Bottling 10g at a time

[chicagobrew]

I don't have a keg setup and have no intention of getting one, so please don't post saying that I should move to kegging. I live in a small 3rd floor apt and don't have the room. Plus, I don't drink at home that often and am always taking beer with me. I brew 10g batches and needed to figure out a way to sanitize a large qty of bottles with minimum effort. This is the method that I settled on that has served me well and hasn't resulted in any infections yet.

I make sure to wash all of my glass when I'm done using them which speeds bottling considerable. I give all of the bottles a quick rinse using the bottle washer and then stack them in the oven. My crappy oven can handle 4-5 cases at a time. In the pic, you'll see 4 cases of 12oz plus 6 22oz bottles, but I could squeeze a couple more in there if I needed to. Once they're in the oven I just turn it on to 325 and let them go for 1-2 hours. When the time is up I turn it off and let them cool for a few hours to a day or more. From there, it's back to the box to be filled and capped. I'm sure I'm not the first to go this route but I thought I would share. I just loaded the oven and it only took me about 20mins.

 

[android]

time to move to kegging... just kidding, nice method. letting them sit for two days might be pushing it though.

 

[bad coffee]

Wrap each top with a piece of foil, and they're good for a few days. Pain in the ass to do, but if you're going to let them sit for a few days, it should help alot.

B

 

[chicagobrew]

They don't usually sit for more than a couple hours (which is how long it takes to cool down), but they have occasionally sat for a day. That long doesn't really concern me because they're inside a closed oven with no air circulation and laying on their sides which reduces the chances of things settling in them.

 

[smokinghole]

Are you opposed to spending like $50 on a bottling tree and vinator? It makes bottling super easy for me. I sanitize a case at a time with starsan in the vinator.

 

[buzzkill]

I bottled 10 gal at a time for about a year. wasnt so bad. sometimes I would do 1/2 one day,the other the next, but it was easyer to just do it all and get it over with.

 

[bourgeoisbee]

I really like your method. I moved from a one bedroom apartment in Chicago to a house in central IL about a year ago and having a dishwasher to sanitize bottles saves me so much time and clean up. Aside from a bottle tree, and a vinator/rubbermaid tote you seem to have the best system.

Do you have a porch where you brew? I can't imagine boiling 10g inside.

 

[dcbeerboy]

this looks horrendous and obscene.

 

[cheezydemon3]

IF you have a dishwasher with no trace of "rinse aid" or soap...........

I put no rinse sanitizer in the rinse cycle (set your timer on the stove for 10 min or so) and voila.

Don't open the dishwasher until bottling, you can bottle over the open dishwasher door to catch spills, the "plate dryer" stage heats enough to kill some things too.

........all of this assumes that you have a dishwasher.

Method did FANTASTIC until unbeknownst to me, SWMBO put rinse aid in the little reservoir.

BAND AID ALE.

short of that, it is perfect and makes 10 gal worth of bottles.

 

[fineexampl]

My best advice is to toss the 12oz bottles and move up to bombers. It's so much faster.

 

[cscade]

this looks horrendous and obscene.

It is. And that's what makes it great!

 

[chicagobrew]

this looks horrendous and obscene.

I don't understand what's so horrendous or obscene. I rinse the glass well and make sure there are no solids and then use dry heat sanitization.

If I may quote directly from Mr. Palmer's webpage:

Oven
Dry heat is less effective than steam for sanitizing and sterilizing, but many brewers use it. The best place to do dry heat sterilization is in your oven. To sterilize an item, refer to the following table for temperatures and times required.

Table 3 - Dry Heat Sterilization

Temperature Duration

338°F (170°C) 60 minutes

320°F (160°C) 120 minutes

302°F (150°C) 150 minutes

284°F (140°C) 180 minutes

250°F (121°C) 12 hours (Overnight)


The times indicated begin when the item has reached the indicated temperature. Although the durations seem long, remember this process kills all microorganisms, not just most as in sanitizing. To be sterilized, items need to be heat-proof at the given temperatures. Glass and metal items are prime candidates for heat sterilization.

Some homebrewers bake their bottles using this method and thus always have a supply of clean sterile bottles. The opening of the bottle can be covered with a piece of aluminum foil prior to heating to prevent contamination after cooling and during storage. They will remain sterile indefinitely if kept wrapped.
(end quote)

Doesn't seem so ridiculous to me. I should remind you that the above chart is for sterilization. Most homebrewers only practice sanitization. There is a difference.

Also, the bottles are all wet from the rinse when they go into the oven, so there is a bit of steam produced to help with the process.

 

[chicagobrew]

I'm not opposed to spending money for a bottle tree and vinator, but don't see the point. If I had to hang 100 bottles at a time it would take all of my counter space. Here I can just stack them in the oven and they're out of the way.

Yes, I have an 80 square foot deck on the 3rd floor of a walk-up which serves as the brewery. It works great, but I wouldn't want to brew with a crowd. Water is the biggest pain and has to be transported in buckets from the spare bathtub/fermentation chamber.

I've read about the dishwasher method, but it creeps me out. I don't know what goes on in there, but I can't imagine how it's going to get sanitizer into the bottom of every bottle without exception. In the oven, I know every bottle gets hot enough to kill anything in them.

I have some bombers around, but the 12oz are easier to come by. I've got about 10 cases of the 12s now, so I have no intention of throwing them out. Basically, I'll take whatever I can get my hands on. Often, I'll ask my neighborhood bars and restaurants for a case when I'm there for dinner. Usually they're more than happy to oblige.

 

[smokinghole]

Only reason I asked about the bottle tree and vinator is well you sanitize when you're bottling and don't have to worry about covering the tops or anything to prevent contamination. Plus if you some how do something to a bottle that you're worried got contaminated you just pop it on the vinator again. In my house I have to worry about the damn dog. She rarely bugs me but every so often she wants attention in the middle of bottling. If the oven works for you then keep it going I'm not trying to talk you into a different method, just offering solutions to potential issues.

When I first started bottling I was using my dishwasher with the high heat dry which got real hot. The issue I found with that was well we used the dishwasher and I had to plan ahead if I wanted to bottle. Now if I feel like bottling I just grab my table and get the rest of the stuff. Pop some sanitizer in the bottling bucket for a rinse, then pour it out add the priming sugar, transfer beer into bucket, sanitize case of bottles, cap or put flip tops back on (after a soak in sanitizer), and box, then repeat.