Game changer

[Baldylocks Brewery]

No issues at all with head retention. I do rinse and sanitise before filling and have one of those bottle rinsers (they fit on top of a bottle tree too!)

Cheers Stu, sounds like a no brainer combo for bottling day!

 

[MashBag]

Bottling & prep is so very much an individual thing. Lots of ways to speed it up and slow it down.

I enjoy these threads, they often range all the way from the bizarre to inspired.

 

[Twostage]

View attachment 99218ideal for a final rinse with Starsan

Ooo. Tempting. It would be more tempting if I had running water in the brewshed (which is on the do list).

 

[MashBag]

Don't be. I kicked mine into touch. Brilliant dust magnet though.

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

Clean bottle after pour. Sanitise, rinse and prime on bottling day. I should mention I only use 1l bottles swingtop or plastic. Eurospin is great for 1l bottles of beer in plastic.

 

[MashBag]

TFR morning after opening. Rinse.
Sprintz with vodka, seal with old cap.

Bottling time. Drain & fill.

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

Vodka is dear

 

[Jason s]

I have no problems with head retention using the dishwasher, just give a quick rinse before sanitising on bottleing day. I thought I'd share my bottle drainer as it's smaller than a bottle tree and so much easier to store underneath my dedicated wahing up bowl. Great for the folks that don't have much space to store there kit.

 

[old dog new tricks]

I use PET bottles, rinse after use warm water cap on give a good shake and rinse again then store cap off.

When I got to use them I fill 2 plastic FV buckets with Milton and hot water leave for an hour rinse and drain with this https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/fast-rack-24-combo-drainer.html
i got it used and its ok but might upgrade to a bottle tree.

For storage I use plastic boxes from asda as can get 20 500ml PET bottles and seal with a lid

 

[Lynx Brewery]

I’ve been bottling today, so my thoughts:

Always rinse well after finishing a bottle. Occasionally friends return bottles that haven’t been rinsed and contain a bit of accumulated crud. 24 hours with a bleach solution fixes this (followed obviously with an extra, extra rinse).

On bottling day, I’ll give a final clean with Oxi and rinse each bottle three times.

A spray of Chemsan for the bottles & caps and then cap.

My first hand capper lasted for over 4,000 bottles and then failed. The replacement started to fail after another 1,000.

I invested in a bench capper and am very pleased with it. The only bother is adjusting it for different height bottles, so I now separate my bottles by size and mark them with a spot of nail varnish.

There are 5 different heights of 500 bottles and I (usually) pick one size so that they are all the same.

This was a 12% beer so (unusually) I wanted smaller bottles, hence the mix.

 

[Lynx Brewery]

My stock of sorted bottles. The IKEA bag has the most common size.

 

[old dog new tricks]

View attachment 99248
My stock of sorted bottles. The IKEA bag has the most common size.

mine was very similar until SWMBO objected now neatly boxed in cleat plastic boxes from asda 20 per box and stackable

 

[MashBag]

Ooo never considered they might have to be the same height.

 

[jof]

A re they sorted by height so they can put them through a bench capper in same height batches?

 

[dad_of_jon]

A re they sorted by height so they can put them through a bench capper in same height batches?

thats what I do the 330 duvel style bottles are pretty uniform. a different color cap per beer batch makes identification super easy unless you are colour blind.

 

[MashBag]

My capper doesn't care what height they are it adjusts. I am an equal opportunity bottler

 

[tondy79]

Always rinse well after finishing a bottle. Occasionally friends return bottles that haven’t been rinsed and contain a bit of accumulated crud. 24 hours with a bleach solution fixes this (followed obviously with an extra, extra rinse).

What bleach dilution do you use when this happens? I've got a set of returned bottles I'm really struggling with, but haven't tried bleach as yet...

 

[old dog new tricks]

What bleach dilution do you use when this happens? I've got a set of returned bottles I'm really struggling with, but haven't tried bleach as yet...

i can recommend Milton with warm water leave for an hour shake and rinse very effective

 

[Lynx Brewery]

What bleach dilution do you use when this happens? I've got a set of returned bottles I'm really struggling with, but haven't tried bleach as yet...

About half & half, bleach & water. I give them a few shakes over the 24 hours.

 

[Lynx Brewery]

A re they sorted by height so they can put them through a bench capper in same height batches?

Yep. It makes capping much simpler.