1st bottling today and....

[PADave]

Bottled my first batch today, and I learned a few things.
-bottling day sucks
-1 gallon batches don't make much
-PBW rocks, cleans everything quick!
-some bottles don't take standard caps
-bottling day sucks

Initial tasting before bottling was not too good. I know I made a few mistakes with this brew on brew day, mainly while doing the mash, so I'm not expecting much. Got two more batches fermenting now, both extract. Hope they turn out better.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Bottled my first batch today, and I learned a few things.
-bottling day sucks
-1 gallon batches don't make much
-PBW rocks, cleans everything quick!
-some bottles don't take standard caps
-bottling day sucks

Initial tasting before bottling was not too good. I know I made a few mistakes with this brew on brew day, mainly while doing the mash, so I'm not expecting much. Got two more batches fermenting now, both extract. Hope they turn out better.

Although I rarely bottle anymore there are a lot of trick to make bottling day suck less. Assuming you are not staying with one gallon batches, it is worth learning a few tips but with gallon only batches, not much applies except try to use all the same bottles and use carb drops instead of batch priming.

 

[tnsen]

dont get discouraged....you learn a bit each time, and it will get easier...I bottle on brew day, as to save time, I havent seen a bottle yet that dosent take a standard cap, maybe you just a few rebels in there

 

[Elkobrewer]

Just keep at it. I hope you have a bottle filler makes the process much better

 

[CJ-3]

If you plan to stick with bottling may I recommend a bench capper. Much better than a wing capper.

 

[Where_the_Redfern_Brews]

Bottling day is like your wedding day... It's a bunch of work, you get drunk and you are glad when it's over. I guess looking at all of your finished bottles would be the honeymoon.

 

[JimRausch]

If you haven't already, make sure to check out Revvy's sticky on bottling tips in the Bottling/Kegging section. It's filled with info. on making things go easier.
And you're right about the 1G batches- what do you get, 8 bottles? Almost not worth it unless you're testing a recipe to see if you want to make a full size batch.
I'm weird- I enjoy the bottling process. Bottled 51 bottles of a Sammy lager yesterday.
Whoo Hoo
Oh, by the way, your beer's flavor will most likely improve with some conditioning time. To me, most of my beer tastes best about 3 weeks after bottling.

 

[Subdivisions]

I see a future kegger here.

I'm not far from you. Welcome fellow burgh brewer.

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

I've only bottled 3 batches so far, and I've already learned tons of little things to make the process much smoother and more comfortable on my most recent attempt. Switching to bombers instead of 12oz bottles alone makes things less of a headache. So don't worry too much.

 

[bucfan1234]

I bottled today too! Three 750ml and 22 oz'er.

Keep at it. It will get better.

 

[wyccad915]

I remember my first. Ive only had 2 lol but a friend helped out on the second and I'll probably use him in the future. My spigot wasnt sealed right the first time, and there was a constant drip. I had towels everywhere and just made a big mess. It still was a huge pain getting the spigot sealed the second time, but i used water first to check and finally got it sealed. Im sure your brew will come out good.

 

[mongoose33]

If you haven't already, make sure to check out Revvy's sticky on bottling tips in the Bottling/Kegging section. It's filled with info. on making things go easier.
And you're right about the 1G batches- what do you get, 8 bottles? Almost not worth it unless you're testing a recipe to see if you want to make a full size batch.
I'm weird- I enjoy the bottling process. Bottled 51 bottles of a Sammy lager yesterday.
Whoo Hoo
Oh, by the way, your beer's flavor will most likely improve with some conditioning time. To me, most of my beer tastes best about 3 weeks after bottling.

Let me second Jim's motion.

I've only been brewing for a month, and only two batches, and bottled only one--and immediately I realized that the process is susceptible to analysis and improvement. (I'm a newbie to brewing, not to process analysis).

That is, more than anything else, eliminate wasted motions or routinize repetitive motions. If you have to move a bottle twice when you could have moved it once, multiply that times 50 bottles. Wasted time, wasted motion.

The same goes for processes that can benefit from Ford's assembly line ideas. Don't fill one bottle then add the cap then cap it then go back and grab another bottle. Fill a bunch, add the cap each time, then cap a bunch. The more times you do a repetitive process in a row, the more efficient you'll become at it. That's why people on an assembly line don't do 17 jobs, they usually do one--and one they are very good at.

Right now I have a butterfly capper; every time I have to set that down to fill another bottle, that's wasted motion. I want 12 or 15 or 18 that I can do repetitively, gaining skill and speed. Grabbing a bottle, sanitizing it, filling it, setting it down, adding a cap, grabbing the capper, capping it, moving it into a case--all that requires wasted time that can be eliminated by doing a lot of the same process in a row.

I'm not done reading Revvy's thread (may never get done--it's got something like 800 responses), but I've already learned a few things that will improve my own process.

 

[Pantherjon]

mongoose hit it on the head! Practice makes perfect! Fill a bunch and then cap...Before long you will be able to knock out a 5 gallon batch into bottles in no time!

 

[Subdivisions]

mongoose hit it on the head! Practice makes perfect! Fill a bunch and then cap...Before long you will be able to knock out a 5 gallon batch into bottles in no time!

This is the beauty of bottle conditioning. You're allowed to get a little oxygen in there since the yeast will use it up anyway.