holy moly bottling confusion

[the_bing]

ok.
bought kit.
bought Graham Wheelers book.
brewed kit.
waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited...
did the SG readings a day apart, both match.

now planning on bottling next weekend.

HOWEVER!

reading Mr Wheelers book suggests that bottling straight from the FV is bad practice and (i assume) and lead to exploding bottles as the beer conditions. He says it should mature a bit in another cask. I won't lie to you; i was planning on bottling straight from the FV. Am i a fool?

Page 80 (3rd edition) says that it is unecessary to prime bottled beers :shock: . Everything i have read says you need to add sugar (or sugar solution) to the bottles before capping. Mr Wheeler seems to be saying otherwise.

Far be it for me to question Graham but can someone help my confusion?

 

[rpt]

I'm not convinced by what GW says. If you bottle before the beer has reached its FG then that would make sense, but otherwise I think it would take ages for the beer to become adequately carbonated. Perhaps he likes his beer flat - I don't want fizzy ales but I'd like some life. The only beer I have bottled that has increased its carbonation over a few months has been lager - and that makes sense as lager yeasts are better at fermenting some of the more complex sugars.

 

[Imperial]

Hi I've only been brewing for a few months and I've bottled mine straight from the FV, once it's reached the FG reading I prime the Bottles with normal sugar the put to one side till ready to drink.

 

[winelight]

I have always bottled straight from FV and have always primed the bottles and they have always been fine.

 

[StevieDS]

I remember reading that myself, iirc his idea is to bottle just before your beer has reached its fg, so that the last few days of fermentation will provide the carbonation.
It seems a bit risky to me. You would need to know for sure what the fg is going to be. Not sure how you could do so :wha:

 

[Dave1970]

As long as your hydrometer has been steady for 2 or 3 days then put your FV somewhere cold to drop the yeast and bottle after another 2 or 3 days...alternatively a lot of people transfer to a bottling bucket that's already got sugar solution in the bottom of it (batch priming) and bottle from that

 

[GavH]

I'll add to what Imperial and Winelight say as another voice who bottles straight from FV into bottles primed with an appropriate amount of normal cane sugar for the beer style.

This homebrewing lark - at least when using kits - isn't rocket science, although I was recently told that Rocket Science is actually very simple and that Turbofan science is much more complex. :wha: In any case, homebrewing is not Turbofan science either. Where it does get complicated is where differing people each share differing (and perfectly valid) opinions and they are either passed-off or misconstrued as the only valid way of doing something. :nono: Then it seems to be complicated when in fact it's not. I should add that I've learned a fantastic amount on here, asking questions and reading through older posts. The bottom line is that what works for some may not be necessary for everyone in order to achieve the end result they desire. If it looks, smells and tastes like beer, it's probably beer. And not a turbofan engine. :electric:

 

[the_bing]

phew!

i'll leave the brew to chill out this week then bottle next weekend.

Thanks a bunch guys.
This is my first ever brew (a kit) so i'm a total newb but maybe i'm just overthinking it :hmm:

sod it. bottling next weekend :thumb:

 

[rpt]

I remember reading that myself, iirc his idea is to bottle just before your beer has reached its fg, so that the last few days of fermentation will provide the carbonation.
It seems a bit risky to me. You would need to know for sure what the fg is going to be. Not sure how you could do so :wha:

By doing a forced fermentation test. Put some of the wort in another FV (demijohn) and ferment it at a high temperature. Should reach the FG quickly.