Batch Prime your Bottling

[YeandAle]

OK so my hydrometer is reading 1.012 and not quiet ready for bottling.

I think I should wait and see if its the same reading tomorrow.

 

[bomberns127]

dont forget when reading a hydrometer its not where the liquid bends on contact with the hydrometer, its a straight line from the top of the liquid to where that would intersect the hydrometer, using a clear glass pint bottle is normally the easiest way to read it, spin it a few times as well to get rid of any clinging bubbles and look along the top of the beer to get a better reading.
hope this helps

 

[bomberns127]

and if you are gonna pour the beer back into the fermenter(as you should! lol) after taking a reading sterilise everything before use and rinse with clean water a couple of times

i forgot to put this in the earlier post....... oops! :)

 

[corby_brewer]

and if you are gonna pour the beer back into the fermenter(as you should! lol)

Never pour the beer back into the FV, you run the risk of infection by doing that.
God man, dont you know anything, samples must be drunk. That is the LAW.

 

[bomberns127]

im sure the post said further on to sterilise everything before, thats what sterilisation stops..infection, drinking the sample is normal 'its the law' is good but its up to the brewer, its his brew! but getting loads of different comments if you are unsure is the best way to go thats what is good about forums

 

[YeandAle]

dont forget when reading a hydrometer its not where the liquid bends on contact with the hydrometer, its a straight line from the top of the liquid to where that would intersect the hydrometer, using a clear glass pint bottle is normally the easiest way to read it, spin it a few times as well to get rid of any clinging bubbles and look along the top of the beer to get a better reading.
hope this helps

Yes I have been on you tube and leanrt alot.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvmYaQq6Mc&feature=fvw
Useful post...

I took the sample and drank the lot ( at 10am this morning!)

On the Muntons gold IPA instructions for troops ale it states (firstly) no sugar required?? (not so sure about that) and "Fermentation will be complete when bubles cease to rise (usualy after 7-8 days) or, if you use a hydrometer, when gravity remains constant at a figure below 1014..... now im confused. If my reading stays at 1012 I am bottling tomorrow....

 

[bomberns127]

this is a 3kg kit which means it doenst need sugar added normally, but this kit gives you 2 choices, add no sugar and get 40 pints at 4.5% or add 1kg sugar and get 40 pints at 6% the stronger being the officers version.

you still add your sugar or spray malt to prime either your bottles or keg, you need this to start the 2nd fermentation, there a few different ways of doing this which are covered in this forum somewhere.

 

[YeandAle]

OK, so 3rd day of a constant hydrometer reading of 1.012 its time for bottling!!! I will be using the batch priming method as mentioned in the original post (sorry for taking it over!!). Many thanks for all the kind advice. I will let you all know how it goes over the next 2 weeks.

BTW the sample was drunken and tastes good for a warm flat beer!

How exciting this brewing malarky is. Any recommendations for my next batch? I like quite a hoppy beer and the Muntons gold IPA is rather malty but I like that as well but want to try something a bit different for the next batch of YeandAle :drunk: :drink: : :drink:

 

[YeandAle]

OK, so I have bottled my brew and am now tasting my 1st pint! Its only been in the bottle 5 days (I couldnt wait) and it already has a good carbination and a good taste.

Disaster struck when bottling as I somehow knocked the tap on the bottling bucket and I couldnt turn it off. I didnt use a racking tube which proved to be a pain so all in all I lost about a gallon with 2 pints on the floor via the tap and the rest I left in the brew bucket as I didnt want to risk sucking up sediment.

Oh you live and learn.

At least I have a good stash of empty bottles ready for the next batch. : :whistle:

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

OK, so I have bottled my brew and am now tasting my 1st pint! Its only been in the bottle 5 days (I couldnt wait) and it already has a good carbination and a good taste.

Disaster struck when bottling as I somehow knocked the tap on the bottling bucket and I couldnt turn it off. I didnt use a racking tube which proved to be a pain so all in all I lost about a gallon with 2 pints on the floor via the tap and the rest I left in the brew bucket as I didnt want to risk sucking up sediment.

Oh you live and learn.

At least I have a good stash of empty bottles ready for the next batch. : :whistle:

Just bottled my Coopers Pale ale, ( 2nd brew ever), I did exactly what you did with my first brew. I think that the trick is to get organised and take your time, mistakes happen when you are being rushed, I primed each bottle in batches of 10 after filling them. This was enough to fill the draining board in the kitchen before moving them in curver boxes to the garage to condition.

I have now taken the plunge and the next brew is an all grain, I have spent weeks reading on the internet what to do, looked at you tube etc, I will have finished my gravity fed 3 tier micro, capable of 10 gallons a time by the weekend, hours with a drill building the hop strainer etc. Total cost £80 including the cutters for the holes in the stainless steel, its amazing what you can scrounge!. I just need more bottles or a few pressure barrels.
What are you planning for your next brew, I can recommend the Coopers kits

 

[bomberns127]

OK, so I have bottled my brew and am now tasting my 1st pint! Its only been in the bottle 5 days (I couldnt wait) and it already has a good carbination and a good taste.

