Automating the Bottling Process

[jstrausss]

Has anyone tried or made a system to automate the Bottling Process ???

[tjones_jr]

get 3 friends to come over and help...no wait, make that 2 friends. Less beer to be owed, and more beer for you while bottling.

[GunNut76]

Right here (http://hbd.org/forums/messages/366/5608.html?1045633443) is a automatic bottle filler that was made by a member on the Homebrew Digest forum http://brewery.org/brewery/wwwboard/. It looks pretty slick.

[paul84043]

It seems like alot of work for a 5 gallon batch. If I were doing 10gallon or bigger batches, I would seriously consider it.
As it is...I just trudge through it, it's for a good cause.

[jstrausss]

Thanks GunNut - I had a feeling there was someone out there that has tried to do this . seems like alot but still a possability since I was into electronics systems in the past. thanks so much for the link it helps alot . For now I 'll do what paul84043 said . Hes right it is for a good cause . HAHA

[paul84043]

I actually build automated pieces of equipment for a living, so the wheels really get turning...the problem is I'm used to budgets in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, not the stuff that I can afford personally!!

[Jughead]

Originally posted by paul84043
I actually build automated pieces of equipment for a living, so the wheels really get turning...the problem is I'm used to budgets in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, not the stuff that I can afford personally!!

Yeah, but Paul, if you invest a few thousand to build the first one, then you could sell cheap mass produced knockoffs to us. ;)

[jstrausss]

Now that sounds like a good idea - I'll buy one

[GunNut76]

Yeah the guy said it only cost him about $30 to build and he can bottle a 5 gallon batch in like 15 min. I personally like the bottling process...I figure that after I'm done I get the last of it left in the bucket (usually about 12 oz) and I'll have semi-carbonated beer in a week.

[Beerconnoisseur]

That auto-bottle filler is pretty snazzy. But there are quite a few improvements that could be made. What we need to do is rewire it, a la Tim Allen Home-Improvement style!

Time to add home electronics to my list of hobbies...

*rubbing hands together*

[toneyc]

Tim Allen style? OMG, first man on the Moon on a beer filling machine! ... So, how much thrust ya get outta that thing? Arr, arr, arr!

:)
Toney.

[yonkersbrewer]

RIGHT! Fifteen minutes to fill and cap and then

THREE HOURS TO SANITIZE ATTACH HOSES AND CLEAN AND DRY THE MONSTER!

Ahhh but to each his/her own.

[brewmonkey]

If you set it up to bottle from a corny then you can clean it with the same method you use to fill. Set up a corny with some PBW and run it through the lines, follow with a warm water rinse then your sani cycle. Almost like cleaning a trunk line on a long draw system. When you are done bottling go ahead and reclean and sani it and put it away. If there is only going to be a few days between uses you could possibly "pack" the lines with sani.

[jstrausss]

So You can Bottle from a corny ? Is that right ? I thought a corny is used for putting the beer in ?

[brewmonkey]

You can bottle from anything. Think of a Corny as a small conditioning tank, just like a package brewery would use. Instead of having say 1500 cases worth of beer in it, you have 2 cases.

[Jughead]

How many beers in a case? In the province I grew up in it was 12, but where I am now it seems to be 24? Which is right? Or is this like asking how many hogsheads in a gallon.

[brewmonkey]

Standard in the US is 24=Case.

[GunNut76]

Actually I belive the fellow has a pump or something maybe a gravity feed...I'll read thru the whole post and see if he says.

[jstrausss]

I'm Still new to all this . So when you say Bottling from the Corny. Do you mean adding Priming suger with the beer into the corny and then start bottling ? I hope you don't mind me being so Blind with this . Sorry

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by jstrausss
I'm Still new to all this . So when you say Bottling from the Corny. Do you mean adding Priming suger with the beer into the corny and then start bottling ? I hope you don't mind me being so Blind with this . Sorry

That is one way of doing it. When I was bottling that is how I did it so I could bottle condition my beers. Made for an easier operation IMHO.

I also used my cornies for primaries. I cut about 1/2" off the dip tube to avoid the yeast cake when I was racking and I would rack straight into another corny for conditioning. If I was going to bottle I moved it to another where I primed it, if not I forced carbonated in secondary and then just drew off the first pint or so to get rid of what settled out. My beers usually never see daylight until I am drinking them.

[Jughead]

How do you attach the air lock to the corny when using it as a fermentor?

[brewmonkey]

Connect a ball lock to the gas in valve and then run the hose down into a bucket with some sani in it.

[jstrausss]

Man - Thats some great ideas . Wow I have to start experimenting with corny's now. So How do you move the beer in and out of each corny. Of course I have no experience or knowledge of using corny's

[Jughead]

Thanks brewmonkey.

I was cursing last night when I found out my primary does not fit in my lagering fridge, but I know that a corny will, since the fridge is my old kegerator.