Bottling buckets

[Wackford Squeers]

Hi,
I've noticed that most beer starter kits don't come with what I believe is called a bottling bucket. I've seen it said somewhere that bottling from a fermentation bucket straight into bottles is a pain in the wotsits - very messy maybe. Also it's supposedly easier when adding the sugar for the secondary fermentation - but isn't that what those carbonation drops are for? I thought you just had to drop one of those into each bottle, no?
How many people here use a bottling bucket i.e. go from fermentation bucket to bottling bucket to bottles? Would you advise to buy a bottling bucket? It seems all of those kits that don't have a bottling bucket have a fermentation bucket that has a tap.
Any and all advice is appreciated in this area, thanks.

 

[PD]

its the same thing. a fermentation bucket with a tap...

its personal preference but I ferment in bucket without tap and after a couple of weeks syphon into bucket with a tap...leaving all the crud behind

 

[rpt]

Carbonation drops are for priming bottles but it is a very expensive way to buy sugar. I've never used them but I get the impression they are not the right size for 500ml of ale. I use a bottling bucket with ordinary white sugar.

 

[mike77]

I use carbonation drops because I rack most of the beer to a corny so only get a half dozen or so in the bottle. I find that one drop per 500ml is just right for an ale but not enough for a lager amount of fizz and two drops would be too much.

 

[Bluezephyr]

I bought a starter kit, after my first brew I bought a fermentation vessel so I could use the bucket with a lid from the kit for bottling.

 

[Bubblehead08]

I'm only new to this myself but I just got a standard starting kit for cheap as chips and then bought an extra FV with a tap and little bottler attached - it came to about an additional £15.

I just syphon from my FV into my bottling bucket, leaving all the crud behind and batch prime the bucket. Saves a lot of messing round and let's face it, bottling is a PITA anyway so any simplification is a good thing.

 

[SpamNMash]

I just syphon straight from the FV into bottles, then prime in the bottle with ordinary sugar. With two pairs of hands you can whizz through very quickly - one person holds the funnel and bowl of sugar, the other scoops, levels and pours in the sugar.

My racking cane thing has one of those little top hat things which works pretty well at keeping trub etc. out of the bottles.

 

[liamtmt7]

I have the same problem
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=47195

Going to do as suggested and buy a bucket with a tap and a little bottler

 

[Trucker5685]

I usually rack from a primary to secondary FV then bottle from that via a little bottler, highly recommended, I've bottled 23 litres of cider and 23 litres of Midas Touch ale today and didn't take too long. I've also racked 23 litres of Rose wine and bottled 6 bottles of apricot wine.
I'm knackered but it was worth it lol :party:

 

[AdamJohn]

I'm only new to this myself but I just got a standard starting kit for cheap as chips and then bought an extra FV with a tap and little bottler attached - it came to about an additional £15.

I just syphon from my FV into my bottling bucket, leaving all the crud behind and batch prime the bucket. Saves a lot of messing round and let's face it, bottling is a PITA anyway so any simplification is a good thing.

The is what I did. I have only bottled on brew so far, but I just didn't want the hassle of doing straight from the FV. Plus I think batch priming just makes things easier and ensures each bottle gets the same amount of sugar.

 

[Wackford Squeers]

I usually rack from a primary to secondary FV then bottle from that via a little bottler, highly recommended, I've bottled 23 litres of cider and 23 litres of Midas Touch ale today and didn't take too long. I've also racked 23 litres of Rose wine and bottled 6 bottles of apricot wine.
I'm knackered but it was worth it lol :party:

Thanks everybody for the responses. Seems it's worth shelling out just a few quid for a bottling bucket and one of those little bottler things.

Could I just ask, is there a difference between a secondary FV (presumably that's a secondary fermentation vessel, correct?) and a bottling bucket? I mean, it seems a bottling bucket is just a short stop-off for the brew en-route to the bottles to leave the rubbish behind and also add a sugar or sugar/water mix; is a secondary FV used for secondary fermentation? If so, why and when would you do that and not just go from primary (only) FV to bottling bucket to bottling?

Thanks again.

