How do people bottle?

[Polcho]

I will be doing my first all grain brew next weekend hopefully.

I found out that one of my KK’s was leaking before the end of my last festival brew, so I bottled the remainder of the KK that I know is ok and used that one for the brew.

I hadn’t bottled before, and it was only 10 bottles, but I quite liked it, especially as I like to open a bottle for a beer.

My question is, what is the best way to bottle in terms of not spoiling the beer by infection.

I have a conical fermenter that I can attach a hose and a tap to from underneath. Would it be ok to do it like that.

Also, about priming the bottles, how much and with what?

Thanks

 

[Awfers]

The best way to bottle without getting an infection comes down to sanitizing your equipment and being careful when bottling.

Some people like to use carbonation drops, putting one (or more) in each bottle prior to filling.

Others mix priming sugar in with the beer in a separate vessel, and then fill from there using a hose and filling wand.

 

[obscure]

Since this thread will inevitably set off the ‘batch vs individual bottle priming’ I might as well start making the case for individual priming (Its easy and not as time consuming as you might think). The exact amount of sugar to use depends on the level of carbonation you want but the brewers friend priming calculator is a good place to start.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
Personally when I bottle I use either .33 or .5 L swing tops and prime with caster sugar. I’ve taken to using 2.5g sugar sachets (the wee sticks and can be poured straight into each bottle) and find one of these in a 500ml bottle will give about 2.1 volumes of carbonation which I find about right for my taste, it’s carbonated but not overly so.

I’ve also recently bottled my Saison in 330ml bottles again with 2.5g sugar which gives about 2.8 volumes of CO2 which for the style works well. These bottles open with a notable pop and need to be carefully poured to avoid excess foaming.

As for how I bottle I take a very lazy approach shortly before bottling I run the, through the dishwasher at 75°C and then bottle straight from the tap on my fermentor running through a small funnel. Now this really isn’t best practice, as it can increase the chance of oxidation and infection but maybe I have being lucky but so far it’s worked fine for me.

Finally with regards to carbonation drops that I see @Awfers has mentioned I have used these in the past and they are perfectly good but it’s an expensive way of buying sugar, a standard bag of caster sugar or in my case a box of sugar stocks will work just fine.

As for batch priming it’s a perfectly valid option but I can’t comment on the process as I individually prime but at the end of the day it’s all the same thing adding a small amount of sugar to each bottle to allow for carbonation.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Hi @Polcho - I think this is one of those questions that, if you ask 10 people, you'll get 12 different answers.
I can tell you what I do and why I do it, with the cavieat that there are resons not to do it this way.
If bottling an entire batch, I batch prime and use a bottling bucket. I use a priming calculator to find out how much ordinary suagr (i.e the kind used for home baking), dissolve that in some boiling water, then add it to the bottling bucket. I then rack into the bottling bucket. The bottling bucket has a tak on it to which can be attached a bottling wand, though I attach a length of siphon tube and attatch the wand to the over end of a bit of flexibility.Then it's a case of fill and cap.
This is why I do it this way:

1. Every bottle will in theory have exactly the desired ratio of priming sugar to beer, so it's handy if your bottles are different sizes.
2. There's no need to attempt to get a precise amount of sugar in to individual bottles
3. I find that when I don't use a bottling bucket, I get more sediment in the last few, but I may be imagining that.
4. The bottling wand probably has the best effectivness per cost of any equipment I own.
5. When priming individually, due to my very poor memory and lack of methodical approach, I always forget which I have primed and which I haven't. Yes, I could just look in to the bottle to check, but meh, I just find it easier not to have to think about it

I have primed bottles individually, and used carbonation drops too. It tend to use carb drops if I am bottling the balance after filling a keg, purely for ease.
Like I say, this is my preferred way, along with the reasons why I do it. Other's do it differently.
Also, the best tip I picked up from this forum is to bottle over an open dishwasher to catch any mess (which there most certainly will be), and simply close it afterwards.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

For completeness, I should have mentioned the downsides of my approach, the biggest being the transfer to another bucket instroduces another opportunity for infection, so as always, sanitisation is key.

 

[hoppyscotty]

As said above, be paranoid about infection so make sure things are sanitised. I clean the bottles in the sink with normal washing up liquid, then run them through the dishwasher and cap with tin foil until they're needed. Then on bottling day chuck them in a bucket of Milton, rinse and chuck in a bucket of starssan. No issues as yet.

