so do I. I always have. I've also found with kids around, nothing gets thrown in while bottling. car keys, Sponge Bob toys, and rubber snakes & spiders do not belong in bottling buckets. no matter what your kids think.
Bottling Rant
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so do I. I always have. I've also found with kids around, nothing gets thrown in while bottling. car keys, Sponge Bob toys, and rubber snakes & spiders do not belong in bottling buckets. no matter what your kids think.
lgilmore
Well-Known Member
Never had a problem, your beer is out several times in the process of bottling. But no worries either way.
ggriffi
Well-Known Member
I'm a noob and this is the thread that I read. Have bottled two batches and both took about 90 mins. each
Cider123
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I just bought a 2 keg system. I'm looking forward to beer on tap.
What I hate about bottling is the one chance shot you have at getting the carbonation where you want it. In kegging if it's a bit flat you can up the psi or the reverse. In bottling you got one chance to get it right, then you have to deal with what you got for 2 cases. You can also have carbed beer in a few days vs 3 weeks.
What I hate about bottling is the one chance shot you have at getting the carbonation where you want it. In kegging if it's a bit flat you can up the psi or the reverse. In bottling you got one chance to get it right, then you have to deal with what you got for 2 cases. You can also have carbed beer in a few days vs 3 weeks.
It's difficult for you to use a chart to calculate how much sugar to use???? Bottle carbing's not rocket science. You add the right amount of sugar, keep the beer around 70 degrees, WAIT and bob's your uncle.
And sure, you may have your beer carbed in a few days, but it STILL doesn't mean you're not drinking green beer.
fluidmechanics
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I rinse well after drinking a bottle, then I use the dishwasher. The high temp setting on most dishwashers is high enough to sanitize your bottles and I have had no issues with infection. After the cycle finishes I crack the door slightly to let the heat out. When the bottles are room temp I fill them. Simple and labor free. As a side note this is with bottles that already have the labels removed. If you need to effortlessly remove labels use the hottest water your tab will give with oxyclean. Soak for an hour in the sink, then a quick scrub with a scotch Brite green pad to remove the glue.
aubiecat
Well-Known Member
If you measure the right amount of sugar for the amount of beer you'd get perfect carbonation every time. It's OK to stir the sugar in as long as you don't whip it.
Don't know what kind of beer you area making but the only beer that I brew that takes three weeks to carbonate is super high gravity beers. Practically all my mid gravity beers carbonate in a week. The Irish reds I brew carbonate in as little as 5 days.
TangoHotel
Well-Known Member
This is my process for bottling. It works for me and it may help guide you to find your process.
I always rinse out a bottle once I finish it. I let it dry on an old dish drying rack by my garage utility sink. I've saved enough boxes now so that once I accumulate enough bottles I'll fill a box and store it on my bottle shelf in the garage.
For commercial donations, I set aside and delabel enough bottles per batch. I do 60 for a 5 gallon batch, just in case. Soak the bottles in a oxyclean solution for an hour or two. Peel off the paper and use a braided scrubber to scrub off the extra glue and paper and put them in a separate rinse tub. Should take about 30 minutes. Get a chair, good music, and a beer or two.
Use the bottle washer to blow out the bottles. Then put all the bottles in the dishwasher. This cleans them and sanitizes them as well. If no dishwasher, then just do the starsan dunk and let air dry. Once the cycle is done drying, I take a squirt bottle full of star san and spray the insides and the rim of the bottles and place them back in the dishwasher racks to drip. Then prime, bottle and cap. I have it down to about 90 minutes if you exclude the dishwasher cycle. That's when ill move the carboy to bottling position to let anything that moved settle back out of suspension. I even got the SWMBO in on the process to cut down time. I pay her in beer.
Everyone has their own methods and no matter how you get there, the end result is beer in a bottle. There is no right way to do it as long as you get everything sanitized. It took me about 5 batches before I got the process I liked. Find a way you like and stick with it. Prost!
I always rinse out a bottle once I finish it. I let it dry on an old dish drying rack by my garage utility sink. I've saved enough boxes now so that once I accumulate enough bottles I'll fill a box and store it on my bottle shelf in the garage.
