We have managed to complete our project up to the point of fermenting our wort. It would probably be a wise idea to approach the bottling process with the same home project mentality. This really works out to be a project in itself and worthy of plenty of advance planning. The Same steps should be applied here as were applied to the brewing process. We need to make our list of materials, get those materials, find a place to do the bottling, prepare our bottling area, and of course set aside time to get it done.
When we start putting or list of supplies together, bottles must certainly be at the top. Typically, a five gallon batch of wort will render at least two cases of 12 ounce bottles. I always try to have more bottles than that on hand. I would much rather have a few empty bottles at the end of the process than some wort with no place to live. Along with bottles make sure that you have plenty of bottle caps (and a capping device). You'll also need a 5 gallon food grade plastic bucket for racking your wort. Get about five feet of clear plastic tubing for siphoning - a siphoning "wand" makes that job a lot easier so get one of those too. Once again you will be using your no-rinse sanitizer powder. You're also going to be needing a couple of two or three quart pans for boiling your caps and for preparing your carbonation sugar. Oh, yeah, get some bottling sugar. (I have a great story about bottling sugar that I'll save for another time.)
You should be able to find everything listed above at a good brewing supply shop or internet site (probably the same place where you got all the necessary ingredients used in part I of this article). If you don't live in a cave, you probably already have the pans you'll need for boiling. If you do live in a cave - you will need to acquire two average size sauce pans.
The best place to conduct your bottling activity is usually the kitchen. If you happen to have access to a well lit basement "canning" kitchen you are really in good shape! Basically, you need a place with ready access to running water, a good size sink, and a working cooking stove. You'll also need some good flat working surfaces (like kitchen counters) with a lower platform on which to set your racking vessel (I use a chair).
Cleanliness during the bottling process is an absolute must. This should be your guiding thought as you prepare the bottling area and equipment. Make it your main goal in life to make anything that will come in direct contact with your precious home brew is sanitized, sanitized, sanitized. You've made it this far - now is not the time to get sloppy! Start with the sink. Scrub it down with a good antibacterial cleanser and then rinse it thoroughly with clean water. Next mix a couple of gallons of your no-rinse sanitizer in the sink. Now you can wash your equipment in the sanitizer solution - this includes your pans, siphon tubing and wand, racking bucket, bottling valve, and (surprise) your bottles. (I have started washing my bottles in the dishwasher using a heated dry cycle and no longer sanitize them in the sink.) Let everything dry completely before you get started.
At last we have arrived at the "Main Event"! Count out a new bottle cap for every bottle you have available - and add a couple more to account for capping problems. Put all the caps into one of your sauce pans and cover them with clean water. You need to boil your caps for a minimum of five minutes. While things are boiling you can dissolve your bottling sugar in the other sauce pan with one pint of clean water. This mixture must also boil for at least five minutes. While things are boiling it is a good time to set your main fermenter up on a counter top and then station your racking bucket on a nearby chair or other support. Basically, what you want to do is get the bucket of brew higher than the racking bucket so you can siphon the fermented brew from the main fermenter into the racking bucket. Your siphoning tube length will most likely dictate how things are positioned. All we are waiting for now is the sugar to finish boiling. When it does - pour it into the racking bucket - NOT the fermenter. The next step is to siphon the (soon to be) delicious home brew from the main fermenter to the racking bucket. When that is complete you will need to rinse out your siphon tube and affix your bottling valve unit to the end of it. Move the racking bucket up to the high spot formerly occupied by the fermenter and begin siphoning the liquid into the individual bottles. As the bottles are filled affix a cap smartly on each one. (The bottling activity is best done by more than one person. For some reason I've never had a problem getting someone to lend me a hand with this particular activity!)
With most home projects all that is left to do at the end is clean up. The reason I consider home brewing to be the ultimate home project is that clean up does not mark the end of the project. There is one more step after clean up - you must wait. As I said in Part I of this article, "...one of the key skills of the good home brewer is patience". At this point, though, patience is not so much a skill as it is a virtue. The longer you wait the better your results will be. So hang in there, it won't be long now!
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