First time bottling help/advice

[neilos]

My Coopers European lager is almost ready to bottle, but can anybody help with a few questions I have. First of all I'll tell you my plan. I will sanitise my bottles using no rinse Videne and my bottle tree/bottle washer attachment. Then I will elevate my FV to worktop height and using the tap and a length of pipe I'll transfer the lager to a second FV with a tap fitted and a bottling stick. Here are my questions:

How much sugar do I need to prime FV#2 and how much boiled water? (I have 40 pints)
Any preference on type of sugar?
Once transfered to FV#2 how quickly do I need to bottle? Is there any advantage in leaving it in there for an hour or so? would this help it settle?
How high should I fill the bottles?

[Jim]

Your plan sounds good.

You can prime with between 60 and 100g of sugar, depending on how much fizz you want (I would have though the high end for lager)

Granulated is fine, use just enough water to dissolve the sugar, maybe 1/2 pint

Bottle as soon as you are sure the sugar solution has had time to disperse (a few minutes if you stir well), there's no advantage to letting it stand longer once you've racked it off the sediment in the primary.

Fill the bottle to the top with the bottling stick in place - when you take it out, you will have the correct head space.

[Scroogemonster]

Fill your bottles straight from FV~#1. You'll stir your beer up terribly transferring to a 2nd FV before bottling.
You'll risk re-aeration and there won't be much difference in clearing.
1 tsp sugar per bottle (dissolved in boiled water.) I make mine up in a sterile jug and add 5 mls of solution to each bottle via syringe ( 5mls x 40 bottles = 200 mls of solution containing the sugar)
normal cane sugar will suffice. Spray malt is better.

Leave an 1 1/2 - 2 inches space at the top of each bottle.

[Jim]

Fill your bottles straight from FV~#1. You'll stir your beer up terribly transferring to a 2nd FV before bottling.
You'll risk re-aeration and there won't be much difference in clearing.
1 tsp sugar per bottle (dissolved in boiled water.) I make mine up in a sterile jug and add 5 mls of solution to each bottle via syringe ( 5mls x 40 bottles = 200 mls of solution containing the sugar)
normal cane sugar will suffice. Spray malt is better.

Leave an 1 1/2 - 2 inches space at the top of each bottle.

To prime the bulk of the beer (the easiest way) you need to transfer to a bottling bucket. As long as it's done via closed tubing, the beer won't suffer.

[trucker5774]

I do as jim does...................however .......if I'm feeling lazy.....most of the time I add the priming solution to the primary FV (everyone steps back in horror) It works for me. I stir in gently and allow it to settle for 30 mins. I still have clear beer even with this cheating method!

[crafty john]

I use use dextroe for priming you need a bit more, 16.5% which is 100 grams instead of 85 grams of normal sugar, I just add it straight to the bottling bucket and syphon the beer into it, it mixes its self in and dissolves well, I give it a very gentle stir just in case. I have never had any problems with this method.

[neilos]

Cheers for the replies lads, I don't want to bottle from FV#1 for 2 reasons, 1) I can't be bothered with filling 40 bottles with a tea spoon of sugar, and secondly, by bottling stick only fits on FV#2!!! I like the tip about filling to the top and the volume of the stick itself gives the correct neck room!
Anyway, hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll be ok to go for it

[traymondo]

Fill your bottles straight from FV~#1. You'll stir your beer up terribly transferring to a 2nd FV before bottling.
You'll risk re-aeration and there won't be much difference in clearing.
1 tsp sugar per bottle (dissolved in boiled water.) I make mine up in a sterile jug and add 5 mls of solution to each bottle via syringe ( 5mls x 40 bottles = 200 mls of solution containing the sugar)
normal cane sugar will suffice. Spray malt is better.

Leave an 1 1/2 - 2 inches space at the top of each bottle.

To prime the bulk of the beer (the easiest way) you need to transfer to a bottling bucket. As long as it's done via closed tubing, the beer won't suffer.

...and you'll not disturb the yeast as it will be below the level of the tap as you draw the beer off, anyway. Don't worry about "re-aeration" (?), the yeast will sort that in the bottle. Not only that, a bottling bucket is the best way to add finings to your beer for the added "polish" you'll want in your Euro lager. Experiment with the sugar - go with Jim's granulated suggestion for this brew, do another one next week with light brown - and then get yer mates round for a blind tasting to see which they prefer...