Top 10 Beer Bottling Tips to Make Bottling Day a Success
- Thread starter DanBrewer
- Start date
Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:
Benn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 5/12/12
- Messages
- 950
- Reaction score
- 462
"The Benny Vortex"
...when your emptying a full bottle after soaking in cleaner, give it a couple of circular swirls as you up end it then watch the "vortex" take over. It'll empty in half the time. You'll be shocked.
Remember... You heard it here first
...when your emptying a full bottle after soaking in cleaner, give it a couple of circular swirls as you up end it then watch the "vortex" take over. It'll empty in half the time. You'll be shocked.
Remember... You heard it here first
panspermian
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27/11/13
- Messages
- 131
- Reaction score
- 35
Prob not as efficient as grott but I rinse as I consume. Leave near kitchen sink till I can be bothered and wash with dishwashing liquid and bottle brush. Then they go in my "clean bottles" bucket.
Come bottling day, I make up around 2l of no rinse sanitize and pour evenly into about 5 bottles at a time. While holding a cap on, I shake vigorously. Then I pour this into next bottle and shake and so forth.
I would have 5 lined up on bench with caps on, next ones to go lined up in front.
Come bottling day, I make up around 2l of no rinse sanitize and pour evenly into about 5 bottles at a time. While holding a cap on, I shake vigorously. Then I pour this into next bottle and shake and so forth.
I would have 5 lined up on bench with caps on, next ones to go lined up in front.
panspermian
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27/11/13
- Messages
- 131
- Reaction score
- 35
Curiosity Show?Benn said:"The Benny Vortex"
...when your emptying a full bottle after soaking in cleaner, give it a couple of circular swirls as you up end it then watch the "vortex" take over. It'll empty in half the time. You'll be shocked.
Remember... You heard it here first
dammag
Well-Known Member
I bottled for years and have recently moved to kegging. Having said that, I am considering a move back to bottling only and selling my kegging gear.
The reasons include:
I only drink so much, so I don't need large volumes of beer. I prefer to brew smaller batches.
I can store a lot of bottles at cellar temperatures, that is, in a fridge in QLD.
A lot of the beers I enjoy are benefited by bottle conditioning. Belgians, Stouts etc.
Bottling isn't hard in reasonable volumes if you wash your bottles as you go.
That is the big one. Keep your bottles clean as you go and there is a lot less hassle come bottling day.
Also, I prime my bottles with a sugar solution with a syringe. I have some 10mL syringes I bought off eBay. Say you prime with 5g of dextrose per 750mL bottle. You measure out 150gm dex, put it into a pyrex jug, fill with water until it hits the 300 mL line after stirring. Microwave on medium for a few of minutes to dissolve the sugar and sanitise the solution. You then have 5gm of dex per 10mL of solution you can syringe into bottles. It is easy to adjust for different size bottles, just adjust the amount of sugar solution.
The reasons include:
I only drink so much, so I don't need large volumes of beer. I prefer to brew smaller batches.
I can store a lot of bottles at cellar temperatures, that is, in a fridge in QLD.
A lot of the beers I enjoy are benefited by bottle conditioning. Belgians, Stouts etc.
Bottling isn't hard in reasonable volumes if you wash your bottles as you go.
That is the big one. Keep your bottles clean as you go and there is a lot less hassle come bottling day.
Also, I prime my bottles with a sugar solution with a syringe. I have some 10mL syringes I bought off eBay. Say you prime with 5g of dextrose per 750mL bottle. You measure out 150gm dex, put it into a pyrex jug, fill with water until it hits the 300 mL line after stirring. Microwave on medium for a few of minutes to dissolve the sugar and sanitise the solution. You then have 5gm of dex per 10mL of solution you can syringe into bottles. It is easy to adjust for different size bottles, just adjust the amount of sugar solution.
Benn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 5/12/12
- Messages
- 950
- Reaction score
- 462
Bottle brush in the cordless drill works well when the bottle brush is actually required and using the bottling wand down the neck off the bottle for faster sinking of the bottles into the wash tub. 2x bottle wands and you double your efficiency coz you can get both hands going at once.
I hate bottling,
I hate bottling,
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Rinse well immediately after pouring/drinking and store upside down. Saves a lot of unnecessary work.
So does kegging but I always swore I wouldn't become one of those annoying reformed bottlers.
Hence status description.
So does kegging but I always swore I wouldn't become one of those annoying reformed bottlers.
Hence status description.
Blind Dog
Beer
- Joined
- 30/7/13
- Messages
- 1,714
- Reaction score
- 793
I generally keg, but occasionally bottle if I have no free keg, the beer should (IMO) be bottled or i want an hour or so of fairly mindless, but useful and somehow relaxing activity. Rinse as you go, vinator (who knew) and bottle tree, and then just make sure everything is in easy reach and i'm comfortable as i'll be there for a while.
