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justinwillsie · 01-02-2012, 07:44 PM

if you decide too leave it in the primary for a month or whatever time period you wish instead of bringing it over too a secondary, letting it sit for weeks, and then bottling, do you rack over too a secondary just before you bottle or do you bottle straight from the primary?

**lowtones84** · 01-02-2012, 08:54 PM

Some people manage to bottle straight from primary, but standard practice is to boil priming sugar for a bit, put it in the bottom of a bottling bucket and then siphon from your primary on top of the priming sugar into the bottling bucket. Most folks use a bottling bucket with a spigot if they bottle, which is pretty handy.

piteko · 01-02-2012, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowtones84

Some people manage to bottle straight from primary, but standard practice is to boil priming sugar for a bit, put it in the bottom of a bottling bucket and then siphon from your primary on top of the priming sugar into the bottling bucket. Most folks use a bottling bucket with a spigot if they bottle, which is pretty handy.

I tried both for some time. I started using a bottling bucket as you describe.

Then, to avoid extra oxidation and to save some time, I tried to bottle directly from the primary, pouring the boiled mix of water and sugar (or DME or original worth) into the primary and then into the bottle. The clarity was nice at the start and then (depending from the yeast flocculation) exceptional after some months (from 2 to 6). Here is the con: I opened some beers that are more carbonated than others. Even if I poured the mix at the start of the bottling process, to let it mix with the beer without agitating, I think that I had more sugar in some bottles than in others. It's difficult to say for sure, but I still have this feeling...

I think I will go back to the bottling bucket again and make some more tests...
Cheers!

Piteko

**BrewKnurd** · 01-02-2012, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piteko

I tried both for some time. I started using a bottling bucket as you describe.

Then, to avoid extra oxidation and to save some time, I tried to bottle directly from the primary, pouring the boiled mix of water and sugar (or DME or original worth) into the primary and then into the bottle. The clarity was nice at the start and then (depending from the yeast flocculation) exceptional after some months (from 2 to 6). Here is the con: I opened some beers that are more carbonated than others. Even if I poured the mix at the start of the bottling process, to let it mix with the beer without agitating, I think that I had more sugar in some bottles than in others. It's difficult to say for sure, but I still have this feeling...

I think I will go back to the bottling bucket again and make some more tests...
Cheers!

Piteko

I've never tried bottling from primary, but yeah, this would be a problem. You're never going to get that sugar to mix well without 1) stirring it in some say, thereby stirring up trub, or 2) letting it sit for a while, in which case the yeast will just eat the sugar while you're waiting.

If you want to bottle from primary and want consistent carbonation, I think you're going to need to use carb tabs or individually measure out sugar into each bottle. Personally, I'ma stick to my bottling bucket.

piteko · 01-02-2012, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by discnjh

I've never tried bottling from primary, but yeah, this would be a problem. You're never going to get that sugar to mix well without 1) stirring it in some say, thereby stirring up trub, or 2) letting it sit for a while, in which case the yeast will just eat the sugar while you're waiting.

If you want to bottle from primary and want consistent carbonation, I think you're going to need to use carb tabs or individually measure out sugar into each bottle. Personally, I'ma stick to my bottling bucket.

I think there is a third way, which I'm not in it for the moment: you can mix the boiled sugar and water and make a cold crash at the same time. The sugar should have enough time (1-2 days) to mix all the way and the yeast should be inactive because of the temperature.

Cheers from Italy!

Piteko

**BrewKnurd** · 01-02-2012, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piteko

I think there is a third way, which I'm not in it for the moment: you can mix the boiled sugar and water and make a cold crash at the same time. The sugar should have enough time (1-2 days) to mix all the way and the yeast should be inactive because of the temperature.

Cheers from Italy!

Piteko

Maybe... But you might crash out too much yeast to effectively bottle carb. I dunno. sticking with the bucket.

piteko · 01-02-2012, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by discnjh

Maybe... But you might crash out too much yeast to effectively bottle carb. I dunno. sticking with the bucket.

I already tried cold crash before bottling, with nice clarity obtained and good carbonation. Never done the experiment described above. Maybe in the future, who knows... By now I will stick again with primary-only and the bottling bucket as you

Personally, regarding to the topic, I obtained a better clarity skipping the secondary and making a long primary. But the real jump with clarity was doing primary-only with a very flocculant yeast (like Wyeast Scottish Ale 1728). That was on the bottom of my bottles solid as a rock.

Denny · 01-03-2012, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameronwoolery

QUESTION!

I like this and it should save me alot of time and effort. However, when using a secondary for my wheat that i want to add oranges to, do I use whole or half oranges, or jest the peels?

Any recomendations?

Your situation is one of the few where a secondary could be recommended. That said....oranges???????

**mikeysab** · 01-03-2012, 04:09 PM

Yeah, aren't the oranges supposed to be sliced and clipped to the edge of your glass when drinking? Seriously, peel them, chop em up a bit to expose the inside and throw em in. Or you could use just the peels, but try to get just the orange part and not the white part of the peel.

GuldTuborg · 02-02-2012, 04:03 AM

I agree that the pith is worth avoiding, but oranges aren't so strange. I have a local brewery that makes a blood orange witbier that's really quite good. I think the recipe uses juice and zest. Which raises another question - why not just go the juice & zest route, and skip adding whole fruits altogether?