For commercial donations, I set aside and delabel enough bottles per batch. I do 60 for a 5 gallon batch, just in case. Soak the bottles in a oxyclean solution for an hour or two. Peel off the paper and use a braided scrubber to scrub off the extra glue and paper and put them in a separate rinse tub. Should take about 30 minutes. Get a chair, good music, and a beer or two.
Use the bottle washer to blow out the bottles. Then put all the bottles in the dishwasher. This cleans them and sanitizes them as well. If no dishwasher, then just do the starsan dunk and let air dry. Once the cycle is done drying, I take a squirt bottle full of star san and spray the insides and the rim of the bottles and place them back in the dishwasher racks to drip. Then prime, bottle and cap. I have it down to about 90 minutes if you exclude the dishwasher cycle. That's when ill move the carboy to bottling position to let anything that moved settle back out of suspension. I even got the SWMBO in on the process to cut down time. I pay her in beer.
Everyone has their own methods and no matter how you get there, the end result is beer in a bottle. There is no right way to do it as long as you get everything sanitized. It took me about 5 batches before I got the process I liked. Find a way you like and stick with it. Prost!
gr8shandini
Well-Known Member
I think he meant that you can't adjust the carbonation level once it's bottled, not that he's having trouble hitting the level he intends to. The nice part about kegging is that if you feel that a particular beer would drink better with a little more or less carbonation, you can adjust the pressure and wait a couple of days. For bottling, most people just aim for the middle of the style guide and hope for the best. Sure you can adjust it for the next batch, but you can't do anything to improve the current one.
Also, with the exception of lagers, I never package anything that's not ready to drink. What's the point of waiting around any longer?
I bottle in 450ml - 500ml swing-tops, using the following procedure:
My rotation is about 300 swing-tops, most of which have been in continuous use for 7 or 8 years. I don't possess a bottle capper.
- Rinse bottles after enjoying contents;
- Transfer bottles to bleaching station (plastic tub that accomodates up to 10 bottles);
- Fill each bottle with 50% bleach solution and allow to rest overnight or longer;
- Drain bottles and place upright in plastic containers with swingtops resting on top of bottle necks;
- On bottling day sanitize bottles with vinator and tree, using iodophor;
- Bottle and close swing-tops;
- Haven't timed myself, but it is a quick process.
My rotation is about 300 swing-tops, most of which have been in continuous use for 7 or 8 years. I don't possess a bottle capper.
TangoHotel
Well-Known Member
I need to do this the stramline some of my process.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/malfets-bottle-washer-lazy-homebrewers-381452/
De-labelling is tedious and time consuming. I try to set aside late nights so no one bothers me. Crank some music (headphones) and start picking.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/malfets-bottle-washer-lazy-homebrewers-381452/
De-labelling is tedious and time consuming. I try to set aside late nights so no one bothers me. Crank some music (headphones) and start picking.
aubiecat
Well-Known Member
It doesn't have to be tedious. Soak the bottles in hot water and Oxyclean. The labels will fall off. Just rinse the glue remnants off and put on bottle tree to dry.
I've been meaning to try this...
I would think a good rinse, then foil cover, bake...the little bit of water left inside would do a good job creating a little steam that would get all the nooks and crannies associated with the foil, then they're ready to go whenever needed...wouldn't even need to starsan them
(I'm a little afraid my vinator will get lonely!)
I actually don't bottle much anymore anyway, except for mead, now that I have a kegerator...I still need to streamline/get the hang of the process of bottling off the keg with my BierMuncher Bottle Filler though (still a little messy!)
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
I don't remove labels anymore. I have about 20 cases of bottles. Just can't bring myself to do it.
ABrewingApe
Well-Known Member
Another member of the Leave the Labels club. If they soak off in the Star San, great, if not, great. It's kind of funny to drink a cascadian dark ale out of a hefeweizen bottle.
Every couple of batches I bake the bottles: pop them in the oven, set for 350, and once it's done preheating I turn the oven off and let the bottles cool. Repeat until no more unbaked bottles. Never had a contamination problem, so I like to think I've achieved a good balance between sanitation and inveterate sloth.
