Bottling it! (with pictures)

A forum to discuss the various ways of getting beer into your glass.
Post Reply
Stu The Brew 2

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Stu The Brew 2 » Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:00 pm

Great post mate. I'm glad to see there are some bottlers about, I am just on my second batch an have learnt a bit from your post. Reading this forum there seems to be a lot of disslike for bottling for the hassle, but I only think of the final benefits of having beer you can easily chill down in the fridge.

One other thing I have is a bottle rinser, the only problem is that it will not fit wider necked bottles (I use coopers PET bottles which don't fit), I have made a solution though. Got a big penny washer that was bigger than the bottle opening, made the hole in the middle just big enough to fit the shaft of the washer, then just cut into the sides slightly to let the air and water out, otherwise you get a major spray situation going on.

I have just rinsed 48 bottles in about 10 mins, and straight on to the bottle tree to dry.

Can post pictures if you want, do I need to set up my own post to do that?

I will soon be setting up a post with my set up, I have converted an un-used freezer into a fermentation closet so that I can brew lager at a steady 12 degrees. Keep your eyes out.

Thanks again for this post, excellent!!

User avatar
CrownCap
Hollow Legs
Posts: 476
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:17 am
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by CrownCap » Thu Jul 28, 2011 5:40 pm

4 years on from the original post and I'm glad to see its still proving useful to folks.

I must admit that I have since converted to a bottle washer too. I also only bottle where it is generally appropriate like for a wheat beer and the big barley wine I'm sending off to mature this weekend.

I'd suggest you post your bottle washer solution on the equipment board so all can see, but by all means post a link to that as a reply to this post too.

Cheers!
Next Up : Something for the summer
Primary : Nothing
Secondary / Conditioning : Nothing
Drinking : Mosaic IPA

Stomach
Under the Table
Posts: 1408
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Aberystwyth

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Stomach » Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:40 pm

CrownCap wrote:4 years on from the original post and I'm glad to see its still proving useful to folks.

I must admit that I have since converted to a bottle washer too. I also only bottle where it is generally appropriate like for a wheat beer and the big barley wine I'm sending off to mature this weekend.

I'd suggest you post your bottle washer solution on the equipment board so all can see, but by all means post a link to that as a reply to this post too.

Cheers!
Sending off? Like to boarding school? :mrgreen:

Fermenting:-
FV 1 - Festival Spiced Winter Ale
FV 2 - Empty
FV 3 - Empty
FV 4 - Ditches Stout

Drinking:-
Keg 1 - Nothing

Conditioning:-

Bottles - Brewferm Winter Ale
Bottles - Brewferm Triple

Next
Work in progress
Old Tin of Coopers Cerveza
Couple of old tins of stuff to experiment with!

User avatar
CrownCap
Hollow Legs
Posts: 476
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:17 am
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by CrownCap » Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:52 am

Stomach wrote: Sending off? Like to boarding school? :mrgreen:
Maybe more like off to a posh Swiss finishing school. Its a bit uncontrolled and rude at the moment -needs to learn a bit of refinement ;)
Next Up : Something for the summer
Primary : Nothing
Secondary / Conditioning : Nothing
Drinking : Mosaic IPA

hommebru

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by hommebru » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:27 pm

great post crown cap, very thorough

just a quick question. how come you leave your bottles at room temperature for only one week? i've recently bottled a batch and am wondering when i should move them down to my cellar to cold condition. most people have recommended 2 weeks at room temp and then moving in to a colder environment.
does it make much difference, 1 week or 2?

Dingdongoldboy

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Dingdongoldboy » Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:18 pm

That is a great post thanks, i'm off to get a bottle tree.

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Laripu » Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:15 pm

hommebru wrote:great post crown cap, very thorough

just a quick question. how come you leave your bottles at room temperature for only one week? i've recently bottled a batch and am wondering when i should move them down to my cellar to cold condition. most people have recommended 2 weeks at room temp and then moving in to a colder environment.
does it make much difference, 1 week or 2?
I bottle, and I leave my bottles at room temperature until I refrigerate them prior to drinking. And that's Florida room temperature, so that may be up to 75F = 24C
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

dazza68

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by dazza68 » Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:04 pm

Great post for a novice brewer, but im a little confused with the Co2 pic, are you just spraying it into the empty bucket? how does that work? sorry if its a silly question,just dont want to miss something! :oops:

foxual

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by foxual » Sun Apr 01, 2012 7:19 pm

Hello all.

New member with a question...

I've just bottled my first kit, Youngs definitive bitter (didn't want to splash out what could be a possible car crash of a brew due to my inexperience!!) and i'm struggling to keep the bottling room (dining room) warm without infuriating the missus by cracking the heating on in the house when it's quite warm out! It's probably averaging about 20c but has dropped to 18c today. Is this below the yeasts "optimum operating temp" or will it just be less vigorous?

Should i just crack one and listen for the fizz? If it fizzes to my rather un-demanding standards should i then just bang it somewhere cool and dark to clear?

EDIT:- I've noticed posts suggesting I try to keep it at fermentation temp but i used a brew belt with quite high ambient temps in my shed due to the weather being particularly nice which make sustaining that temp, in a house annoyingly containing numerous humanoids, impossible.

t0ph0id

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by t0ph0id » Wed May 02, 2012 7:03 am

After reading this thread I'm tempted to bottle my second brew, not even done my first one yet!

nutmeg31415

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by nutmeg31415 » Fri Aug 31, 2012 12:49 pm

Hi, Im assuming you need to sterilise the bottle tree too! Do you do that the same as the bottles, and soak in bleach and then rinse off?

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Laripu » Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:17 pm

nutmeg31415 wrote:Hi, Im assuming you need to sterilise the bottle tree too! Do you do that the same as the bottles, and soak in bleach and then rinse off?
That's what I do. But it's a very short soak, a few seconds, and a thorough rinse.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

User avatar
Cully
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2233
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:36 am
Location: with the powers of light and dark... I.e. Newcastle

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by Cully » Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:36 pm

I just wash mine after use, then a quick douse with videne from a spray bottle before next use.
Nothing's forgotten, nothings EVER forgotten...

chrisheartsbeer

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by chrisheartsbeer » Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:54 pm

Hello. First post:

I bottled my first brew today. Sitting on floor of garage with FV on top of stool on top of a box with sterilised bottles and carbo drop in front of me. Anyway to the point. I sterilised my bottles in a somewhat ad hoc manner, drained them out upside down in a plastic crate. But I didn't rinse afterwards. Have I totally messed up, or do you think it'll be fine?

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: Bottling it! (with pictures)

Post by orlando » Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:37 am

Depends on what you sanitised with. No-rinse sanitisers like starsan are fine, bleach would not be.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Post Reply