Disaster struck when bottling as I somehow knocked the tap on the bottling bucket and I couldnt turn it off. I didnt use a racking tube which proved to be a pain so all in all I lost about a gallon with 2 pints on the floor via the tap and the rest I left in the brew bucket as I didnt want to risk sucking up sediment.

Oh you live and learn.

At least I have a good stash of empty bottles ready for the next batch. : :whistle:

Just bottled my Coopers Pale ale, ( 2nd brew ever), I did exactly what you did with my first brew. I think that the trick is to get organised and take your time, mistakes happen when you are being rushed, I primed each bottle in batches of 10 after filling them. This was enough to fill the draining board in the kitchen before moving them in curver boxes to the garage to condition.

I have now taken the plunge and the next brew is an all grain, I have spent weeks reading on the internet what to do, looked at you tube etc, I will have finished my gravity fed 3 tier micro, capable of 10 gallons a time by the weekend, hours with a drill building the hop strainer etc. Total cost £80 including the cutters for the holes in the stainless steel, its amazing what you can scrounge!. I just need more bottles or a few pressure barrels.
What are you planning for your next brew, I can recommend the Coopers kits

£80 QUID! you gotta put your setup on the forum with a list of bits and pictures, i have thought about A G for a while, for that price its worth doing as soon as poss even if you scrounged most of the bits it would be interesting to have a breakdown, i also have read online for a while and to look at different A G setups might give me the final push into setting it up, good luck with you r first brew and post how you get on.

 

[Growler]

£80 QUID! you gotta put your setup on the forum with a list of bits and pictures, i have thought about A G for a while, for that price its worth doing as soon as poss even if you scrounged most of the bits it would be interesting to have a breakdown, i also have read online for a while and to look at different A G setups might give me the final push into setting it up, good luck with you r first brew and post how you get on.

I agree please more info :pray: :pray: :pray:

 

[BigYin]

Back on Topic

For my next brew I'm intending to use the following procedure to improve my priming time/efficiency.

Since I don't have a second FV to mix the syrup and beer in, I'm going to make up the syrup and use a syringe to pop the required amount of syrup into each prepared bottle.

This should eliminate the crusty mess of sugar granules that end up on each bottle neck and generally spilt around the place :whistle:

I haven't weighed out the sugar yet, but normally I use plain old supermarket bought light brown sugar, and I put a half teaspoon in each bottle (I don't like overly fizzy beer).

So I figure at 42 bottles max, that's 21 teaspoons (which I'll weigh to save me measuring by spoons again!), and if I put 5ml of syrup in each bottle, and allow 10% for evaporation during/after boiling the syrup, that's a tad over 2.3 litres of liquid required.

That's the plan! Won't be able to try it for a few weeks yet though :hmm:

 

[Sussex Hopburner]

Back on Topic

So I figure at 42 bottles max, that's 21 teaspoons (which I'll weigh to save me measuring by spoons again!), and if I put 5ml of syrup in each bottle, and allow 10% for evaporation during/after boiling the syrup, that's a tad over 2.3 litres of liquid required.

Are you sure about your maths?

I make it 230ml :hmm: :hmm: :wha: :wha:

 

[BigYin]

you are right :whistle:

I entered 5ml as .05 - but that is 5cl, not 5ml :lol:

 

[BigYin]

Might have to think about 10ml per measure or the syrup could und up too thick to be easily maneagable?? :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

 

[evanvine]

Line bottles up on worktop.
Place small funnel in first bottle.
Add 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon sugar.
Move funnel to next bottle and repeat.
40 bottles, less than 15 mins.
Go back to 1st post in this thread!

 

[jinxy72]

Line bottles up on worktop.
Place small funnel in first bottle.
Add 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon sugar.
Move funnel to next bottle and repeat.
40 bottles, less than 15 mins.
Go back to 1st post in this thread!

thats the method i use :lol: and i use one of the kids medicine spoons (2.5ml) for easy mesuring

 

[hopin mad]

Useing sugar of any type to prime the bottle leaves a yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle, and after talking to a few micro brewers I have sused out how they do it (no sediment), run your brew into another vessel and leave to mature, and immediatly start your next brew, when the yeast in your second brew is at its most active use about 20ml to prime your bottles and then run your beer into the bottles and cap, the small amount of wort carries enough CO2 to gas your bottles but not enough yeast to leave a sediment, place your bottles some where warm for 2 or 3 days and then chill down, leave another week or so before drinking.

Just think how many times you have got a real ale from the supermarket and wondered how they got the gas in without sediment, well now you know.

up until the victorian times very few beers where actualy clear, its only a sales trick to sell more beer ( Fine beers).

if you cant get your yeast to settle and you have space in a fridge or some where very cold to put your brew bucket, yeast well go dormant and settle out if you chill your brew.

 

[Peapodmaster]

nope it doesnt depend on the temp. its worthwhile! i reccomend a stevensons and reed one. (the one i have) http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=st...=0&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&biw=1024&bih=576

Good luck with the bottling!