Bottling.

[Chippy_Tea]

Bottling day for me means filling 28 x 750ml bottles and i hate it, my set up is a standard syphon tube with a little bottler attached (i don't have a tap on my FV) i also have two bucket clips to keep everything steady and in place, my question is is there anything i could buy that would speed up bottling.

I have given bag in a box some consideration but decided to stick with bottles (i like glass bottles but hate filling them)

 

[nige]

I'm going to get ond of them squirty things for steralizeing and a bottling bucket with one of them wands, I'm sick of being on my knees till my legs are numb, do it in a chair too.

 

[fury_tea]

Bottling day for me means filling 28 x 750ml bottles and i hate it, my set up is a standard syphon tube with a little bottler attached (i don't have a tap on my FV) i also have two bucket clips to keep everything steady and in place, my question is is there anything i could buy that would speed up bottling.

I have given bag in a box some consideration but decided to stick with bottles (i like glass bottles but hate filling them)

Installing a tap on the FV is an easy way to make it go a little quicker, lining your bottles up in crates, attach the bottler to a hose and working one crate at a time is another way to make things go a bit smoother. Do you have a hand capper or a bench top? I found bench to be much better (and safer). Got through 3 hand cappers and narrowly avoided slitting my wrists a couple of times before I gave up on them.

I had a couple of those 5L kegs you get from the supermarket. Fill 2 of those and you half the amount of bottles you need to fill. You have to drink the whole 5L in a few days but I never found that a problem.

Otherwise, (this might not be the answer you are looking for) it could be time to make a move towards cornies? So much easier than filling bottles. Bottling day was my least favourite thing about brewing. I got a good routine going but all in all it really did take forever, compared to just filling a keg. It's an investment and you need the space but I don't think I'll ever go back to bottling full batches ever again.

 

[kelper]

I brew wine in demijohns. I just put a funnel in bottle and pour it in. I guess you use a larger vessel. Have you considered a wee siphon pump?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1837261110
It stops automatically.

 

[Gerryjo]

I'm going to get ond of them squirty things for steralizeing and a bottling bucket with one of them wands, I'm sick of being on my knees till my legs are numb, do it in a chair too.

Why not set your fermenter on a table and use the chair to your advantage. Place your bottles in a bucket or similar and that way you can control the fill and the flow taking pressure of your knees and back.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hate bottling i use 3 pb's not ideal i know but until i can make room for a fridge i am stuck, i have 70 odd bottles pets and 12 swing tops, i had bottles everywere not long back but chucked a load out, i only bottle ales that need higher carbing

 

[Andy02]

Very timely thread. I bottled 45 x 500ml bottles of mild last night. Tap on FV into a silicone hose, through an inline filter, through another hose into a bottling wand. Mixture of swing top and screw-cap brown glass bottles. Top tip - put the FV on your worktop and sit on an upturned crate whilst you are bottling. The main issue was that I probably didn't tighten up the filter enough and it dripped bloody everywhere despite a plastic basin underneath it but that's my stupid fault. The question I have is - where do you put your bottling wand whilst you're capping so as not to let the tip rest on the floor, getting grubby?

 

[chuffer]

The question I have is - where do you put your bottling wand whilst you're capping so as not to let the tip rest on the floor, getting grubby?

you could try resting it in a jug of star san on the floor

 

[kelper]

Otherwise, (this might not be the answer you are looking for) it could be time to make a move towards cornies? So much easier than filling bottles. Bottling day was my least favourite thing about brewing. I got a good routine going but all in all it really did take forever, compared to just filling a keg. It's an investment and you need the space but I don't think I'll ever go back to bottling full batches ever again.

Chippy is only brewing wine! Cornies are bit OTT!

 

[fury_tea]

Chippy is only brewing wine! Cornies are bit OTT!

Oops...

Magnums or... Nabuchadnezzars then?

 

[Gerryjo]

Very timely thread. I bottled 45 x 500ml bottles of mild last night. Tap on FV into a silicone hose, through an inline filter, through another hose into a bottling wand. Mixture of swing top and screw-cap brown glass bottles. Top tip - put the FV on your worktop and sit on an upturned crate whilst you are bottling. The main issue was that I probably didn't tighten up the filter enough and it dripped bloody everywhere despite a plastic basin underneath it but that's my stupid fault. The question I have is - where do you put your bottling wand whilst you're capping so as not to let the tip rest on the floor, getting grubby?

Into a spare bottle..

 

[Ashman]

Syphon in a mesh bag I found bottling painfully slow. Instead I mount the syphon and sediement trap into a half of a metal tea strainer. Made a whole in the mesh with a pencil and then clipped in the sediment trap in this stabilises the darn thing too.

 

[nige]

Bottling wand attached direct to bottom tap on bucket, then I can sit or stand normal. That's my intention anyway, no need for syphon second time.

 

[nixhaz]

I cornie'd up a batch of rose wine once. It got pretty ugly as it was far too drinkable!

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I place my bottles in a plastic storage box add the sugar and fill them straight from the fv with my syphon hose. I can get nearly all in the box in one go. Spillage is no problem as once filled I take the bottles out to cap and give them a rinse before putting into crates. Rinse the storage box and and job done.

+1 for a crate or something similar to sit on to save the legs!

 

[nige]

Ha ha, no I'm definitely going to have a normal chair, stand or something in between. I'm glad to know other people suffer the same.
Put the bottling bucket on a crate ontop of the worktop then no need to second syphon sit comfy with bottling wand direct to bottom tap over the work top, either stand or sit in between.

 

[Bobtheblob]

I hate bottling too. I've got 40 pint bottles, it's the washing and sterilising that does my head in and takes an entire afternoon and I've got to make sure the kitchen is clear before I start too. The little bottler has definitely helped things though.

 

[nige]

I love this thread. There is is an eco bottle steralizer Bob. I'm going to get one of these. Yellow Eco Bottle Rinser - Balliihoo.
Copy and paste link if it doesn't work bob fill with starsan or similar.

 

[Hanglow]

None of my fvs have taps on them, i transfer to a bottling bucket which does and add priming sugar solution to that. It sits on a table with the bottling wand over the edge. As for sanitising bottles, i have a bottle washer and bottle tree. I used to use the dishwasher as a bottling tree, but upgraded and can really recommend it. I usually brew beer but have also done wine etc too. The bottling tree takes heavy champagne bottles fine too.

I never clean bottles with a brush, ever. It is not necessary at all. I just rinse the bottles immediately after use and let them dry upside down. They are then stored upside down in a box. If i forget to rinse them immediately and they get dirty, I'll use some OXY cleaner in them to soak for a couple of hours then rinse well. Life is far too short to use a bottle brush imo, let chemicals do the work for you.

Its still a pain in the **** though, bottling a full batch takes two hours to set up, fill then clean the buckets etc.

 

[hop-a-long]

After 2 years using a couple of buckets I switched to a Fast ferment and I haven't looked back. I place the fermenter on a pedestal half a metre high on a table, so I can just let the tube with bottlingwand hang down without it touching the floor.