Newbie bottling question

[terrym]

I'm on the fence now about bottling straight from fermenter or not. First ever bottling day coming up in a week. I have this fermenter from Homebrewtique and they suggest bottling straight from it with a bottling wand;
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It looks like the tap has a little sediment trap mechanism. Should I be getting another bucket just in case?

As @BigCol says ' 10 Homebrewers 11 Opinions'. Why not try it straight from the FV first before you splash the cash? Its not exactly rocket science siphoning beer into bottles, and adding measured amounts of sugar after before you seal up. And spite of what the doommongers tell you you are extremely unlikely to oxidise or infect your beer doing this, provided you try to avoid splashing as best you can, and all your siphon kit is properly cleaned and sanitised. If you leave you beer long enough in the FV after the fermentation has finished with the last two days in a cold place if you have one, the yeast will be stuck to the bottom of the FV, the beer should be almost clear or clear going forward, and the beer will still carb up if left long enough in a warm place. Personally I rack off after 8-10days then leave it alone, and typically siphon to bottle or keg direct from the FV at around day 16 if its clear which it usually is. And if you still like the idea of a bottling bucket you can always buy one to try out on brew #2.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I don't understand the use of these oxidation buckets. I'm drinking my hoppy (Citra, Amarillo) American wheat at the moment that was cold crashed for a week before bottling direct from the fermenter via tap and stick. The yeast (WLP007 - highly flocculent) has left the tiniest sticky smear on the bottom of the bottle which means I can pour the whole volume without getting yeast in the glass. What exactly does a bucket buy me except oxidation and the consequential reduced hop flavour upon which a beer like mine absolutely depends?

I can answer that :nod: peace of mind.....

I have a morbid fear of a leaking fv with tap. say it leaks 3 days into fermentation, nightmare With a no tap fv that cannot happen. :thumb: So I auto syphon into a bb WITH tap that I have purged with co2.
I absolutely get the reduced hop flavor problem and hop(e) I have the right balance between FEAR and quality.

 

[Dutto]

When transferring a brew to bottles I always transfer it to a Bottling Bucket.

The intermediate stage allows me to add the priming sugar, add any Hop Tea that I think the brew might need and ensures a cleaner and more consistent brew being transferred into the bottles. I have never had a problem with "oxidising" the beer in these circumstances and properly sanitised the Bottling Bucket and Wand won't cause any untoward infections either.

I would definitely not recommend transferring direct from the FV to bottles if there is any significant depth of krausen or if the brew has been dry hopped. In those circumstances, even when transferring direct to a keg, I tie a bit of muslin around the small filter on the end of the syphon to act as a coarse filter to prevent a blockage from occurring; and it can still happen even then if I've used something like Pumpkin as an adjunct!

 

[woomfy]

All great advice guys, and very welcome. When I was buying my bottling bucket and some pet bottles to make up my total, lady in the shop advised to store them upside down. Idea being the yeast will settle in the cap. So, I presume a careful rotate prior to unscrewing, and fingers crossed the yeast has stuck inside the screwtop.

Any thoughts on the method?
I will report back, in a couple of weeks yet unfortunately.

Oh and just to mention, quite like the reassuring (for a nubie) firmness of the plastic bottles confirmation the beer is carbonating.

 

[terrym]

All great advice guys, and very welcome. When I was buying my bottling bucket and some pet bottles to make up my total, lady in the shop advised to store them upside down. Idea being the yeast will settle in the cap. So, I presume a careful rotate prior to unscrewing, and fingers crossed the yeast has stuck inside the screwtop.

Any thoughts on the method?
I will report back, in a couple of weeks yet unfortunately.

Oh and just to mention, quite like the reassuring (for a nubie) firmness of the plastic bottles confirmation the beer is carbonating.

It does work, up to a point.
Since the bottle is pressurised you have to open the bottle upside down under water, like in a bowl of water, to blow out the yeast, which is messy. Otherwise you get beer all over the place, which is even messier
And there is some residue of yeast left in the top of the bottle, which will find its way into your glass.
Frankly it is far, far better to bottle clear beer so that you end up with a film of yeast on the bottom of the bottle and not 3/4mm. That is achieved by leaving in the FV longer, say 16/17 days or longer and preferably with the last two in a cold place, rather than as soon as the SG has flattened out.

 

[terrym]

Double post!!

 

[Dutto]

............... lady in the shop advised ..............

It's good to see some equality between the sexes!

In between work, I built a cottage up in the mountains west of Aberdeen and often had to ask SWMBO to go the 35+ miles into town for supplies. I got heartily sick of her returning with something different to what was written down on the bit of paper because "The man said that ....."

My absolute favourite was that I had dismantled an old 55-man lifeboat and had recovered hundreds of 10mm stainless steel lock-nuts. When it came time to put some braces between the rafters I asked SWMBO to go into B&Q in Aberdeen to pick up about 20 metres of 10mm studding. She returned with 8mm studding because "The man said that you don't need 10mm studding for that job."

So, there I was 35+ miles away from town with hundreds of 10mm lock-nuts and 20 metres of 8mm studding! Don'tcha just love 'em? They don't even realise that they are the reason most of us drink!