 

[Trucker5685]

I usually rack from a primary to secondary FV then bottle from that via a little bottler, highly recommended, I've bottled 23 litres of cider and 23 litres of Midas Touch ale today and didn't take too long. I've also racked 23 litres of Rose wine and bottled 6 bottles of apricot wine.
I'm knackered but it was worth it lol :party:

Thanks everybody for the responses. Seems it's worth shelling out just a few quid for a bottling bucket and one of those little bottler things.

Could I just ask, is there a difference between a secondary FV (presumably that's a secondary fermentation vessel, correct?) and a bottling bucket? I mean, it seems a bottling bucket is just a short stop-off for the brew en-route to the bottles to leave the rubbish behind and also add a sugar or sugar/water mix; is a secondary FV used for secondary fermentation? If so, why and when would you do that and not just go from primary (only) FV to bottling bucket to bottling?

Thanks again.

Yeah it's well worth the money

The only difference between my primary and secondary fv's is a tap, you're right in what you say, the rubbish is left behind enabling you to batch prime (adding the priming sugar to the FV instead of individual bottles).
There's nothing wrong with bottling from the primary FV, it just means you'll have to prime your bottles as you fill them but you'll run the risk of siphoning sediment into your bottles. :sick:

 

[GavH]

I bottle straight from my FV. Use a little bottling wand. Fill each bottle before hand using a measuring spoon and a small funnel. CAp bottles and leave them for minimum 6 weeks, ideally 8. Yes I possibly lose a bottle or two from near the bottom lest I want to introduce the trub. Otherwise, I see no advantage to going out of my way to rack to a secondary. Just extra cleaning.

 

[NickW]

I bottle straight from my FV. Use a little bottling wand. Fill each bottle before hand using a measuring spoon and a small funnel. CAp bottles and leave them for minimum 6 weeks, ideally 8. Yes I possibly lose a bottle or two from near the bottom lest I want to introduce the trub. Otherwise, I see no advantage to going out of my way to rack to a secondary. Just extra cleaning.

I would disagree. I wouldn't want to go out of my way individually priming bottles.

Each to their own I guess

 

[kentmark]

This is what I like about this hobby, lots of different ways to go about it.

FWIW I don't rack beer into a second fv for bottling (the only exception being my current crimbo brew as i need to filter out the bits of orange/ginger/cinamon).

I just line my bottles up on the garage floor, bit of sugar in each (how much depends on what i'm bottling and how much fizz i want). I've got a handy small funnel thats a perfect fit. Syphon tube into the fv with a tap on the end. Work my way along the bottles filling them then get busy with the capper.

I usually accompany this with some music playing and supping a previous brew, find that its a nicely relaxing hour or so.

 

[NickW]

This is what I like about this hobby, lots of different ways to go about it.

FWIW I don't rack beer into a second fv for bottling (the only exception being my current crimbo brew as i need to filter out the bits of orange/ginger/cinamon).

I just line my bottles up on the garage floor, bit of sugar in each (how much depends on what i'm bottling and how much fizz i want). I've got a handy small funnel thats a perfect fit. Syphon tube into the fv with a tap on the end. Work my way along the bottles filling them then get busy with the capper.

I usually accompany this with some music playing and supping a previous brew, find that its a nicely relaxing hour or so.

Careful not to oxidize your beer this way. The beer falling from a height into the bottle will cause splashing. This is why little bottlers are good, as they fill the beer from the bottom up :thumb:

 

[Wackford Squeers]

Ok guys many thanks :thumb:

 

[kentmark]

This is what I like about this hobby, lots of different ways to go about it.

FWIW I don't rack beer into a second fv for bottling (the only exception being my current crimbo brew as i need to filter out the bits of orange/ginger/cinamon).

I just line my bottles up on the garage floor, bit of sugar in each (how much depends on what i'm bottling and how much fizz i want). I've got a handy small funnel thats a perfect fit. Syphon tube into the fv with a tap on the end. Work my way along the bottles filling them then get busy with the capper.

I usually accompany this with some music playing and supping a previous brew, find that its a nicely relaxing hour or so.

Careful not to oxidize your beer this way. The beer falling from a height into the bottle will cause splashing. This is why little bottlers are good, as they fill the beer from the bottom up :thumb:

Cheers mate for the advice. No problems with that so far but always worth watchin out for!