Home Brew Forum

its crept up on me again.. 150 bottles to wash, sanitise rinse and plastic cap.
Just cant find a labour saving method..trust me been trying
I know everyone goes on about starsan and bottle trees but i dont reckon you can beat the "scrub with bottle brush" archaic method.
Anyone care to bring me into 21st century

Rinse directly after drinking, squirt with starsan or videne and cap.

Simply then bottle weeks / months down the line.

I've been banging on about this for months, it is the only thing that keeps me bottling. In order to extend the period between "proper cleaning" I have added a bottle brush stored in Starsan which I use during the rinse out and prior to the final spray. I'm going to see how long I can do this before I ruin a batch; the equivalent of "taking one for the team".

timbo41 wrote:Just cant find a labour saving method..trust me been trying

timbo41 wrote:I know everyone goes on about starsan and bottle trees but i dont reckon you can beat the "scrub with bottle brush" archaic method.

You've already found the "labour-saving" method, but you're choosing to do it the hard way. Why put that extra work on yourself? Bottling is the biggest pain the arse of homebrewing.

Paddy Bubbles wrote:

timbo41 wrote:Just cant find a labour saving method..trust me been trying

timbo41 wrote:I know everyone goes on about starsan and bottle trees but i dont reckon you can beat the "scrub with bottle brush" archaic method.

You've already found the "labour-saving" method, but you're choosing to do it the hard way. Why put that extra work on yourself? Bottling is the biggest pain the arse of homebrewing.

Yeah i know just wish the bottle trees werent so expensive

Well, I admire anyone attempting to clean 150 bottles

timbo41 wrote:

Paddy Bubbles wrote:

timbo41 wrote:Just cant find a labour saving method..trust me been trying

timbo41 wrote:I know everyone goes on about starsan and bottle trees but i dont reckon you can beat the "scrub with bottle brush" archaic method.

You've already found the "labour-saving" method, but you're choosing to do it the hard way. Why put that extra work on yourself? Bottling is the biggest pain the arse of homebrewing.

Yeah i know just wish the bottle trees werent so expensive

True, they're pretty steep for what is just a bit of moulded plastic. They're a good investment though if you're a bottler. I'm really glad I got one.

The Starsan is the business dude, no rinse, no scrubbing. This is how I do it: just rinse out the bottle with hot water after I pour the beer, taking care you remove any yeast sediment. You now have a clean bottle. On bottling day I just dunk in the no-rinse sanitiser and hang on the bottle tree. Easy peasy. The Starsan looks expensive but I'm still on my first bottle - two and a half years later.

Just bottled 40 pints start to finish 45 minutes. See above for the how to.

Have to back this up - i felt like a total Mug spending 'so much money' on a bottle tree, a bottle washer, 'little bottler' and a decent bench capper, but i did anyway and they're absolutely fantastic.

As you say, bottling used to be the biggest pain in the ar*e about the whole thing, the miserable and painful end to a lengthy experience that was otherwise very exciting! Now its basically a leisure activity (that can easily be wrapped up in an hour) and actually quite a satisfying finale to the whole brewing process.

If you're going to bottle, just invest - theres very little working parts with all of these things so once you've got them you'll have them for life (assuming you keep them clean....) and if you're anything like me you'll end up brewing more because you've taken the boring miserable bit out of the equation.

I find dealing with bottles so tedious that any investment which makes it more bearable is worth at least considering!

The real key for me is to clean the bottles immediately after use, even if its just a good slosh out or two with decently hot water, as any sugary/beery stuff drying on or letting things start to live in it makes things ten times worse later. I would never go back from quick working, no-rinse sanitisers either - if your bottle is already physically clean then a brief rinse out with say a re-useable starsan solution and its ready to go.

I still avoid bottling whenever possible, though; I like them and truly admire people who do it properly but I seem to lack the will or the space for them.

Cheers
Kev

Does anyone think that some styles work better in a bottle? For me my Stouts always seem better in a bottle and I find aroma to be ever so slightly better too.

I should have stated that i always give my bottles a rinse with cold water (maybe 2) after pouring the beer to remove the yeast/whatevers in the bottle, then store (upright, in the shed, if it makes any difference). I then use the bottle washer with a videne/water mix on the batch when im ready to bottle. Not even remotely complicated and i have yet to have a single issue.

Handily videne is helpful in this situation because if you've forgotten to wash one and tip yeast/beer in to the mixture in the bottle washer, it changes colour. But yes, keeping your eyes open (and not using unwashed bottles from people that have overheard you're 'collecting' and start using your doorstep as an alternative to the recycling centre.... grrrrr) obviously helps.

Does anything taste better? Honestly couldnt say - i've never kegged. Small volume brewing, desire for a diverse range of stuff in my fridge, a lack of space and the benefit of portability/ease of sharing means i've actually never wanted to - so i guess the bottle equipment outlay was a bit easier to swallow as i knew i'd be using it all the time.

All valid points. Cheers. I do rinse bottles straight after use, but a lot of these were indeed the" product" of my local RBL, so I thought a scrub up necessary. Got as far as 40 washed,sanitised,rinsed,filled with TTL and laid away then got bored. Think will raid bank for tree and no rinse. Got to be easier.
any suggestions on removing commercial labels welcomed,especiallly from thwaites bomber, as these are plentiful

orlando wrote:Does anyone think that some styles work better in a bottle? For me my Stouts always seem better in a bottle and I find aroma to be ever so slightly better too.

My hefe does - sadly! Its also helpful to be able to shake up the yeast easily when pouring. I can't say I noticed it for my own stout though, although I do reserve my better sealing cornies for that because I prefer to only slightly pressurise/carbonate it.

Cheers
Kev

timbo41 wrote:any suggestions on removing commercial labels welcomed,especiallly from thwaites bomber, as these are plentiful

I leave bottles outside in a plastic storage box and fill with water or let the rain and snow fill it up so covering the bottles, after a while the labels with either float off or peel away quite easily. If the lables are the plastic type I don't bother cause they're too much hassle to remove.