St. Jon's Wort

Recipes 

Hi guys, I am looking for personal opinions here on the best way to bottle. Is it better to use carb tabs, or is it better to mix 3/4 cup of corn sugar and water on the stove and then pour directly into the bottling bucket before bottling or is it better to just put the corn sugar directly in the bottle?

I've only tried the "putting the sugar directly into the bottle" method and the carbonation has been very weak for me, even after leaving the bottles at 71 degrees for upwards of a month. Is the other methods better or am I doing something wrong?

Mutilated1

Recipes 

You know there is really not a lot of difference. If you go the 3/4 cups method, just be sure you stir it in well. If you go the carbo-tabs method make sure you use enough.

k1v1116

Recipes 

If you transfer the beer to a bottling bucket (plastic fermenter with spigot) then it should be easier to add 3/4 cup or around 5oz of corn sugar and stir. If you siphon directly to the bottles carb tabs maybe the easiest.

St. Jon's Wort

Recipes 

This is the method I use. I rack to my bottling bucket and then from there I transfer to bottles.

How much water should I mix the corn sugar with? Also, should I heat the water on the stove or just use room temp water?

k1v1116

Recipes 

I usually use about 3/4 cup of water and bring it to a boil in the microwave but a stove is good too, then dump in the corn sugar and stir till its clear. I dump this into my bottling bucket after about 1 gallon of beer has siphoned in, trying not to splash too much. after the siphoning is finished I use the racking cane / auto siphon to give it a quick stir and make sure the sugar is evenly mixed.
There are a few good threads on this forum about tips and tricks to make bottling easier and faster, but I think most of the really good stuff is in the wiki section too.

Kauai_Kahuna

Recipes 

+1 to what k1v1116 outlined.
If you have a dish washer, using that to hold the bottles and fill them there really helps with keeping things tidy also.
Clean and sanitize everything.
Of course make sure you have a few extra bottles and enough caps than you think you might need. Get everything out and use a check list if your like me.
Don't relax too much until your done.
I still bottle meads, etc some times, but I'm lazy so I keg mostly everything now days. Once you get into a groove it can go very smoothly with no problems. Enjoy it and think about what great things will come out of it.

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In Primary: Belgium Chimay clones.
In Secondary: Braggot, pale ale, end of the world white.
Conditioning: Mead, Cider, braggot, Belgium Wheat.
On Tap: Clones, Chimay Blue, Red, Porter, malted cider.
Bottles: Far, far, too many to list.

Revvy

Recipes 

Like anything in this hobby, the answer to your question as to what is the BEST why to bottle is subjective.

The best way is what you find works for you.

If you tweek your process you should be able to comfortably bottle a batch of beer in under an hour..

I talk about pimping your porcess here...and several others have added their imput as well...

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

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