Primary in Bottling Bucket

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Fletch78

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I've read all the FAQ's and Newbie stuff and stickies (great info) but one question still remains.

Since secondary is not so popular anymore, why not just go with primary in the actual bottling bucket?

If I catch a little lee's in the first couple of bottles, I don't care. I'm not trying to win awards, I'm just trying to RAHAHB or whatever the acronym is.

As far as stirring in the priming sugar, if some bottles are a little overcarbed and some are a little undercarbed, again, I'm not trying to win any awards, I'm just trying to RDWAHAHB. If one or two blow up in the shed, maybe it will scare off some of the rats. I guess stirring in the priming sugar solution would kick up the lees, and so there'd be alot of that going in the bottles as well. Meh. I don't care.

Other than those types of concerns, is there any other reason I shouldn't consider doing my next beer in the bottling bucket? I got the one from Midwest, the Ale Pale kind with the cut-off knob thing option upgrade thing. Are they leaky or anything like that?
 
I'm not sure you're taking into account just how much crud can be at the bottom of a fermenter. You can suck that stuff up and clog up your bottling wand pretty good, I bet.

And bottle bombs aren't exactly a RDWHAHB situation. Somebody can get seriously hurt. That said, I doubt you'd get bombs by stirring in the priming sugar as opposed to racking on top of it.
 
I would say you could do a primary fermentation in a bottling bucket (the one with a spigot) if you were adding priming sugars into each bottle separately (I don't think it's a good idea), or kegging.
The reason why you want to rack your beer into a separate vessel before bottling is to properly dissolve priming sugars. You want to add priming sugar solution during the transferring process from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, so the whirlpool-like motion in the bottling bucket will help dissolve the priming sugar evenly.
 
Especially if you don't filter from the kettle to the primary but just dump it all in, there's usually a *lot* of crud in the bottom of my primary. I wouldn't consider bottling straight from there, personally.
 
Do yourself a favor and check the "Similar Threads" area at the bottom of the page. Lots of good info in there about using a bottling bucket as a primary.
 
If you really wanted to go that route I suppose there is no real reason not to. You'll be drawing off more than a little trub in my opinion, especially depending on style and yeast which can really vary the amount of trub in my experience. As you pointed out adding and stirring in the priming sugar would be a challange without really putting a lot of trub into suspension. You could get around this by using some of the carb drops on the market. Finally, with the valve and pieces at the bottom of the bucket that adds one more dimension for possible infection sources in my mind. However, go for it and stick with it if it works for you and you like it.
 
The owner of my LHBS that has been in business since it was legalized in 1978 told me you can just pour in the dissolved solution and wait 20 minutes and it will self-distribute due to differences in mass and temperature difference, sort of like pouring a spoon of cold milk into a cup of hot coffee, no stirring necessary.
 
The amount of trub will be an issue when you attempt to bottle. The wand will clog fairly quickly. Regarding the bottle bombs, if one goes off you can break the glass and then you have a projectile shards of glass flying across the room. In the best case of over carbonation you simply open the bottle over a sink and wait for the foaming to stop before you pour into a glass.

I've used my bottling bucket for a primary when my carboy was tied up. However, it was a PITA to rack into a clean secondary and then clean and sanitize the bottling bucket before I racked back into the bucket. Before I do that again I will buy a second primary.
 
I've read through those, and a good question has arisen. How to sanitize the spigot after it's been sitting on the floor for a month without being able to take it off. :(

I was this close to finding a lazier way to make beer.

Any ideas?
 
Turn it upside down and put a sanitized piece of aluminum foil over it. When you're ready to bottle, turn it back.

The danger is loosening it so much that you spring a leak.
 
I do it all the time, but I prime each bottle with dextrose individually. If you have 500ml bottles. Use 3/4 teaspoon of dextrose. It works . . .
 
I've read through those, and a good question has arisen. How to sanitize the spigot after it's been sitting on the floor for a month without being able to take it off. :(

I was this close to finding a lazier way to make beer.

