Preventing Oxygen

[Brewer #401141]

Trying to prevent oxygen in a plastic bucket system. I'm still refining my brewing skill so I'm not to the point of buying nice equipment. I ferment in one bucket and rack into the bottling bucket, then I empty by spigot and tube into the bottles. Is there too much oxygenation risk with this method, or should I be fine until I can upgrade? I may remake my bottling bucket soon; the current one slowly leaks, hence it is only for bottling.

 

[Minbari]

Trying to prevent oxygen in a plastic bucket system. I'm still refining my brewing skill so I'm not to the point of buying nice equipment. I ferment in one bucket and rack into the bottling bucket, then I empty by spigot and tube into the bottles. Is there too much oxygenation risk with this method, or should I be fine until I can upgrade? I may remake my bottling bucket soon; the current one slowly leaks, hence it is only for bottling.

Only way you are going to avoid oxygen in a setup like that is to purge the bottling bucket with co2 and transfer from the fermentor bucket in a closed system.

You can also bottle from the fermenter directly and avoid the risk entirely

 

[Megary]

Trying to prevent oxygen in a plastic bucket system. I'm still refining my brewing skill so I'm not to the point of buying nice equipment. I ferment in one bucket and rack into the bottling bucket, then I empty by spigot and tube into the bottles. Is there too much oxygenation risk with this method, or should I be fine until I can upgrade? I may remake my bottling bucket soon; the current one slowly leaks, hence it is only for bottling.

You’ll be fine.

My opinion —->
Yes, oxygen is an issue and it becomes a bigger issue with certain styles and/or if you keep your beers for extended periods of time. But if you drink your beer within a month or two, the effects of O2 will be small. Get your skills and process down first. Only then will you know exactly how much you need to worry about O2.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Yes, post fermentation oxygen is a problem for everyone, from us amateurs to pros. Do what you can to avoid it. Focus on fermentation and improving your overall brewing. As you gain more experience, you will get better at preventing oxygen from ruining your beer. You can’t solve the more complex problems before you master the rest.

 

[Zambi]

I think you'll be fine, esp when being careful with bottling. Fill the bottle from the bottom without splashing.
The beer continues fermenting in the bottle as you add some form of sugar for carbonation I assume. So the yeast will still use some of the oxygen.
I still use a bucket for fermenting if my preferred speidel is in use. Nothing wrong with using buckets

 

[Craigerrr]

As mentioned above some beer styles are more susceptible to the effects o2 than others.
Typically a beer with a lot of hops, especially dry hop additions, are more likely to be affected adversely by o2.
As you brew and gain experience, maybe avoid the heavily hopped styles.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

You are right to be concerned about oxidation but, don't get freaked out by it. You will be fine until you upgrade. Over the years I have been changing my equipment and processes step-by-step and along the way I just accept the limitations that come with bottling. I make good beer with an occasional great beer. I think if I set making perfect beer every time as a requirement right from the beginning I think I would have been too discouraged to continue in this hobby. So for right now do what you can to minimize oxidation. Don't use a secondary fermenter unless you have a specific need. Add your priming solution to your bottling bucket first and then gently transfer beer into the bottling bucket with the tip of the hose submerged in the priming solution. Use a spring-tipped bottling wand to fill bottles from the bottom up.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Semper Sitientem]

Another option to consider while you’re honing your skills is bottling directly from your fermenter and skipping the bottling bucket all together. I started doing this several years ago. Less, O2, less cleaning, less time and more control over your carbonation.

 

[Donoroto]

What they ^^ all said.

 

[Tony Bridgman]

Trying to prevent oxygen in a plastic bucket system. I'm still refining my brewing skill so I'm not to the point of buying nice equipment. I ferment in one bucket and rack into the bottling bucket, then I empty by spigot and tube into the bottles. Is there too much oxygenation risk with this method, or should I be fine until I can upgrade? I may remake my bottling bucket soon; the current one slowly leaks, hence it is only for bottling.

With pale brews, and particularly those with oats, unless you've got access to CO2 oxidation will be a risk. So really the simple route would be to use a bottling wand, direct to the BBucket tap or even better to the FV, and to purge each bottle with CO2. Purging needs to done very carefully, otherwise it's easy to drive air into the bottle. Equally, using a bottling wand and immediately before crown capping, the bottle will have been completely filled with beer therefore the CO2 cover will have been lost and replaced with air. How many precautions do you want to take, as this goes on and on....., but note, every time you transfer beer from one thing to another the risk is there, so minimise all transfers.

 

[Bootsy Jankus]

Everybody has covered most everything, but I will add another vote for bottling directly from the fermenter. Especially for hoppy beers.
I experimented for a while on pale ales and moving from a traditional setup to bottling from the fermenter made a night and day difference. That said, I still use a bottling bucket for less fragile beers. So in answer to your question, yes you can absolutely brew and bottle good beer on the system you have now without upgrading.

The best way I found for hoppy stuff was doing the following:
- Add a spigot to my fermenter
- Use a mylar balloon to capture CO2 during the ferment and leave it on instead of an airlock during cold crash.
- Cold crash with the bucket at an angle to direct as much trub away from the spigot as possible.
- Prime bottles individually.
- Leave the balloon(s) on the fermenter while bottling so beer is replaced with CO2.
- Fill bottles higher than usual. Keeping in mind though that the beer will expand when it warms so don't go all the way to the brim.

I've recently done a slight upgrade to my system that does even better but it is still this same basic concept that others have mentioned: don't open the fermenter if possible, limit O2 suck back when cold crashing, do as few transfers as possible.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Trying to prevent oxygen in a plastic bucket system. I'm still refining my brewing skill so I'm not to the point of buying nice equipment. I ferment in one bucket and rack into the bottling bucket, then I empty by spigot and tube into the bottles. Is there too much oxygenation risk with this method, or should I be fine until I can upgrade? I may remake my bottling bucket soon; the current one slowly leaks, hence it is only for bottling.

Others have given a lot of good info. When I used buckets, the lids would leak. A little petroleum jelly on the rim and duct taping the lid down solved the leaking (some freak over the jelly use and say to use keg grease). Adding a spigot to the bucket allowed bottling directly (6 oz dextrose to 600 ml water, boil for 10 min, add 10 ml for 12 oz, 20 ml for 22 oz bottle). Fill bottles from the bottom with a spring loaded wand. Putting a board under the front of the bucket during ferment helps keep sediment towards the back and away from the spigot during bottling.