Bottling day tips

My advice... Slow down and read this before you brew, or even think about bottling...

www.howtobrew.com

Then come back and ask questions about what you've read. (And there's bottling information there too.)

 

The tricks to a clean and efficient bottling day are as follows:
0)When you drink a beer, immediately rinse the bottle out well and let it dry before packing it away. This saves tons of time come bottling.
1)Make a list of things you need to do in order.
2)Lay down towels because there will inevitably be spillage.
3)Make sure you are comfortable using your equipment. (siphon, bottling wand, capper, etc)
4)Get a friend to help you. One fills, the other caps.

But Vikeman is right, you have several weeks before bottling. The brewing is what you should be concerned with at this point.

 

If you have a dishwasher with a "sani rinse" setting, use it to sanitize your CLEAN bottles. Big time saver for the actual bottling session.

 

I put all my bottles into sanitizer the first time I bottled, was a huge headache. Ever since I sanitize by covering the top with foil and baking in the oven at 350F for 1 hr. I do this before bottling day, one less thing to worry about and much less labor intensive.

 

Rule #1 see @VikeMan post above
Rule #2 do not follow the instructions that came with the kit, they are likely garbage

 

Open your dishwasher door and fill the bottles over it. No mess on the floor.

 

Definitely follow the advice about reading howtobrew.com. Better yet, go buy a copy, it's a much more updated version, but the free online version has all you need. The one thing I recommend that I use universally in all my brewing, especially on bottling day, is a spray bottle of starsan. I use it to spray my work surfaces, sanitize the inside of my bottles and all of my bottling equipment. It's a convenient thing to have around for quick sanitizing. Get used to the word sanitize.... it's one of the primary concerns for everything that touches the wort or beer after it's boiled. Good luck on the first brew and... just have fun with it. No worries.

 

A buddy system will take about an hour off of bottling day. One guy fills and the other guy caps. It's worth giving him a 6 pack for the help.

 

There are may way to bottle your beer, the first time will not be your best so start with sensible video such as this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0-NaclAstE try working with prime beer calculator
happy prime

 

A frequent problem that is reported in this forum is inconsistent carbonation from bottle to bottle. It's important to get your priming sugar well dispersed into your beer. Most homebrewers boil the priming sugar in a few cups of water, cool it, then pour it into the bottom of the bottling bucket to allow the beer to mix it when you siphon it from your fermentor. I go the extra step of using my sanitized brewing spoon to stir the beer 4-5 times during the bottling process. BUT this stirring has to be very gentle and done without creating any bubbling during the process because the bubbling will introduce air into your beer and can lead to oxidation.

 

The disadvantage to putting the priming sugar in the bucket first is that you don't know how much beer you're going to get in the bucket. Over time, you'll dial in your process and experience, but for your first batch, the volume of beer in the bottling bucket is probably going to be significantly different than either the recipe or your estimate. If you do it this way, I'd highly recommend choosing an amount of priming sugar aimed to get you right in the middle of whatever range of carbonation (CO2 volumes) you're willing to accept, so that if/when the beer volume doesn't quite hit the target, the result will still be acceptable.

 

I've always thought the tree rack was a good idea but I've never popped on getting one (or two because I don't think one would be enough).

After sanitizing my bottles in a bucket I place them inverted in my cardboard case to drain onto a layer of paper towel that I spread under the bottle divider inside the case. The paper towel may not be sanitized by definition, but I figure that the sanitizer that is draining out of the bottle sanitizes the spot where the bottle mouth is sitting. (I also put a layer of wax paper under the paper towel so that the moisture doesn't get into the cardboard bottom of the case, thus lengthening the life of the case itself against moisture rot.) The bottles are not in this inverted position more than 30-40 minutes before they are pulled out to be filled. So far I've not had any infection issues.

 

Beer-Wine Hobby is a great store. Welcome to the hobby (obsession)!

 

If you are budget minded, try one of these crates from walmart,
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-Mini-Crate-Black/17126915
You can store bottles in it and if you flip it upside down, the round holes are the right size to fit the bottle necks so they can drain after sanitizing. It will hold a case of bottles and the crate is like $4.
I myself use a fast rack. I like it A LOT better than a bottling tree.

 

But then you have to move the beer into the kitchen. Just lay a towel down. Works just as well but you can do it anywhere.

Totally offended you didn't single out my clear and comprehensive list...

 

I will add that letting the beer siphon onto the priming sugar (already dissolved in a couple cups of water) is not sufficient to stir in the priming sugar. I read somewhere it was, but my first batch I tried this and ended up with 8-10 over carbonated bottles and roughly 40 pretty much uncarbonated. I now consider the stirring mandatory, not an extra step.