Bottling Bucket As Primary Fermenter

[Markus]

At the risk of sparking an all out debate, I'm wondering if there are any good reasons why I can't use my bottling bucket as a primary fermenter and bottle directly from it. Aside from having to individually prime the bottles of course...

At the moment I ferment in a vessel without a tap then siphon into an identical vessel with a tap for batch priming and bottling. It would certainly be more efficient if I could ferment in the bottling vessel itself, then maybe drop the temperature way down to clear it a bit before bottling. It would also free up the other fermenter to make a batch that can be siphoned to the keg.

 

[PD]

nothing wrong in that. A lot of folks ferment in one vessel and then bottle straight from that after fermentation has finished. You just have to be careful of dragging sediment into your bottles and ending up with cloudy beers.
Its easier and cleaner to ferment in one vessel ( with or without a tap ) and after fermentation has finished, transfer into another vessel with a tap and bottle from that at the appropriate time.

 

[jonnymorris]

Agree with PD. Biggest drawback from my perspective is not being able to batch prime but if you're happy bottle priming, go for it.

 

[robsan77]

Tap-less fvs are easier to clean hence less risk of infection.

 

[DethApostle]

I was ready an argument/discussion on racking to secondary or not on another forum! Feeling there was that is was better for the beer to ferment it for 3weeks in the fv, and then bottle/keg direct from the fv. Other than removing the infection and oxygenation risk from racking to secondary, and saving extra washing up, they suggested that the yeast did a good job of clearing up their own by products if given enough time.
It was a fairly heated debate mind you!

 

[Springer]

Like the boys up post say, where does all this secondary fermenter thing come form. :)
Yes I now drop out the yeast, cos I have a conical, is that the same thing, but never bothered for first 80 odd brews. :?

S

P.S. To my mind, with this brewing thing, there's a look of talk that doesn't say much. :lol:

 

[robsan77]

No brewery leaves their beer for 3 weeks in primary. Just saying.

 

[Good Ed]

No brewery leaves their beer for 3 weeks in primary. Just saying.

they don't because they use huge conical tanks and the yeast cells at the bottom are under huge pressure and you would get autolysis happening pretty quick. On a home brew scale with a flat bottomed fermenter, plastic bucket etc, and healthy yeast, there is very little risk if any of autolysis occuring

 

[oz11]

..and because it's not making them money sat in the FV for three weeks.

 

[DethApostle]

I forget the name of the guy (might have been Revvy?) on the other forum but he had a quite convincing argument for a 3week ferment. I'm not saying I agree or disagree, I have far too little actual experience for that, but the thread is worth a google if you can find it!

 

[Good Ed]

I've had a lager in the primary FV for 5 weeks with no off flavours

 

[anthonyUK]

I've just done this myself with a Wherry which probably isn't the best as I think they use the least flocculating yeast known to man.

 

[robsan77]

I don't know about lagers, but my best ale results have been from large healthy yeast pitches and fermented slowly at 18 - 20 c for around 10 days. Leaving it on the yeast for another 11 days has no benefit other than the loss of hop flavour.

After 10 days I'll secondary for the only purpose of dry hopping, fining or bottling.

However, if a beer has fermented too hot, then I believe it does need a long time on the yeast to clean up. Depends of course on many other factors as well.

What's right for one person isn't necessarilly right for another though.

 

[Markus]

I normally drop the temp for a few days in primary after 2 weeks at 20C. Then batch prime.

 

[Markus]

Thinking of trying this but putting the FV in a fridge overnight before I bottle. My thinking is that it will firm up the yeast cake and hopefully reduce the amount of sediment making it into the bottles.

Any danger in such a big drop after fermentation finishes? Plan on dropping from 20C down to 14C for a day, then into the fridge overnight.

 

[Springer]

I don't know about lagers, but my best ale results have been from large healthy yeast pitches and fermented slowly at 18 - 20 c for around 10 days. Leaving it on the yeast for another 11 days has no benefit other than the loss of hop flavour.
se
After 10 days I'll secondary for the only purpose of dry hopping, fining or bottling.

However, if a beer has fermented too hot, then I believe it does need a long time on the yeast to clean up. Depends of course on many other factors as well.

What's right for one person isn't necessarilly right for another though.

This is where I am Rob.
To confirm are you saying that your secondary is maybe just for a day or two, or few hours? Cos I am still confused about the use on a secondary.

S

 

[robsan77]

I don't know about lagers, but my best ale results have been from large healthy yeast pitches and fermented slowly at 18 - 20 c for around 10 days. Leaving it on the yeast for another 11 days has no benefit other than the loss of hop flavour.
se
After 10 days I'll secondary for the only purpose of dry hopping, fining or bottling.

However, if a beer has fermented too hot, then I believe it does need a long time on the yeast to clean up. Depends of course on many other factors as well.

What's right for one person isn't necessarilly right for another though.

This is where I am Rob.
To confirm are you saying that your secondary is maybe just for a day or two, or few hours? Cos I am still confused about the use on a secondary.
S

Yep,
If dry hopping, 4-7 days in secondary.
Or if fruit etc ill move it in early with lots of yeast in suspension for another week or until finished.
I use finings a lot now so if none of the above, I secondary for a day or two max on the finings. I don't know if that is still technically secondary as its prior to bottling but it is a second vessel so I guess it is.

If I do dry hop, I still move into a tertiary vessel to fine just like above.

Mainly its because I don't want to taint my primary yeast with extra hop material and finings so that I can reuse for multiple generations.

 

[Springer]

Thanks for confirming that Rob, people go on about transferring to the "secondary" like it is an essential part of the process. Just wanted to confirm that I had not missed something after 95 brews. :lol:

Sorry to hijack the tread Mark, won't do any harm but do you need to mess around with a fridge, have you one empty, are you somewhere warm, putting it outside say, will do the job ?

S

 

[Markus]

In anticipation of trying this with my next bottled batch I attempted dropping the temperature of my primary fermenter before batch priming and bottling.

The 12 hours the FV spent in the fridge definitely helped to firm up the yeast cake. It was barely disturbed during siphoning.

Whether or not enough of the sediment dropped out of the brew remains to be seen, but I'm encouraged to try using the bottling bucket as primary FV so far.