Every couple of batches I bake the bottles: pop them in the oven, set for 350, and once it's done preheating I turn the oven off and let the bottles cool. Repeat until no more unbaked bottles. Never had a contamination problem, so I like to think I've achieved a good balance between sanitation and inveterate sloth.
rico567
Well-Known Member
It's been covered adequately in this thread, but I'll reiterate to the OP: you're doing it wrong.
1. All my bottles are recycled commercial non-returnable 9" longnecks. Yeah, it's some work soaking them in PBW to clean them and get the label off- the first time.
2. The most important piece of equipment for bottling is the vinator (shown previously). Get one. No, just GET ONE.
3. Sanitize bottles with Star San using vinator (I place upside down in dishwasher, but feel free to use a bottling tree, also shown previously).
4. Bottle. Some people, like me, would also run the dishwasher before bottling, others regard this as redundant. Suit yourself.
5. After pouring your beer, immediately rinse bottle thoroughly and store until next time.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 indefinitely. Takes all the fuss out of bottling.*
*Note: I don't care what anyone else says or does, I've used this process on the same 400 bottles over a half-dozen times, and I have had no (that's ZERO) infections or other issues. And I'm very content with my bottling, don't need any kegs, thank you very much.
1. All my bottles are recycled commercial non-returnable 9" longnecks. Yeah, it's some work soaking them in PBW to clean them and get the label off- the first time.
2. The most important piece of equipment for bottling is the vinator (shown previously). Get one. No, just GET ONE.
3. Sanitize bottles with Star San using vinator (I place upside down in dishwasher, but feel free to use a bottling tree, also shown previously).
4. Bottle. Some people, like me, would also run the dishwasher before bottling, others regard this as redundant. Suit yourself.
5. After pouring your beer, immediately rinse bottle thoroughly and store until next time.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 indefinitely. Takes all the fuss out of bottling.*
*Note: I don't care what anyone else says or does, I've used this process on the same 400 bottles over a half-dozen times, and I have had no (that's ZERO) infections or other issues. And I'm very content with my bottling, don't need any kegs, thank you very much.
After pouring a beer I rinse and spray with starsan. (i keep some in a spray bottle) then I put it on the bottle rack to dry. When the bottle rack gets full of sanitized bottles I store then in bins to keep the dust off of them. Bottling day I bottle, all the work was done previously.
22oz bottles helps but I only have enough for about 1 5gal batch I am still collecting.
I bottle on my dish washer door too. Never have to get out of my seat until I cap. I place a 10 inch tall pot under the open door to make sure the weight of 25-30 filled bottles isn't too much.
Rinse well after pouring.
I store upside down on a bakers rack
Wash bottles the night before in dish washer
Sanitize in the sink (Starsan)
Return to the dish rack to drain
fill on the washer door in a milk crate
place sanitized(starsan) caps on filled bottles as I go
move full milk crate to counter and cap.
I bottle on my dish washer door too. Never have to get out of my seat until I cap. I place a 10 inch tall pot under the open door to make sure the weight of 25-30 filled bottles isn't too much.
Rinse well after pouring.
I store upside down on a bakers rack
Wash bottles the night before in dish washer
Sanitize in the sink (Starsan)
Return to the dish rack to drain
fill on the washer door in a milk crate
place sanitized(starsan) caps on filled bottles as I go
move full milk crate to counter and cap.
mvcorliss
Well-Known Member
jacobg83 said:
StarSan will only keep your bottles sanitized while they are wet with it. Once the StarSan dries there is no more protection against bacteria or yeast re-infecting the bottles. However well you clean the bottles they really do need to be sanitized just before bottling.
rico567
Well-Known Member
I understand the principle. But I've been sanitizing the bottles with Star San the day before bottling, leaving them in the dishwasher until the following morning, where I run the dishwasher, then bottle. I've been doing this for four years, and nary an infected bottle yet. I think the saving part of all this is that the bottles sit overnight upside down in the closed dishwasher, where there's precious little chance of something getting in there.
ggriffi
Well-Known Member
The directions on the bottle say "Allow to air dry (but surface must remain wet for at least one minute) do not rinse." Sounds to me like there is some protection even when it dries.
+1 on the sanitize before bottling also
