Top 10 Beer Bottling Tips to Make Bottling Day a Success

[DanBrewer]

Here's a quick write-up on bottling day tips:

Top 10 Beer Bottling Tips to Make Bottling Day a Success

For those who bottle and not keg, what tips and tricks have made your bottling day easier?

 

[Lincoln2]

1. Beers to drink
2. Tunes
3. Mates

 

[earle]

Some homebrewers use a vinator, which is a plastic tool used to spray cleanser/sanitizer into the bottle. There are at least two disadvantages with the vinator: (1) it costs roughly $20 whereas a wallpaper tray costs about $3, and (2) you can only clean/sanitize one bottle at a time instead of four with the wallpaper tray. You do the math.

While I've moved on to kegging, I stuck with bottling for about 20 years and would thoroughly recommend the use of a vinator (bottle rinser as we would more commonly call it) and a bottle tree.

Some good tips for label removal but I'm not sure I'm keen on introducing oil to the mix.

As suggested in the quote I did the math on time. A quick squirt on the bottle rinser is much quicker than sinking a bottle in a wallpaper tray even though you can only do one at a time. Also reduces the amount of contact between hands and sanitiser.

 

[Damn]

I don't use a bottle brush any more. I found they flatten on the part your trying to scrub after 2 brew cleans. I just rinse the bottle with tap water after I've finished it and store it upside down. Usually the day before bottling I soak the bottles in my favourite brew wash for 20min,swish it out (no scrubbing), examine bottle through light quickly then rinse with cold water. Store back upside down. Just before I bottle I use a bottle rinser and star san ea bottle and caps.

The only time I'd use a brush is if a bottle has been been left upright with crud/beer in the bottle for some time.

 

[real_beer]

Have an assistant to help and give them a title such as 'Head Brewer's Technical Officer' to keep them keen for next time.
Fill your bottles over a container to catch drips and overflows.
Have a plan ready for if you need to tilt the fermenter by yourself to get the last drop of good stuff without losing the siphon.

 

[Grott]

I'm with Earle, bottle rinser is the way to go, 30 bottles for a brew done in no time. Rinsing the bottles straight after consumption is the real key to easy bottling. The item in the sink is a bottle washer, excellent in rinsing consumed grog bottles.
Cheers

 

[DanBrewer]

Has anyone ever had an infected batch from using tap water to rinse sanitizer out of your bottles?

 

[Curly79]

Hey grott. Is the red and white doodad the rinser? How does that work?

 

[HeavyNova]

Has anyone ever had an infected batch from using tap water to rinse sanitizer out of your bottles?

Nope. Done this many times and never had an issue. I don't bother rinsing now though. Now I just soak clean bottles (i.e. no crud in them) in a sodium percarbonate solution for a while then, put them on a bottle tree to drain out. Beer goes in them as they come straight off the bottle tree.

 

[kaiserben]

My advice-

After pouring beer out of a bottle - rinse asap. I use hot water and give it a couple of rinses. Then leave some water in the bottle and put a cap on loosely.

Bottling day is easy, particularly when you've got an assistant doing most of it.

I've been thinking about getting a bottle tree (only because for glass bottles I don't keep the caps to cover in-between uses). I might start using my dishwasher for this.

Throw away the bottle brush (which would be used only on glass bottles, not PET obviously). In the rare case you find a glass bottle with fungus growing in the bottom (likely because someone didn't rinse it properly after drinking) just discard that bottle.

Soaking labelled glass bottles in hot water with sodium Perc/Metasilicate for 5 mins will see the labels come off so, so easily.

 

[kaiserben]

I clean with Perc.
Rinse.
Then use no-rinse (and as the name suggests, I don't rinse it. I just pour out any excess solution leaving plenty of bubbles when the beer goes into a bottle).

Possibly overkill, but it's a quick, simple routine to follow that hasn't seen an infected bottle from the last 1000 bottles.

 

[JDW81]

Has anyone ever had an infected batch from using tap water to rinse sanitizer out of your bottles?

No as I use starsan, which doesn't need rinsing. Simply put the bottles on the bottle tree (after sanitising) and gravity takes care of the rest.

JD

 

[crowmanz]

I only bottle between 2 - 6 bottles from the left overs that don't fit into a keg, bottles after drinking get a quick rinse then bottling day get a soak in prec (warm water preferred) rinsed then star san, star san gets poured out and beer in.

 

[Mikeyr]

Still bottling;

• rinse after pouring - makes life a whole lot easier
• soak bottles in perc, I tend to save up a pile and do a when i have a mash or boil on. i use PET for home consumption
• spray with starsan and onto the bottle tree, mines double height now, also spray the tree with starsan. Also i put the tree on a board with casters so I can move around easily
• spray caps before bottling
• best thing this way is dry necks when adding sugar for priming

Never had an infection from the bottling stage

 

[donald_trub]

I've dropped the perc from my routine recently and just do a hot rinse when I drink the beer, another hot rinse and starsan on bottling day and that's it. No infections so far. If I've been lazy and have dirty bottles due to not cleaning them when I drink them, I'll soak them in perc or napisan.

 

[lael]

I'm with Earle, bottle rinser is the way to go, 30 bottles for a brew done in no time. Rinsing the bottles straight after consumption is the real key to easy bottling. The item in the sink is a bottle washer, excellent in rinsing consumed grog bottles.
Cheers

What us the white thing in the sink?

 

[Grott]

Hey grott. Is the red and white doodad the rinser? How does that work?

No, use that to squirt starsan into the bottles ( it's an excellent pump action), then invert the bottle into the wire rack.
Cheers

 

[Grott]

What us the white thing in the sink?

That's connected to the tap and when you invert a bottle over the black nozzles and push down it squirts water up into the bottle at a high pressure. Less water used than rinsing and does a quick job.
Cheers

 

[lael]

Looks cool. Did you make it? Anyone know where to get the pressure plate nozzles?

 

[Grott]

Got it from eBay, look under bottle rinser, it's $19.95 free delivery. Had to do some alterations for the tap I used but no big problem or cost.
Cheers (sorry I don't know how to do the eBay link, but just looked it up and the unit is there)