2nd kit! - bottling?

[Road Runner]

The majority of the alcohol is produced during primary fermentation. If you then rack to a secondary before bottling/barreling, then you may get a few more alcohol points, but once it's bottled/barreled after secondary you shouldn't get any noticeable alcohol increase.

[Old Jake]

I racked my beer to the keg yesterday and I bottled a dozen or so from there using some tubing attached to the tap. It was quite difficult to say the least! (so I will definitely now invest in a bottling stick!)

I've heard bottling buckets mentioned but can't seem to find any! Is it just a fermenter with a tap (and then a bottling stick attached?)

If that's the case, could I just transfer from the primary into the bottling bucket (priming it in there) and then bottle it straight from there? Or could I use the bottling bucket as a fermenter and bottle straight from there?

I've heard it mentioned that it should fall bright before bottling but is this a necessity?

Sorry for so many more questions!!

Cheers

OJ

[Old Jake]

Thanks Daab!

OJ

[ade1865]

I've just brewed my 1st beer, see Help! thread, and despite early problems its gone well. Its in the keg and quite lively. I'm thinking about transferring some of it to PET bottles. Its been about 3 and a half weeks since it was brewed. Can I pour from the keg into a jug, and then into the bottle, or will that create problems? If I get a bottling stick, will this work ok with a very very lively brew?

Sorry to hijack yer thread OJ!

[Old Jake]

Hijacking is fine by me, I do it enough!

I'm very inexperienced at this lark but this is what I did previously.

On my first brew, I decided after about a month or so of the beer being in the keg that I would bottle a couple to see how they turned out! I just poured it carefully from the tap straight into the bottles and I didn't even bother adding any additional priming sugar. The beer itself was not the best anyway (just a cheapie Youngs Bitter!).

I was desparately in need of a beer the other day and resorted to cracking these two open having been in the bottles about 2 months. I have to say they didn't particularly taste any worse than the kegged stuff although they weren't quite as well carbonated and the head disappeared fairly quickly (although both those points are down to personal taste anyway)

I don't think what I did is good practice but I had a couple of spare beer bottles and thought I would give it a try. I'm sure the "others" (sounds like an episode of Lost!!) will give you some more sound advice.


Cheers

OJ

[Old Jake]

If that's the case, could I just transfer from the primary into the bottling bucket (priming it in there) and then bottle it straight from there? Or could I use the bottling bucket as a fermenter and bottle straight from there?

Either/Or. The advantage of using a separate bucket is that you can add your priming solution first and the act of transferring will automatically mix and evenly disperse it. If you ferment in the bottling bucket you will have to carefully add the priming sugars to it and very carefully stir them in taking care not to aerate.

I'm goingt bottle straight from primary using newly fittled bottler. How long should I leave it in there before (carefully) priming and then bottling. I was thinking 2 weeks but should it be nearer 3?

cheers

OJ

[BarryNL]

I'm goingt bottle straight from primary using newly fittled bottler. How long should I leave it in there before (carefully) priming and then bottling. I was thinking 2 weeks but should it be nearer 3?

cheers

OJ

Well, you need to leave it fermenting until it's done, then about another 3 days for diacetyl cleanup and yeast flocculation is advisable.

When is it done? When the hydrometer says it is.

For me this usually seems to mean about 7-10 days in primary. About 3 weeks is considered the maximum in primary before you have to start worrying about off-flavours from dying yeast.

[stevezx7r]

If that's the case, could I just transfer from the primary into the bottling bucket (priming it in there) and then bottle it straight from there? Or could I use the bottling bucket as a fermenter and bottle straight from there?

Either/Or. The advantage of using a separate bucket is that you can add your priming solution first and the act of transferring will automatically mix and evenly disperse it. If you ferment in the bottling bucket you will have to carefully add the priming sugars to it and very carefully stir them in taking care not to aerate.

I'm goingt bottle straight from primary using newly fittled bottler. How long should I leave it in there before (carefully) priming and then bottling. I was thinking 2 weeks but should it be nearer 3?

cheers

OJ

The way I transfer from primary to bottle (when I make lager anyway) is this - If the hydrometer hasn't moved in two/three days the fermentation is finished. This is usually around 5 to ten days depending on what's being brewed. I then prime several 2 litre PET bottles with two teaspoons of cane sugar. The only problem with adding sugar direct to each bottle is that it takes time/swilling of the bottle to distribute the sugar. One way around this is, like Daab sugested, use another fermenter which is primed and put the contents of the primary into that THEN transfer to bottles/keg after a few days. The way I will tackle this next time is to take a pint or two from the primary, add the required sugar, boil in a pan to dissolve the sugar into the beer, let it cool then add to each bottle in turn and then add the beer from the primary. Could be a bit convoluted but i'm finding the whole home brew thing is convoluted, which I kinda enjoy

FWIW, once i've bottle I tend to leave it for a minimum of one week in the cold (5C) but it's better if left for three + weeks.

[davidson]

What I have started doing is boil the required sugar in 200ml of water. Then using a syringe to put the cooled sugar into my bottles then add my beer using bottling stick