Little Bottler and conditioning questions....

[RubbleUK]

In anticipation of my first brew completing its initial fermentation in a week or so, I'm now considering the issue of bottling and would appreciate some advice.

My brews will likely be export lager/pilsner kits (I'm trying the Better Brew kits to start with) and I'll be bottling into 2L fizzy drinks bottles. I was thinking of getting a dedicated bottling bin with a tap that I can siphon my brew into from my primary FV. However, the taps on them look a bit too big to bottle from directly so I'm considering either the Little Bottler or a bottling stick. The issue with the former is apparently it's not long enough to reach to the bottom of a 2L bottle. Is it possible to extend the tube as I understand it fits standard 5/16" tubing of which I have plenty? The plan would be to cut off the top inch or so of the tube below the tap and insert a length of 5/16" tubing between the 2 sections of the tube so the end of the tube reaches the bottom of my 2L bottles. Would this work?

My next question is about conditioning. I'm fortunate enough to have a dedicated beer fridge (it's one of those under counter glass fronted ones) so should I condition at 5'C straight from bottling or should I keep the bottles at room temperature for a few weeks before chilling? Either way, do the bottles need to be stored vertically to ensure any residual sediment settles in the bottom of the bottle or given my bottling technique should minimise any sediment, is it OK to store them horizontally?

Any alternative bottling or conditioning suggestions would be much appreciated....

Thanks in advance!

Chris

 

[RobWalker]

Carbonating goes in two stages - room temp first (or just under, if you're into temp control) and then chilled. Warm lets the fermentation take place which is what creates pressure. Cool lets it be absorbed into the beer so you feel it on your tongue when you drink.

Never done it any way but vertical, but i assume this is the best way. Alternatively, store upside down, then open upside down, flush out the sediment then quickly turn upright and drink from the bottle. :

Not sure about the little bottler for 2L's, but a bottling bucket is a good idea as it will let you batch prime too, and it'll double up as an FV. I just use a valve on mine that stops the flow when i want it to, works fine.

 

[Baz Chaz]

I'm a big fan of the little bottler, but I bottle in 'standard' pint bottles, maybe you could 'extend' the little bottler if you have some tubing that is rigid enough to get to the bottom of the 2 ltr bottles with a join of tube in the middle :idea:

Big fan of batch priming as well, works for me :thumb:

Casting my mind back to MANY years ago, I seem to recall we used 2 ltr bottles and a funnel, fill the bottle as far as you can, move onto the next one etc then start again topping up, bit messy and slightly more work, but the end result was reasonable :thumb:

Never stored horizontally, just used 2 ltr bottles and decanted into a big jug then into glass :

 

[RubbleUK]

Thanks for the replies.

Re batch priming in the bottling bucket, isn't it a faff to measure the total volume to calculate the amount of priming sugar required compared to knowing the volume of each bottle much more accurately? What happens if the sugar doesn't fully dissolve in the bottling bin? It reminds me of the residual sugar in a cup of tea that's not been stirred properly so I was planning on putting the sugar in each bottle immediately before bottling the brew. That seems a pretty easy way to ensure that each bottle is evenly primed unless there are other benefits of batch priming apart from convenience?

Chris

 

[Baz Chaz]

Not really a faff, I don't like my beers too fizzy, so put around 80g of sugar in boiling water, dissolve, put it in the bottom of my bottling container, drain the FV into the container and bottle, never had a problem so far, much less hassle than spooning 1/2 tsp into each bottle individually :!: but each to their own

 

[Swazi]

I've found the best way to bottle is to put the little bottler onto the end of a length of tubing attached to the bottling bucket. I'll stand the bottles all together and just drop the bottler into a bottle and let it go, once full I whip it out and drop it into the next bottle. While the second is filling I cap the first bottle. Then repeat for the rest... I find it speeds things up quite a lot and I don't have to pick the bottles up until I cap them.

 

[Growler]

As above I use a little bottler with some tubing and a glass collector with ten bottles in it
Fill bottles then to the bench cap and back with 10 more bottles