Proper bottling bucket technique

How do you guys usually handle the bottling bucket once the beer gets down to the level of the spigot? I usually tilt the bucket towards the spigot to get every last bit of beer to flow through it (about half a cup always stays behind for some reason... but I drink that after I'm done).

I know it seems like a dumb or obvious sort of question, but I'm really wondering if I should be tilting it after bottling my last batch. I had so much sediment in my bottles... some of the smaller bottles look like the bottom quarter is entirely filled with yeast. I had used wyeast 1388 for this strong belgian ale. Not sure if that level of stuff in the bottle is normal for this style. I'm pretty sure it was all yeast because it didn't taste terrible like hop muck would.

Any ideas? think it will settle more after another couple of months?

I'm not certain what type of spigot you have, but what I have done is purchased a 3/4" 90º threaded pvc elbow that screws right on to the back of the spigot inside the bottling bucket. It leaves maybe 1/8" of space from the botom and works great, leaves any particulate matter at the bottom of the bucket rather than in the bottles. I place a small dinner plate underneath the back edge of the bucket before I begin bottling to tilt it slightly towards the spigot, this way I don't have to disturb the sediment or do any bottling bucket gymnastics during bottling.

FWIW, I have a basic Brewer's Best Ale Pail with spigot and the 90º elbow works great.

The elbow cost about 46 cents.

You'll find my answer, which many people have started using and have also come up with an posted their own versions, in this thread. The "Bottling bucket dip tube"

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

If that sediment didn't come from bottle conditioning, then you simply bottled too soon. Not enough secondary clearing was allowed.

I tip my bucket every time i bottle. No sediment beyond the priming sugar for carbonating.

This may sound a little corny, but I can't seem to nail down an answer to this. When one is ready to bottle their beer, the priming sugar is added to the bottling process. My question is how much water do I use when boiling with the priming sugar? Is there a general rule of thumb? I'm worried about the sugar solution being too diluted. Thanks.

Greg

chefglb said:

This may sound a little corny, but I can't seem to nail down an answer to this. When one is ready to bottle their beer, the priming sugar is added to the bottling process. My question is how much water do I use when boiling with the priming sugar? Is there a general rule of thumb? I'm worried about the sugar solution being too diluted. Thanks.

Greg

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Usually about 1 cup of water will do it. I think it would be hard to dillute the priming sugar, unless you used like 2 gallons of water.

I use closer to two cups. No scientific reason at all, that's just what fits in my little saucepan and the sugar dissolves easily in that amount. Also, when you add it to the bottling bucket and rack the beer into it, it mixes well.

Make sure that the tip of the tubing is at the very bottom of the receiving vessel (the bottling bucket) when you rack, kind of "curled up" at the bottom, so the beer fills the bucket from the bottom and swirls to mix without splashing. Some people use a sanitized spoon and stir gently, but I don't even bother with that. It mixes well just from the racking technique.

chefglb said:

This may sound a little corny, but I can't seem to nail down an answer to this. When one is ready to bottle their beer, the priming sugar is added to the bottling process. My question is how much water do I use when boiling with the priming sugar? Is there a general rule of thumb? I'm worried about the sugar solution being too diluted. Thanks.

Greg

Click to expand...

You could even use a cup of the beer your priming to make your priming solution, this way you aren't diluting it, even with a cup of water.

If you do, be careful of a boil over. It is similar to brewing the wort, it will want to boil over on ya.

I'll assume you are racking into your bottling bucket from your primary or secondary and not using the bottling bucket as a primary or secondary. My BIL used to do that and had a lot of sediment in his beers.

Another tip I'll throw out there: do not put several feet of tubing on your bottling spigot. its not needed and gets annoying.

I have a short 3" piece of hose...just enough to link the spigot to the bottle filling wand, since my spigot won't let you just jam the wand inside it directly.

The beer in my bottling bucket is uniformly clear, so sediment isn't (and, as mentioned in a previous post, nor should it be) an issue. I just tilt it forward, which lets me get all but the last glass or so.....which I drink. I've actually developed something of a taste for flat primed beer.....OK, so not really. I'm just too lazy to make Revvy's dip tube.....

rico567 said:

The beer in my bottling bucket is uniformly clear, so sediment isn't (and, as mentioned in a previous post, nor should it be) an issue. I just tilt it forward, which lets me get all but the last glass or so.....which I drink. I've actually developed something of a taste for flat primed beer.....OK, so not really. I'm just too lazy to make Revvy's dip tube.....

Click to expand...

Took me about 10 minutes to make this one, from a racking cane I no longer needed. Now there is barely enough to fill a shotglass left in the bucket. (And yes, I recover and drink that shotglass full!)

But hey, whatever works for you. Just don't drink the leftover beer straight from the bottling bucket...it looks bad!