Beer Ninja
Well-Known Member
'scuse me for butting in grott.Curly79 said:
Bottle Rinser ebay Rinse bottles after use then use the bottle rinser with some starsan before bottling.
Bottling days? easy!
IsonAd
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 20/8/13
- Messages
- 348
- Reaction score
- 72
I rinse after pouring and then put in a cardboard box (upside down and downside up) covered with a towel. Then bottling day I pour starsan from bottle to bottle. No infection in 30 batches.... (I've probably just jinxed myself)
Mr B
Well-Known Member
Hmmm
I usually bottle a case or so when I keg double batches. Using stubbies. Used to do 120 bottle batches till I kegged. Make the change it rocks.
I have a fermentor full of Disan, after drinking any stubbies, in they go.
Before bottle day, I put a bottle brush in the cordless drill, each bottle gets a quick but thorough go, and into a Big W pot with fresh water.
Each 10 or so bottles into the fresh, they go on the bottle tree.
Usually leave till dry, then put into the empty bottle cupboard.
On bottling day, use a vinator to sanitise each bottle, then put on bottle tree. Spray tree with starsan before putting bottles on.
Have a separate bulk prime barrel (25L Bunnings round one).
BULK PRIME it is the goods. Put beer from fermentor into barrel, it has markings for volume so check that, then put volume and desired C02 into Brewers friend calculator, put appropriate amount of dex into a pyrex jug with about 200ml water, microwave so it boils for a min or so, then put into beer, and stir.
Hose on the tap and then on the bottle wand (use a length of thick hose on the tap, in the end, put a short length of the common thinner hose, it will join the thick with the wand. All Vynil? hose (clear stuff from any HBS).
Line up the bottles and fill.
Caps sit in a cup of starsan. When bottles full, place caps on, then crimp them all at once.
A lot of writing, bit a simple process. Worth getting the bits to make it happen, it really knocks off a heap of time.
I usually bottle a case or so when I keg double batches. Using stubbies. Used to do 120 bottle batches till I kegged. Make the change it rocks.
I have a fermentor full of Disan, after drinking any stubbies, in they go.
Before bottle day, I put a bottle brush in the cordless drill, each bottle gets a quick but thorough go, and into a Big W pot with fresh water.
Each 10 or so bottles into the fresh, they go on the bottle tree.
Usually leave till dry, then put into the empty bottle cupboard.
On bottling day, use a vinator to sanitise each bottle, then put on bottle tree. Spray tree with starsan before putting bottles on.
Have a separate bulk prime barrel (25L Bunnings round one).
BULK PRIME it is the goods. Put beer from fermentor into barrel, it has markings for volume so check that, then put volume and desired C02 into Brewers friend calculator, put appropriate amount of dex into a pyrex jug with about 200ml water, microwave so it boils for a min or so, then put into beer, and stir.
Hose on the tap and then on the bottle wand (use a length of thick hose on the tap, in the end, put a short length of the common thinner hose, it will join the thick with the wand. All Vynil? hose (clear stuff from any HBS).
Line up the bottles and fill.
Caps sit in a cup of starsan. When bottles full, place caps on, then crimp them all at once.
A lot of writing, bit a simple process. Worth getting the bits to make it happen, it really knocks off a heap of time.
Grott
Beer Embalmer
"Grott, looks like you have got it covered. Would be interested in where you got your gear and also how it is connected to the tap. The metal rack thing looks cool too!"
Thanks idzy,
The pump rinser used with starsan I purchased from the LHBS, the tap bottle rinser from ebay under "bottle rinsers" at $19.95. The wire basket was from a junk yard, I believe and ex-chicken crate. Folded mesh would suffice, the 35mm squares are perfect for holding the bottles.
As the tap I used to rinse the bottles had no thread for the connection I just utilised a normal garden hose snap lock connection. The male end screw straight onto the unit and I used plastic tubing and clamps for the tap spout.
Hope that helps, cheers.
Thanks idzy,
The pump rinser used with starsan I purchased from the LHBS, the tap bottle rinser from ebay under "bottle rinsers" at $19.95. The wire basket was from a junk yard, I believe and ex-chicken crate. Folded mesh would suffice, the 35mm squares are perfect for holding the bottles.
As the tap I used to rinse the bottles had no thread for the connection I just utilised a normal garden hose snap lock connection. The male end screw straight onto the unit and I used plastic tubing and clamps for the tap spout.
Hope that helps, cheers.
Hostage_85
Active Member
Why not use a Bottle tree for PET?kaiserben said:
