First question? This is my first batch of beer not done with Mr.Beer. So here is the question: If all the sediment goes to the bottom of the Ale Pail why go to the trouble of siphoning to a bottling bucket? Cant I just open the spigot and the sediment will come out first? Then add the secondary sugar and bottle. Sounds good in theory.
Chris
It clears a lot when you siphon to a secondary and off the yeast cake for a week or 2. Also, like they guy above said, the spigot is not totally on the bottom, so you won't get the total sediment. Just do the right thing and don't be lazy . Seriously, though, do whatever you want and next time try the other way to determine which you like better.
The main reason you want to transfer to a temporary vessel during bottling is so that you can stir in your priming sugar solution without risking stirring up the sediment. The only practical (barely) way of going directly to the bottle is to add the sugar directly to the bottles either measuring or using premeasured carb tabs. I wouldn't recommend this however. What you can do in the future is ferment in the bucket with the spigot, transfer to a another bucket or 5 gallon carboy (glass or better bottle) for a week or two, clean your spigotted bucket and transfer the beer back into that for priming and bottling. It's one more item to buy ($20) but it will result in clearer, more evenly carbonated beer.
Ale Pail as bottling bucket?
. Seriously, though, do whatever you want and next time try the other way to determine which you like better.
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