Bottling from Keg, tap gunky....

[marengo]

Hi all

So now been over on the dark side for 3 and a bit months, just lovin it :party: All the beers have been drinkable and getting better too :thumb:

My first, a best bitter, using an adulterated recipe - way too much amber malt (live and learn ) and the hop schedule was out of balance - still very drinkable and better than any of the kit beers (with the possible exception of an exceptional woodfordes Nelson's Revenge). Second up the Bass clone, certainly reminiscent of Bass but missed my gravity target by a good few points. A bit thin but again perfectly drinkable. My third still conditioning, the pale ale (American style), sneaky tasting - it's shaping up to be nothing short of pretty damn fine :grin: So the last brew, Hydes dark mild. Gravity spot on - even made 19 litres which is about 2 litres better than previous. Just had a sneaky taster - it appears to be almost clear after 2 weeks in the keg (despite forgetting the copper finnings - doh!) and it is again shaping up to be very good indeed.

So what is the problem, I hear you ask? Well, I was hoping to bottle (the mild) following Wheeler's recommendation to keg until clear and then bottle from the keg. However the bottling tap has been leaking, very slightly, and a sticky gunge has formed in the tap. So, I am loathe to use the tap to bottle for reasons of probable (?) contamination. I can either forget bottling (really want to bottle as I would like to take a couple of bottles to my old man when I make the 1400 mile round trip in August to see him; transfer contents to a bottling bucket and bottle from it (hmm, not sure, I don't want to re-prime - already done for kegging, will it be detrimental, Wheeler seems to suggest so?); try and clean the tap (tricky?); or chance it.

Any thoughts from you helpful chaps?

 

[Dave1970]

Personally I'd clean the tap....a spray bottle of hot water to dissolve the gunk, and then a good spray all over with Starsan

 

[Scott]

As Dave says, cleaning the tap would be fine with a spray bottle, the tap is closed so won't affect your brew.

Now the secondary fermentation is done, you would have to do something really silly to ruin the beer now, it's out of its most vulnerable stage.

Good luck! :thumb:

 

[marengo]

Thanks chaps, will do!

:

 

[bobsbeer]

You could of course open the lid and siphon into your bottles. You are going to lose carbonation anyway as you bottle. So you might as well do it in a clean way, and re prime afterwards. It will have recarbonated by the time you get back.

 

[marengo]

Hi bob

Thanks for the help. If I were to do that would it be an issue that it's a re prime? In otherwords taste/strength change? I primed first time using medium malt extract, so rather than that I could use brewer's sugar for the re prime which presumably would just up the strength a bit rather than alter the flavour?

Also what is the consensus on how much priming ups the strength, I have seen various figures up to about 0.5% quoted?

I'll probs not be bottling for a couple of weeks so got a bit of time to decide whether to clean the tap or syphon the beer. Cleaning the tap is favourtie at the mo - only because last time i syphoned..... well let's just say that SWMBO got a tad fractious...... :shock: Bottling wand is a firm favourite here!

cheers
john