but I have to space it out a couple of months just to forget how much it sucks.

The other nice thing about the keezer, is when other guys are over at the house, they drool over it. You don't get that reaction from bottles.

The only bottles i fill is 4-6 if my batch is larger than the keg, and a growler or two filled from the keg if I want to take beer somewhere.

 

[brian_g]

I want to know why home brewers will spend half a day brewing an all grain batch (because it's not really brewing unless it's all grain), spend hours on DIY projects from building/designing kegerators, mash tuns, etc, and then complain about having to spend an hour bottling beer.

I don't love bottling beer either. I'm just perplex by the attitude that it's "cool" to spend more time to do an all grain batch, but bottling is just too much work. It seems that everyone starts with extract beers and bottling, and then "moves on" to all-grain and kegging. If saving time was the real goal, you'd put less hours into a batch by bottling extract beer instead of kegging all grain beer.

 

[SmugMug]

I want to know why home brewers will spend half a day brewing an all grain batch (because it's not really brewing unless it's all grain), spend hours on DIY projects from building/designing kegerators, mash tuns, etc, and then complain about having to spend an hour bottling beer.

I don't love bottling beer either. I'm just perplex by the attitude that it's "cool" to spend more time to do an all grain batch, but bottling is just too much work. It seems that everyone starts with extract beers and bottling, and then "moves on" to all-grain and kegging. If saving time was the real goal, you'd put less hours into a batch by bottling extract beer instead of kegging all grain beer.

Trollbait?

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Trollbait?

Nope!! I understood it perfectly well, and I agree. I still love my beer, even at bottling time.

 

[HSM]

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!!!!

Your logic is weak. Can't you find a way for kegging to enter a thread if the title is "Man, I hate Bottling?". Seriously?

If "man I hate bottling" is the theme, then Kegging is the answer. Just because you aren't there yet doesn't make it wrong.