We also tap the conical fermentor from the bottom with the bottling wand. Sanitising the bottling wand and tubing is easy. 'm a bit paranoid about the inside of the short length of metal tubing after the fermenter bottom tap so try to squirt as much sanitiser as I can up the spout before starting to bottle. Again, no issues as yet so must be effective. Also when cleaning the fermentor get a thin brush to give the bottom tap a good clean.

I just bottle straight from the fermenter and don't bother with transferring to another vessel. Simpler and less stuff to clean up and minimises exposure to O2 and enables pressure transfer from the fermenter if begging. Seems to work great with a conical fermenter, but not so much with a flat bottomed bucket. Beer is clear and free from particles. So priming sugar goes in the fermenter. a gentle swirl with a sanitised spoon and we're ready to bottle. I just use the Brewers Friend priming sugar calculator and always nicely carbonated.

 

[Galena]

I rinse bottles immediately after drinking and then cleaning is easy.
The morning of bottling I wash all the bottles in VWP or Oxy and a bottle brush, rinse and then use a bottle washer full of starsan. The bottles are then drained on one of those bottle racks where nothing goes inside the bottle.
I decant to a bottling bucket using a sanitised auto siphon and use a bottling wand which makes the process easy, all well sanitised of course as Awfers rightly says.
I calculate the desired volume of CO2 (depending on style and personal taste) and use the Brewfather calculator to decide how much sugar to add for carbonation. I make up a solution of this in a small amount of boiling water and add it to the bucket. I usually also add Chitosan (finings) when bottling.
Chuck the caps in Starsan.
Place bottle on the wand and depress, fill to the very top and this will give you the correct level once removed.
Apply cap using a bench capper.

 

[Graz]

Guess the process could be different if you have a conical fermenter. I've only ever done it from buckets.

Easiest way for me is to move the finished brew from the fermenting bucket into a dedicated bottling bucket. This has a tap fitted to the bottom to which a bottling wand can be fitted: Fermenting Vessel 25 Ltr. Including Little Bottler – Lid with Grommet

Before transferring the beer into this I dissolve the priming sugar in boiled water (just enough to dissolve it), let it cool and put this in the bottling bucket. After transferring the beer I give it a very gentle stir to distribute the sugar solution.

Once the beer is in the bottling bucket I can fill the bottles with ease from the bottling wand. As each one is filled I rest a crown cap in the top and then crimp them all on after using a bench capper.

With regards to the bottles I always clean mine straight after drinking whatever was in it so come bottling day all I do is blast each one with StarSan solution with one of these: Bottle Rinser/Washer | Home Brew Online

And then stick them on one of these so that I can get each bottle quickly and easily: Bottle Drainer Tree - 80 Bottle @ Home Brew Online

 

[MmmBeer]

In approx 100 batches, I have never had an infection in individual bottles. As long as your cleaning and sanitation routine is sound, you don't need to worry too much.

Lots of ways to add priming sugar, all have pros and cons.

To reduce oxidation it is best to fill bottles from the bottom, rather than splash it in from the top, using a Little Bottler achieves this, but also stops the flow when you lift it to reduce spillage and leaves the correct amount of gas space at the top of each bottle.

 

[damienair]

I use 2 fermentation buckets for brewing. Both I have fitted with taps. Once the beer is ready to be bottled I put a saucepan on the hob with 400ml of water and add 180g of brewing sugar which I bring to the boil whilst stirring. I then let this priming solution cool whilst I sanitise the bottles etc. I add the cooled priming solution to the bottom of bottling bucket and I then attach a tube and transfer the beer over to the bottling bucket. When transferred I give the beer a very gentle stir and then bottle using a bottling wand.

 

[moto748]

My two-penn'orth:

I prime with a syringe and sugar solution. I remain wildly unimpressed by all this talk of so many atmospheres of CO2 etc. In line with my general, attitude that trial and error is usually a better way forward. What I like about the syringe method is,

a) it's pretty quick
b) no need to introduce another vessel into the system
c) it's easy to make slight incremental changes to the amount of sugar on future batches.

Furthermore, I bottle, by, horror of horrors, pouring the beer into bottles from a jug! No, I don't use a bottling wand, or a non-return valve, or anything like that. I siphon the beer from demi-john into a 2 litre jug, and pour it into the bottles from that.

What about oxidation, I hear you say! Well, I've never had an oxidised beer yet in scores of batches.
Or maybe I'm such a muppet that my beer is oxidised, and I'm too stupid to realise. But I don't think so.

