alternatives for bottling via spigot

[Herm brews]

Bottling bucket. Tried it in the fermentor once, had 2" of goo in the bottles

Not the desired effect.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

.... For beers that are not dry hopped, I have switched to bottling directly from the fermenter. In this case, I prime the bottles individually with solution delivered via syringe. This individual priming method has not been perfect, but I like that I don’t have a bucket to clean.
!

I had the same result with mixing a sugar solution and a syringe. Some variability in carbonation, took a bit longer to carbonate, but i do think the beer was a bit better due to less O2 exposure. Hey, it is a hobby and I get to play with my toys and trying different things.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Are you suggesting priming in the fermenter? I won’t do that for fear of disturbing the trub.

Omg no...not at all! No, I am referring to mixing the primer mix in a bottle bucket with the green beer.

 

[Zambi]

Omg no...not at all! No, I am referring to mixing the primer mix in a bottle bucket with the green beer.

Ah, my fermenting bucket is my bottling bucket
That straight away explains all!

 

[The Brew Mentor]

After bottling for years, I've come to the conclusion that moving the beer twice (Fermentor to Bottling bucket, and then to the bottles) just gives you too much exposure to oxygen and bacteria.
Making a priming solution and individually measuring it out into the bottles is too much work.
So going directly from Fermentor to bottle is the easiest and quickest with the least exposure.
Then add a measured amount of priming sugar directly to the bottle and you end up with perfect carbonation consistently.
Obviously, there are other ways, but this is worth a try.
Cheers,
Brian

 

[Megary]

After bottling for years, I've come to the conclusion that moving the beer twice (Fermentor to Bottling bucket, and then to the bottles) just gives you too much exposure to oxygen and bacteria.
Making a priming solution and individually measuring it out into the bottles is too much work.
So going directly from Fermentor to bottle is the easiest and quickest with the least exposure.
Then add a measured amount of priming sugar directly to the bottle and you end up with perfect carbonation consistently.
Obviously, there are other ways, but this is worth a try.
Cheers,
Brian

Agree. I think avoiding the transfer to a bottling bucket is a good idea, not to mention how much less there is to clean. For the little that I bottle, my method is:
1. Add a carbonation drop to each bottle. Very simple and, so far, very effective.
2. Short piece of hose from the spigot on the fermenter to the bottom of the bottle.
3. Turn spigot on, fill bottle, turn spigot off.

I have a bottling wand, and that works well too. But using just the hose gets the job done and is the only extra thing I need to clean afterwards.

 

[Zambi]

Right,
Tried today.
It is perfectly well possible if you are an octopus!

In the end, I removed the bottling wand and just used the plastic hose, pinching it to go from one bottle to the other
What didn't help was that this batch of cider was on beer trub from 2 brews. The bottling wand got glocked up with hop & stuff from the start.
Ah well, lesson learned

 

[Ward Chillington]

I have a bottling wand, and that works well too. But using just the hose gets the job done and is the only extra thing I need to clean afterwards

I get that and yeah..who likes one more thing to clean??? Hmmm.yeah..I don't see any hands raised ....but the thing I like about the wand is that by filling each bottle to the top with the wand, I get a nice uniform air gap in each bottle! Thanks Archimedes!

 

[NorthWest Small Batch Brewing]

Always rack beer to bottling bucket unless I am kegging it, and then I use the spigot and a tube to bottle. I've never had oxidation. I believe there is a small layer of Co2 above your fermentation that helps to reduce oxidation but ..I also don't make IPA's which are more effected by oxidation.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Always rack beer to bottling bucket unless I am kegging it, and then I use the spigot and a tube to bottle. I've never had oxidation. I believe there is a small layer of Co2 above your fermentation that helps to reduce oxidation but ..I also don't make IPA's which are more effected by oxidation.

I agree with the CO2 layer above the fermentation. I've used both a bottling bucket and made a water/sugar mix and bottles straight from the fermenter. This batch, I did use the water/sugar in the bottle method because I had a lot of time, effort, and expense into the batch, and it was an IPA that took two quick openings of the fermenter. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1233796/aipa-52 If is is as good as it smells, this will be a killer good batch.

 

[Nosybear]

I agree with the CO2 layer above the fermentation. I've used both a bottling bucket and made a water/sugar mix and bottles straight from the fermenter. This batch, I did use the water/sugar in the bottle method because I had a lot of time, effort, and expense into the batch, and it was an IPA that took two quick openings of the fermenter. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1233796/aipa-52 If is is as good as it smells, this will be a killer good batch.

That's really only true in a sealed fermentor. If I'm using a bucket, I flush the air with CO2 before racking into it. I test by using a lighter, when it goes out when I put it in the bucket, the bucket is full of CO2. Gasses mix very easily, so don't move the flushed bucket if you can help it!

 

[Hawkbox]

Little bit of sodium or potassium metabisulphite can help too.