I Hate Bottling

I absolutely love brewing, and almost everything about it. I love formulating recipes, selecting ingredients, mashing, sparging, boiling, fermenting, kegging, and imbibing. However, if there is one thing I've always hated, it is bottling.

I used to prime the beer in the bottle, using a bottling bucket, priming sugar and a spigot. I hated it. It was such a chore and would always leave a layer of sediment in the bottle.

Now I bottle straight from the keg using a counter-pressure bottle filler, just like the big boys, and I still hate it. Even though my bottles are
crystal clear, it always spews beer all over my kitchen and equipment. I end up with beer all over me, my hair, and my eyeglasses. It is a simply a task I detest.

Bottling usually entails a lot of screaming, cursing, and fuming. In fact, after a bottling session, I often swear that I will never do it again. I always do eventually, though.

I haven't bottled anything for about a year. This means that I have not entered into competition or given any beer away. It means that if I want to bring anything to a party, I have to bring a whole keg, which I really haven't even done for a long time, either. It also means that when the keg is done, it is done; I haven't been able to keep a couple of bottles around afterwards, to taste down the road.

I guess that I cannot go forever without bottling again. Just in case you cannot tell, though, I don't like it very much.