 

[DocAnna]

A couple (well a few) extra bits from me on bottling to make life easy:

• After washing and sanitising the bottles put them in crates/boxes and cover with clingfilm - inside surface of roll to the tops of bottles. I will keep them bug free for a while and you can peel it back as you work your way through the bottles.
• Use a rubber mat/tray under the bottles to catch the overflow.
• For the sugar solution (batch or bottle) put the boiling water and sugar in a jug in the microwave for a minute or two to bring to the boil. It will make it easier to dissolve and sanitise the solution nicely.
• Move the fermenter to a higher point where you are going to bottle from at least a day before hand so the sediment stirred up by the move has a chance to settle.

Anna

 

[moto748]

Those are all fair points. I reckon one of the one most important things about bottling is, when you pour a bottle, rinse it out and wash it straightaway, and sterilise it. Sediment which has been allowed to dry out in the bottom of bottles is the likeliest cause of infection.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Especially if you're just bottling small batches, then the door of the dishwasher is a convenient place to put the bottles - it's a convenient height below counter level and you just close it up afterwards with no mopping up to do!

Assuming you're allowed to bottle in the kitchen of course...

 

[Polcho]

Thanks everybody, really helpful.

 

[Nicks90]

I am too lazy to do half of what people on here do.
It's beer and wants to stay beer. Once it's at 4%+ and fully fermented, it's a horrible environment for the vast majority of nasties. Therefore it's going to take some good going to ruin by bottling. We don't live in sterile nasa satellite building type rooms, so there are natural bugs in the air no matter what you do.

I rinse my bottles after use and they get stored in my quite frankly disgusting cellar. Bottling day they get dunked in a sink full of hot soapy water 4 at a time and left on the side until all 34 bottles are rdunked. Then they are dunked in a sink full of Milton solution to a) rinse off the soap b) a nod to killing bugs.
Once all bottles have been dunked, the sink is filled with cold water and they are dunked 4 at a time in that.
So filled with soapy water and immediately drained. Filled with Milton and immediately drained and filled with cold water and immediately drained.

Job jobbed
Sugar dropped in each bottle using a measuring spoon and funnel and then filled from a bottling wand on the tap of the fermenting bucket.

Not had a bad bottle in the last 50 all grain brews.

 

[AlDaviz]

I agree with most, I swapped carb drops and started using an online calculator and priming sugar after a couple of brews.
secondly I try to pick a day when the missus isn’t working she does a wonderful job bottle washing whilst I fill

 

[Stuart Wilson]

I've not been brewing very long, but here's my method. I clean bottles with hot water as I drink contents. I've recently bought a load of clear glass bottles, and find these easier to use than brown glass. The first reason is that it's easy to see if they're clean. Once bottles are dry, I cover the top with aluminium foil and then bake them in the oven. I then leave the foil capped bottles on a shelf until I'm ready to bottle. I've used them up to 6 weeks after baking and dont do anything else to them. Never had a problem.

Before retiring I spent years working in bio science labs. We used to autoclve stuff and store them in foil capped jars which we would open under a laminar flow hood (nominally sterile conditions) and then replace foil before taking container out of hood. My method of treating bottles is based on that experience. It means that I build up a stock of clean bottles that are all ready to go on bottling day.

I transfer to bottling bucket, batch prime and have recently taking to adding half teaspoon of gelatine along with priming sugar.

Another advantage of clear bottles.....easier to see when beer level is coming up to the top.

After bottling i put bottles into cardboard crates which then go next to radiator in my spare bedroom for about 3 weeks. I then shift to garage which is totally unheated and leave them there for long term storage. In summer I usually keep a small stock in the fridge that I replenish as it gets drunk. In winter I just bring bottles in from garage.

 

[obscure]

Hi @Polcho
Also, the best tip I picked up from this forum is to bottle over an open dishwasher to catch any mess (which there most certainly will be), and simply close it afterwards.

I tried this for the first time when I was bottling on Sunday made for one of the most straightforward bottling days ever, and no complaints about a sticky floor.

 

[Redwulf]

I bottled all of my first 5-6 batches and rapidly grew to loathe the process and quickly got a corny set up.

My process since then has been soak the bottles in Hot Water and Oxi then rinse cold and sanitise in Chemsan and do the same with a Corny Keg. I usually batch prime so I'll prepare some sugar solution on the hob based on the number of bottles, usually 8-12 but sometimes 24. This goes into a bottling bucket and I siphon 5-6L and a little bit more on top of the sugar solution and then leave this for 10-15 mins while I siphon the rest of the batch into the Keg which gets sealed and purged straight away.

I then come back to and use a siphon and a wand to fill the bottles crown cap them and pop them in the bar cupboard for 2-3 weeks and then out to the garage until needed.

However, I am just waiting on a couple of disconnects and then I am moving to a different process where I will bottle from the keg/pressure fermentation vessel directly.