wfr42
Landlord.
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2015
- Messages
- 941
- Reaction score
- 322
I thought I'd share some how I do bottling day to:
- help out the newer members.
- start a (bit of a) discussion.
- get some tips for myself.
Disclaimer this thread contains steps that work for me - I am not saying that they are right or wrong, just this is how I do it (as mentioned above, tips are welcome).
1. Cleaning bottles
This is probably the most important step, and the most monotonous.
When finishing a bottle I rinse it twice with hot water, checking I'm not leaving any sediment in the bottom. However I'm still collecting bottles from friends and store my bottles in the shed when empty so follow the below routine.
Other sanitise/sterilise bottles in their oven.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54300
I collect my bottles and fill my bottling bucket to about 20lites with a solution of vwp (I use about a tablespoon and half which is less than the instructions suggest). I drop my siphon, bottling wand, tub for crown caps etc in the bucket and then start filling the bottles from the bottling bucket.
I still use vwp (I like that it is a cleaner and sanitiser) but acknowledge it may slow this step down.
I fill the bottles to about the neck and then scrub each one with a bottling brush, usually just enough to generate foam, and then empty out checking for any stubborn marks around the neck or at the base of the bottle. I try to leave a couple of litres in the bottling bucket and empty this while slowly rotating to clean the whole bottling bucket.
Once "cleaned" I collect the bottles to onside of the sink, fill the bottling bucket with water and rinse the bottles using the tap and water in the bucket, again checking the bottles are as clean as possible.
I find once I get into the production line mentality this goes quite quickly. I then transfer the bottles out to the shed on the bottling tree to drip dry, while I boil the kettle to mix up my priming solution (usually less than 200ml of boiling water and the required/given amount of sugar). Then, I count out the estimated number of caps (plus 4 or 5 extra) and put them in a tub collected from sanitising.
2. Filling the bottles/siphoning
I siphon from my FV (I only use a primary) onto my priming solution. I have not had any issues from "suck" starting my siphon, I do it with a tap that came with my starter kit so possibly that keeps the nasties in my mouth away from the beer.
Lucky find from my last bottling session -
I finally bought a siphon clip and my last brew was my first using my trug with an aquarium heater for temperature control.
I had lifted my FV and trug out to the shed at least the day before to cold crash. Leaving the water in the trug. I realised when I started siphoning that I fitted the clip back to front and I needed to keep a hand on the clip/siphon. However, and this is the lucky find IMO, siphoning from the FV in the water bath the FV started to float up as it emptied, so keeping a hand on the clip side, created a slow slope as the bucket emptied which the trub was slower to descend than my freshly fermented beer, giving me one of my clearest siphonings to date (looking forward to using this again with my next batch
I then attach my bottling wand to my bottling bucket, it was all bought at different times, but I've found one my starter kit taps fit the bottling wand perfectly and give an extra control if I need to stop in a hurry. I tend to fill my sample jar for a final reading here (having given my FV 2-3weeks inside plus 24-48hrs cold crashing in the shed).
My last 9 or so bottles I have to fill by tipping the bucket
so minimising the trub brought across when siphoning pays dividends here.
I tend to fill 9 bottles (I like the 3 by 3 symmetry) at a time and then cap these before continuing. I transfer a large handful of caps to a tub of water to rinse them (again starsan would speed this up).
Then it's clean up time...with what ever volume was left in that final bottle :whistle:.
- help out the newer members.
- start a (bit of a) discussion.
- get some tips for myself.
Disclaimer this thread contains steps that work for me - I am not saying that they are right or wrong, just this is how I do it (as mentioned above, tips are welcome).
1. Cleaning bottles
This is probably the most important step, and the most monotonous.
When finishing a bottle I rinse it twice with hot water, checking I'm not leaving any sediment in the bottom. However I'm still collecting bottles from friends and store my bottles in the shed when empty so follow the below routine.
Other sanitise/sterilise bottles in their oven.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54300
I collect my bottles and fill my bottling bucket to about 20lites with a solution of vwp (I use about a tablespoon and half which is less than the instructions suggest). I drop my siphon, bottling wand, tub for crown caps etc in the bucket and then start filling the bottles from the bottling bucket.
I still use vwp (I like that it is a cleaner and sanitiser) but acknowledge it may slow this step down.
I fill the bottles to about the neck and then scrub each one with a bottling brush, usually just enough to generate foam, and then empty out checking for any stubborn marks around the neck or at the base of the bottle. I try to leave a couple of litres in the bottling bucket and empty this while slowly rotating to clean the whole bottling bucket.
Once "cleaned" I collect the bottles to onside of the sink, fill the bottling bucket with water and rinse the bottles using the tap and water in the bucket, again checking the bottles are as clean as possible.
I find once I get into the production line mentality this goes quite quickly. I then transfer the bottles out to the shed on the bottling tree to drip dry, while I boil the kettle to mix up my priming solution (usually less than 200ml of boiling water and the required/given amount of sugar). Then, I count out the estimated number of caps (plus 4 or 5 extra) and put them in a tub collected from sanitising.
2. Filling the bottles/siphoning
I siphon from my FV (I only use a primary) onto my priming solution. I have not had any issues from "suck" starting my siphon, I do it with a tap that came with my starter kit so possibly that keeps the nasties in my mouth away from the beer.
Lucky find from my last bottling session -
I finally bought a siphon clip and my last brew was my first using my trug with an aquarium heater for temperature control.
I had lifted my FV and trug out to the shed at least the day before to cold crash. Leaving the water in the trug. I realised when I started siphoning that I fitted the clip back to front and I needed to keep a hand on the clip/siphon. However, and this is the lucky find IMO, siphoning from the FV in the water bath the FV started to float up as it emptied, so keeping a hand on the clip side, created a slow slope as the bucket emptied which the trub was slower to descend than my freshly fermented beer, giving me one of my clearest siphonings to date (looking forward to using this again with my next batch
I then attach my bottling wand to my bottling bucket, it was all bought at different times, but I've found one my starter kit taps fit the bottling wand perfectly and give an extra control if I need to stop in a hurry. I tend to fill my sample jar for a final reading here (having given my FV 2-3weeks inside plus 24-48hrs cold crashing in the shed).
My last 9 or so bottles I have to fill by tipping the bucket
so minimising the trub brought across when siphoning pays dividends here.
I tend to fill 9 bottles (I like the 3 by 3 symmetry) at a time and then cap these before continuing. I transfer a large handful of caps to a tub of water to rinse them (again starsan would speed this up).
Then it's clean up time...with what ever volume was left in that final bottle :whistle:.
