Tips For Making Bottling Day Less Painful

[johnno]

I should add that I use Grolsch bottles.
This makes it easier.
If I had to bottle with a capper I would probably commision the keg setup faster than you could say "Bulk Buy".

johnno

 

[Aaron]

I am another push down thingy user. I am the same as Johnno when I get new bottles. Good over night soak. I always rinse my bottles after using them then let them it til being used again.

First I use a pink stain solution with the push down thingy on the bottles.
I then rinse with hot water, my hot water system delivers at 65-70C
I then use the push down thingy again and give the bottles another rinse but with a no rinse sanitiser this time.
Then it's time to bottle.

All this is done on bottling day. I realise this may be over kill but it works for me so I stick to it. I do sanitise my bottle caps. I realise this may not be necessary but it takes no effort on my part to dump the caps in a no rinse solution just prior to starting bottling then just grabbing them from there as I need them.

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Hey Steve, how come you're allowed to do this INSIDE the house?????
Cheers 15BL :beer:

 

[Duff]

Hey Steve, how come you're allowed to do this INSIDE the house?????
Cheers 15BL :beer:

[post="112445"][/post]​

I noticed that too :lol:

My wife would string me up if I brought any more brew gear/books/starters, etc., inside the house :blink:

Cheers.

 

[Franko]

I run my Grolsch bottles thru the dishwasher (the price my wife must pay for consumption of beer) then sanitise when ready for use.

 

[Jazzafish]

The bottle tree isn't a bad idea, it will help. For $30 it is worth it.

Fair to say that a rinse after drinking helps, pretty much the same methods from there. Storing them upside down helps.

Bottling takes time. To speed things up you need mates help or routine.

Easiest way to speed it up is to use bigger bottles. 30ish long necks beats using 60ish stubbies. 22 wine bottles beats using 30 long necks. 1 keg beats any bottles!

Sorry I mentioned keg, I couldn't resist

Cheers,
Jarrad

 

[Tony]

i agree

Get KEGS.

I have one and its so easy i just cant bring my self to bottle. I have had 40 liters sitting in a firmenter outside for a week now waiting to be bottled and i just dont want to.

I have another 2 kegs on the way (that will give me 3 x 50 liter kegs ) and when set up in a freezer the bottles are going to the recycling center. Might keep a few but i have almost 800 longnecks and about 200 stubbies. Im sick of them

cheers

 

[andreic]

Hi,

may as well add my method as well...

I'm still bottling and will be for some time yet. My main tips are:
1. rinse bottles after you use them
2. get a bottle tree and push down thingy - definitely worth it
3. seperate bottle cleaning from bottling day

I generally soak bottles in bleach solution in a big bucket when I have a dozen or so needing cleaning. They stay in the bucket overnight, or for days depending on when I get round to the next step - rinse them out and remove labels. Then put them on the bottle tree to drain. Next day I wrap the tops in foil for storing so I don't get any more cockroach poo or spiders in them.

On bottling day take the foil off and just give the bottles a rinse with sanitising solution using the push down thing and put them back on the tree - its actually pretty quick. I chuck the lids in the push down thingy with solution in it and just pick them out when needed - bottle-tops sanitised with no extra effort.

With cleaning fermenters for bulk-priming and afterwards bottling still takes me 1 and a half to 2 hours. I just accept it as part of the deal. Make sure you have a good number of home brews in the fridge, get some good music and go and enjoy the time to yourself (this time is important to most men with families!)

I saw a thread some time ago where one guy had this great contraption to rinse / sanitise 10 bottles at once - could be fun to build one of those to speed things up even more!

cheers

 

[spog]

i am another bottler,but recently bought a keg system (CCing now) i rinse the bottles after drinking and store upside down.i also have the push down thingy which from memory is called the turbo bottle washer. cheers..spog..

 

[Stickler]

Couldn't resist adding this, it's a quote from the Grumpy's site that stuck in my mind from last year. User was deebee.

"I never rinse my bottles after using them. Just chuck em in a pile outside the chook run or next to the compost heap. Leave em in the sun to get crusty for a few weeks.

Come bottling day I just spit in each one a few times, swirl it round and tip most of it out. I prime with the sugar at the bottom of the sugar bowl - you know with granules of instant coffee and little dried lumps of something or other. I reuse bottle caps stored in a drawer with the pesticides in the shed.

And mate, I have never had an infection in 80 years of brewing. I reckon it's the pesticides." :lol:

 

[Murray]

Back in my bottling days after having enough clean bottles I would cover the tops with foil and cook them in the oven at 180C for an hour, pretty much a validated process we used in the lab I worked for at the time. That way I'd have a pre-sanitised batch of bottles ready to go on bottling day.

 

[recharge]

Nearly all has been said, but for my sanitiser i used to fill a goon bag(inflatable wine cask thingy) and use this to squirt sanitiser into each bottle. Don't do it now as not worth it for only 6 bottles at a time (KEGS ).


Cheers

:beer:

Richard

 

[Mr Bond]

Drink beer whilst bottling :chug: work for me

 

[Tony]

I got a few hundred bottles off a friend at work a while back.

He lived on a farm and kept the bottles in milk crates next to his tractor and hey stack.

He gave up home brewing couse "its imposinbe to make good home brew"

He told be the bottles were clean and ready to use.

Here is a pic of a couple of the clean ones.

Yes, they are wasp nests

I threw the dirty ones out, bleach couldnt clean them..... :blink:

cheers

 

[poppa joe]

My PUSH DOWN THINGY....Is a microswitch attached to a sponge cake
bowl with a tall "thing" in it a ...garden riser going through that..
Powered by a windscreen washer motor...and 12 volt battery pack...water recylcles...Works OK..
Cheers
PJ

 

[Doogiechap]

A fun way of getting your mates to help 'wash' emptied stubbies is the Bottle Washer 2000 !!
Now everyone can join in the fun of the rinse :blink: I love it when a new user flicks the switch and open the solenoid whilst standing over the spray head
The Rubber Glove keeps the switch dry.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Nice washer. I sped up bottling by kegging. But I used to use a bottle washer that relied on turning the tap on and off, which means putting down your glass of beer.

 

[Guest Lurker]

A tilted bottling stool and a double bottle filler also sped things up. Once again you had to put your beer down to operate both bottlers at once.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Ditto... rinse three times with hot water after use, drain upside down and they are pretty right to refill. On bottling day I put about 6 litres of mild solution of no rinse sanitiser in a bucket and tip it into the bottles with a funnel and jug. Drain it back into the bucket and leave them upside down.

[post="112359"][/post]​

Thats all the advice you ever need. + only difference I have a spray bottle of diluted iodophor that I spray with instead which makes it even simpler.

Do it this way unless you are board/lonely and want to waste hours of your life cleaning and sanatising.

 

[Doogiechap]

The double bottle filler is a doozy GL. :beerbang: I saw it on your site yesterday as was truely inspired ! :super:
Does anyone have good tips for removing the very stubborn Crown Lager Labels ? I have used solvents, a two week soak in bleach, vegetable peelers, paint strippers. All too painful. I have stripped about 300 of my 500 odd crownies but am inherently lazy. Please no replies pertaining to the use of Kegs