Bottling without a Bottler

[MikeK117]

Hi All

Another silly newbie question.

I am going to barrel a brew soon, but I have been persuaded to bottle a few by reading other threads. I do not have one of those bottler things and don't plan to buy one for the sake of half a dozen bottles. If I batch prime and pour the beer into the bottles direct from the barrel tap, will there be any dramas in terms of oxidisation? :wha:

Cheers!

 

[joe1002]

Yeah you might do. Do you not have any syphon tube?

 

[MikeK117]

Yeah you might do. Do you not have any syphon tube?

I do, I thought of cutting a short length and fixing it to the tap, but it's considerably smaller than the tap so I imagine beer will go everywhere.

 

[joe1002]

Why don't you just syphon the beer into the bottle, you can get the tube to the bottom of the bottle then. Just fold the pipe back on itself to stop the flow while changing bottles :thumb:

 

[NickW]

Why don't you just symphony the beer into the bottle, you can get the tube to the bottom of the bottle then. Just fold the pipe back on itself to stop the flow while changing bottles :thumb:

The amount of times I have to re-read my posts only to find my phone has auto corrected syphon to " symphony " :lol:

 

[joe1002]

:lol: darn autocorrect

 

[bigboots]

When bottling, no need to fold the syphon tube.......simply lift the bottle (into which the beer is being syphoned) above the level of the beer in the barrel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will naturally stop, actually it will slow down as you lift the bottle closer to the level in the FV, at which point you calmly remove the pipe from the bottle before you lift the bottle too high and the beer starts to flow back into the FV.
(I now can decant a full FV every time without spilling a single drop!) (Arrogant b*stard aren't I?) You will be too when you see how it makes the process so much simpler!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HTH :
PS Why not use plastic pop bottles (available in a range of sizes 250-500ml) that way you get great satisfaction from squeezing them and when they don't yield you know your beer has carbonated enough!
PPS It was my 12yr old daughter that showed me the trick of lifting the bottle!!! DOH
:

 

[Tean Buns]

I have bottled directly from a pressure barrel, with a funnel , and gotten decent results. The beer needs to be flat however and the cap loose ... otherwise it will froth and will take forever to fill a bottle. I also use 75cl glass bottles or if I am feeling really dirty, 1.5 litre PET bottles. The larger volumes help because there are fewer bottles to fill. The large PET bottles are a doddle.

Getting a bit of tubing on the tap is not always easy. I have two different size taps, one is 14 mm in diameter the other probably 12 ... getting the tubing onto the 14 mm is not easy, even with a kettle of hot water at hand. And the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the larger tap only has a very short nozzle ... not ideal. I find it easiest batch bottling from my fermentation bucket that has a 12 mm and long nozzled tap on it ... it then becomes a doddle.

 

[clibit]

I just use a pyrex jug and pour the beer gently into the bottle, at an angle, so the beer runs down the side of the bottle. Probably breaks all the rules but I've had no problems. Never spill a drop either. It's quick and easy tbh.

 

[Billyb83]

If you use the raising bottle trick don't you have to start your siphon all over again by sucking down the tube?

My bottling wand broke so I made one. I just cut my tube at about a bottle length then fitted the little tap that should go at the end of the tube in the middle, with bottle length tube on the end, then put the tube into the bottle, turn on tap, fill bottle, turn off tap, repeat. It worked well until I got my bottle wand up and running again, there is no substitute really.

 

[MikeK117]

I have bottled directly from a pressure barrel, with a funnel , and gotten decent results. The beer needs to be flat however and the cap loose ... otherwise it will froth and will take forever to fill a bottle.

I think I'm going to go with this, mostly because of the fear of mucking around with the syphon tube. The beer will be reasonably flat as it's coming out of the barrel immediatley after batch priming. Like I said before, I'm only going to do a few bottles (I've saved some 300ml glass bottles) as a test really, I'll use it to compare maturity against the barrel.

 

[ian808]

I use a barrel without bottling wand and never had problem just make sure you let the beer run down side of bottle. I was going to get one when I do another order but not sure if I'll bother

 

[tazuk]

i use one of these from love brewing

http://lovebrewing1-px.rtrk.co.uk/bottle-filler-funnel/

 

[danb]

Before I had a bottling bucket and wand I put a piece of syphon tube over a pb tap and used that to bottle from. It was a piece of a better brew syphon and a Young's pb. Was easy with a bit of hot water to get on.

 

[Crastney]

I've always used siphon tubing, with the FV on the counter top and the bottles on the floor.
with my finger or thumb over the end of the tube to regulate the flow.
having read this thread I might try the method of raising the bottle to reduce the flow - such a simple idea.

 

[serum]

I had to do this because I was sent the wrong taps when I got my gear and the bottle filler wouldn't attach to them.

I went straight from the tap into a funnel which was rammed into the neck of the bottle. It wasn't ideal but it worked and the beers were fine. The tap wasn't very good so it was hard to get a very gentle flow from it but I managed it (at the expense of my kitchen floor).

It took a long time so I was very happy when the correct taps turned up so I could use the bottle filler.