Bottling stick

[Ciaran12s]

I've just finished up bottling 53 litres. First use of glass bottles and found the whole set up quite fine actually.
I get proper fed up with my bottling stick though. There's a sweet spot where the beer flows well. The trouble is it's very small and hard to find. Lift the bottle too high or too low (millimetres) and flow more or less stops.

So can anyone recommend a decent bottling stick? Or is a valve and open tube a better way to do it?

 

[marshbrewer]

Watching this thread with interest ~ my 'little bottler' stick is the spawn of the devil; the little pointy nipple thing that presses on the bottom of the bottle to open the valve skids around the convex bottom of beer bottles, opening and closing the valve and seemingly adding lots of beer ruining air. It's pants, and basically put me off bottling beer for ages.

 

[IainM]

If it gets air in your beer then its either faulty or incorrectly attached. I fill mine up with water then draw off a bit before I bottle, so no air at all, even on the first bottle. After a few batches finding the sweet spot becomes second nature.

 

[marshbrewer]

Mmmm, perhaps it was faulty? I'll dig it out and give it another go with just water and see if I can find the sweet spot without the pressure of bottling day.

 

[Ciaran12s]

It's been going on for quite a few batches. I've got two the same. I used one for the first batch and t'other for second tonight and they're both pretty much the same. I don't know what brand they are, just a loose item picked up from the LHBS.

Literally a mm movement will lose the sweet spot.

I'm not getting any air. I fill it with star San to avoid getting that glug of air up through the bucket when opening the valve.

 

[Dutto]

I've got a Wilko Bottling wand that works a treat. It was a bit long for my beer bottles so I sawed it off to a perfect length for my tallest bottle (a 650ml ex-Fischers).

At the end of every session I religiously dismantle and sanitise it and then sanitise it again before use. My only tip for the dismantling operation is to make sure that the spring doesn't escape, because finding it again can take ages!

 

[Cwrw666]

I bought a bottling wand ages ago and didn't get on with it too well. First there's that business of finding the sweet spot. Second the valve had a tendency to fall off so I'd get beer everywhere. And thirdly it was so slow. However after the last valve falling off incident I finished the bottling by filling straight from the tap and found it so much easier and quicker that that's what I've continued to do.

 

[nigelnorris]

How about instead of attaching the bottling stick to a tap attach it to a syphon tube. Get one of the little clips to fix the syphon into your bucket so you don't need a free hand to hold that, then put a clamp onto the stick so that it drops into the bottle at exactly the same height every time, and so also is at the right depth to get the stick working properly.

Actually that's just silly because all you have to do is put the clamp onto the stick while attached to the tap. I said syphon because that's what I've been planning to do, can't say that I like taps much.

 

[MickDundee]

I was of the impression that any oxygen getting in from bottling would be gobbled up by the yeast during the carbonation process so I’ve never really worri d too much about the bottling wand opening and closing during bottling.

 

[Ben034]

I bought one of these metal ones recently and it's really good quality. Delivery took 1 week.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32818...00_0101&spm=a2g0n.search-amp.list.32818857137

 

[Ciaran12s]

These haven't got springs in them. The head of beer closes the valve once you take the pressure off from the bottle. I've got another batch to do tomorrow or the day after. I might just remove the valve from the stick and control it on the tap. See how it goes anyway. If that's not great I'll start looking for a spring actuated wand!

 

[Linalmeemow]

The gravity controlled sticks are rubbish in my experience, they don't close properly between bottles. The spring loaded ones are good though, I've never had any problems as long as I don't jam it hard against the bottom of the bottle.

 

[foxbat]

These haven't got springs in them. The head of beer closes the valve once you take the pressure off from the bottle. I've got another batch to do tomorrow or the day after. I might just remove the valve from the stick and control it on the tap. See how it goes anyway. If that's not great I'll start looking for a spring actuated wand!

I've got both types - spring and no spring. The no-spring version is far more prone to getting stuck in the open position and hasn't been used since I got one with a spring in it.

 

[Ciaran12s]

I've got both types - spring and no spring. The no-spring version is far more prone to getting stuck in the open position and hasn't been used since I got one with a spring in it.

Do you find the one with the spring flows faster?

 

[Ciaran12s]

I've always found them ok until a few batches ago. Whether my patience wore thin or they have gone down hill I can't tell. Patience was definitely going last night. 53 litres after 3 weeks on nights, plus going into 330 and 500 bottles whereas I've always been 740 and 1l bottles up until now.

 

[Ben034]

The metal one I have has a spring in it

 

[foxbat]

Do you find the one with the spring flows faster?

From memory I think they flow at about the same rate.

 

[Clint]

I got 2 from home brew online..they work really well. As for the tip sliding round and closing the valve..I carefully jam the end of the bottle in the angle between bottle base and wall...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I carefully jam the end of the bottle in the angle between bottle base and wall...

I do the same.

 

[Dutto]

Couple of tips re Bottling Wands:

One
The plastic Bottling Wands of all persuasions are mass produced items that are produced and assembled with minimum quality control.

If you dismantle one when it's new you may see small burrs and surface imperfections that generally result in the wand leaking or not working properly.

Fifteen minutes with a Stanley Knife and all of these imperfections and burrs can be carefully removed so that the wand works perfectly first time and every time thereafter.

Two
Taps like the one below have a small air-hole in the top to allow liquid to drain from the tap when it is closed. When the tap is opened and the flow is held back by the Bottling Wand the liquid may leak out of this hole. It can be prevented by the temporary application of a bit of insulation tape over the air-hole (when it is dry) before bottling is started.

http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessories+equipment/wilko-replacement-tap-and-seal/invt/0441128

Enjoy!