28 replies to this topic

[BarelyBrews]

Not really to bad though,used one-step(l.d carlson product)and warm water.15 minutes soak and labels come right off. Have not done it for a couple of years,prepping for my keg-gun use.And any crap in the bottles it goes right to the trash,not worth the effort to clean.Wasn't all that bad,wish i would not of gotten rid of five cases or so of empties now.Still, i have 3 cases or so.I saved my 22oz bombers,and 12oz stubby bottles,and have quite a collection of grosch and other flip-tops.Anyone else bottling lately?

[CaptRon]

I bottled a APA a couple of months ago. The cleaning of the bottles is a pain in the arse.

[Deerslyr]

Not really to bad though,used one-step(l.d carlson product)and warm water.15 minutes soak and labels come right off. Have not done it for a couple of years,prepping for my keg-gun use.And any crap in the bottles it goes right to the trash,not worth the effort to clean.Wasn't all that bad,wish i would not of gotten rid of five cases or so of empties now.Still, i have 3 cases or so.I saved my 22oz bombers,and 12oz stubby bottles,and have quite a collection of grosch and other flip-tops.Anyone else bottling lately?

I just bottled half a batch of a Maple Pale Ale (recipe courtesy BYO). Mixed the priming sugar and put in the keg and bottled directly from the keg. Other half is conditioning in the keg. Will do the same for Denny's RyeIPA that is cold crashing right now and a Fat Tire. Going on vacation in July... driving to Colorado for a mini-family reunion and want to bring a bunch.

[Recklessdeck]

I have a pretty good method for cleaning bottles:1) mix up a batch of PBW that is the same volume as the batch of beer you want to bottle, then fill dirty bottles until you use up all the PBW (so you know how many bottles you need). 2) Load them into milk crates and place the crates in a rubbermaid bin filled with a weak ammonia solution. Leave it for a day and all labels should come off along with any crud in the bottles. 3)rinse, sanitize, and you're good to go

[jayb151]

Bottling? I bottle everything! And I do 10 gallon batches!

[jammer]

Bottling? I bottle everything! And I do 10 gallon batches!

I hate bottling!

[johnpreuss]

Bottling? I bottle everything! And I do 10 gallon batches!

+1 I live in an apartment and there is no kegging in the foreseeable future. It's just part of the process to me. Funny thing, I see these to secondary or not strings... heck my secondary is more of a place to keep my beer that I haven't had time to bottle so I can brew another batch!!!

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

once the labels are off I don't find it to be a big deal. I give them all a quick hit with the bottle brush and rinse them. Then they get submerged in starsan, dumped, and immediately filled with beer. If I have the Mrs. there to cap for me I can crank through 5 gallons pretty quick.

[johnpreuss]

You know labels aren't a problem. Overnight soak in oxyclean and the fall right off.

[MyaCullen]

+1 I live in an apartment and there is no kegging in the foreseeable future. It's just part of the process to me. Funny thing, I see these to secondary or not strings... heck my secondary is more of a place to keep my beer that I haven't had time to bottle so I can brew another batch!!!

ahh I remember those days2 carboys certainly kept me at a steady paceI also remember the epiphany moment when I cleaned, sanitized purged and filled, then carbed my first keg.I do occasionally bottle a full batch, for the hell of it.

[ChefLamont]

I do little bottling any more and never bottle a whole batch. I am usually bottling of the keg with the beer gun. However, if I have a big comp coming up or want to give beer to a lot of folks, I can be beer gunning quite a few bottles. My procedure is pretty simple.1. Start with bottles that are not that dirty. Sounds stupid, but just like cleaning the brew rig while or right after brewing, it gets 10times harder to clean bottles later. When emptied, give them a decent rinse.2. Soak in plain water for a few hours. Start soaking the day before if possible. If #1 was ignored, I might add warm water and oxyclean.3. Take a bottle brush. Cut the loop off the handle end of it so it is just the straight twisted part. Chuck that bad boy in a cordless (no cords and electrocutions please!) drill. 4. Take the bottles out of the soak, turbo brush with the drill. Rinse with clean water and inspect. Repeat #4 as necessary but rarely needed.5. Put them in starsan to sanitize.6. Pull right from starsan and bottle.It wont make bottling a joy, but to me it makes it tolerable when I have to.

[davelew]

I've bottled somewhere around 150 batches. I've never used a bottle brush.I use a little jet washer that screws onto a faucet to rinse out bottles and get rid of any gunk, and I try to start with clean bottles. Also, for label removal, I find that different breweries require different chemicals. Specifically, Sam Adams requires ammonia, while every other brewery's labels will come off with a soak in warm water.

[jammer]

+1 I live in an apartment and there is no kegging in the foreseeable future. It's just part of the process to me. Funny thing, I see these to secondary or not strings... heck my secondary is more of a place to keep my beer that I haven't had time to bottle so I can brew another batch!!!

Dont let being in an apartment bother you. I certainly dont. I have a spare room for my beer and kegerator. Well that and my fishing stuff.

[gnef]

I was definitely kegging while I was in an apartment, but I was kegging before I got the apartment, so I made sure to get one that could hold all my equipment reasonably well. I didn't brew while I was in the apartment though.If I wasn't kegging, and still had to bottle at this point, I don't know if I would still be in this hobby.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I hate bottling, I mean REALLY hate bottling. I have over 150 bottles in my brew storage room, that I hope to never use again. If I do bottle I want to get a washer and a tree so I don't have to put up with all the BS. I'm glad i changed over to kegging, its SO much easier.Cheers,Rich

[SnailPowered]

How much does a typical kegging set up run? I built a kegerator before I deployed for sankey kegs and I was thinking that it would be really awesome to keg my homebrew once I start brewing. I was thinking about buying this for my starter kit. I realize that it is kinda of jumping in head first and spending a lot of money. I am deployed and setting aside money for this system is not a problem and I will actually go visit one of the brewing clubs in Savannah and join in a brew day before I actually purchase my kit. I figure that way I will have a good idea of whether or not I will like this hobby as much as I think I will right now. What are your thoughts?

[SchwanzBrewer]

How much does a typical kegging set up run? I built a kegerator before I deployed for sankey kegs and I was thinking that it would be really awesome to keg my homebrew once I start brewing. I was thinking about buying this for my starter kit. I realize that it is kinda of jumping in head first and spending a lot of money. I am deployed and setting aside money for this system is not a problem and I will actually go visit one of the brewing clubs in Savannah and join in a brew day before I actually purchase my kit. I figure that way I will have a good idea of whether or not I will like this hobby as much as I think I will right now. What are your thoughts?

If you can afford it, kegging is the best way IMO. When I started I couldn't afford it so I bottled. Everyone here told me to save up and keg. I bottled 7 batches before getting my kegging equipment. The last two were all in the same day, never again. Its so frustrating cleaning 100 or bottles. They get crud in them and the brushes suck, you gotta soak them for a couple days and sometime you can't get everything and gotta throw the bottle out anyway. Frustrated me a lot.I think you have the right idea by brewing with a club or at an LHBS first to see how you like it then committing. Also, with that kegerator you can change the output easy enough to use homebrew kegs.Cheers,Rich

[SnailPowered]

Actually, I was thinking of selling it for like $200 if I could and building a new one. I have access to an x-ray machine so I can mark out EXACTLY where the refrigerant lines are in the sides and mount my taps on the side where I won't have to deal with the hoses when opening and closing the door. When I get back to the States if someone in the brew clubs wants to do the same thing with a couple old refrigerators I'm sure I could do more than one. As long as I am in the military I will be able to do it. Which might be another 2-3 years depending on how things work out.

[jammer]

1. Start with bottles that are not that dirty. Sounds stupid, but just like cleaning the brew rig while or right after brewing, it gets 10times harder to clean bottles later. When emptied, give them a decent rinse.

Best. Advice. Ever.Once you get into this habit, its really second nature. It will save you so much time and frustration.

[nigel]

I'm only just finished my third batch, but bottling's not a problem at all for me. Maybe kegging is way easier, but bottling's not bad.1) When I bought bottled beer, I rinsed the bottles immediately and soaked 'em with hot water overnight, letting 'em dry.2) For delabeling, I soak 'em in Oxi Clean; gets most labels off pretty quickly (and serves to give 'em an extra clean).3) Come bottling day, I use the vinator/sulphiter to sanitize. Super easy. Stick 'em on the tree and they're ready to go.4) I have my friend (a homebrewer) or my wife help with bottling and capping (neither of them mind). Done. Not a big problem.Going forward, the bottles are delabeled already, so that's one less step. All nice, clean bottles. I don't get what all the fuss is about.