Any ideas?
You turn it upside-down and spray StarSan in it.
But still it's a GREAT idea (but not new) if you rack your beer into a keg, but not so good if you want to stir it with priming sugar before bottling.
 
i personally wouldn't do this. There are few things i won't do...but using the bottling bucket with spigot I won't do. The amount of trub is very variable. and sometimes it can get right up to the spigot. No offense but you REALLY don't want tons of trub in your bottles. You will definately get autolysis in those bottles after 2 months (Especially under pressure)... I know.

Its really only an extra 20 minutes tops to siphon to a bottling bucket. Obviously the poster above has done what you want to...but I won't even go there. So it sounds totally possible. But I would really go with siphoning.

There was one time I poured the priming sugar in my bucket and didn't stir....

I got bottle bombs in the first 7 within 2-3 days. 2/3s were only slightly carbed, and the other 3rd NEVER carbed....This was also my 2nd brew...

The only other option is to start keggin. I want to do this badly :p it would be so much easier..but then I need a new fridge, co2 tank, regulator, hosing...arrrggg!
 
h4rdluck, was your priming sugar dissolved in water before you added it? Did you wait 20 minutes before you started actually bottling? I'm not being fecetious, these are real questions. I've done this method twice, the first time the carbonation was a little uneven but didn't have anything close to the problems you had. The second time is hard to say because I did a fruit addition in secondary and didn't use my hydrometer so those bombs weren't necessarily caused by the priming method.
 
Primary buckets are dirt cheap. Unless you live 50 miles from your closest home brew shop or just can't stand to pay shipping then I don't see the point.

I will admit I was curious about this as well when I got my starter kit. Not because I wanted to save time, but because after I put my first batch in primary I immediately wanted to make another batch! I ended getting another bucket, lid, stopper and airlock for $16 at the LHBS.
 
That's all well and good, I do live 50 miles from my LHBS, but ultimately, the risk of contamination and oxidation could be reduced with using a bottling bucket for primary, and it's less stuff to sanitize and overall, less work. That's the way my simple mind looks at it.

In the skilled trades, these processes are called "Points of Failure". In addition to being lazy, I want to eliminate points of failure.
 
I want to eliminate points of failure.

You have to look at probability of failure as well as points of failure. It seems less likely that you're going to infect a batch by racking to a bottling bucket if you have proper sanitization practices. On the flipside, it seems much more likely that you're going to get inconsistent sugar mixture, much more trub in the bottle, clogging your bottling wand with trub, and a higher chance of nasties hiding out on the outside of the spigot by using the bottling bucket as a primary.

I see your logic, but I think the negative aspects far outweigh the time saved, especially since racking to a bottling bucket takes about ten minutes and ensures proper priming sugar distribution.
 
no i waited like 10 minutes. which obviously wasn't enough...but the entire process and batch was so fowled up by the end that I was forever burned. I went out and got a huge stir stick, and Now I stir every 5 minutes during bottling ever since :p... I don't doubt that the sugar will spread out but i'm very skeptical of just how long it takes.

Plus the beers I was making back then were really high gravity...too high honestly given my skill level back then, and I think i was boiling wort and carmelizing a good portion of it sometimes during a 60 minute boil with 9+ lbs of fermentables in a 4 gallon pot. So There may have been a distribution issue, because even in the carboy you could tell there were density changes in the glass carboy from top to bottom. so anyway...

I don't doubt it works. but its something I got burned on personally and now don't do it.
 
That's all well and good, I do live 50 miles from my LHBS, but ultimately, the risk of contamination and oxidation could be reduced with using a bottling bucket for primary, and it's less stuff to sanitize and overall, less work. That's the way my simple mind looks at it.

In the skilled trades, these processes are called "Points of Failure". In addition to being lazy, I want to eliminate points of failure.

Isn't there a homebrew store on Prince Avenue by the old navy supply corps school?
 
who's bottling bucket wouldn't leak during a 2-3 week fermentation? That right there is a valid reason to not use a bottling bucket as a primary.
 
Can't get much lazier than a keg, now if it's a question of money, that's a goat of a different colour.
 
Isn't there a homebrew store on Prince Avenue by the old navy supply corps school?

Normal Brew Shop closed down several years ago. And the other ones you find on Google are also closed. The closest one is in Lawrenceville on Indian Trail Rd.
 
Damn, now I feel old. and that one in L-ville is kinda crappy. You should start ordering from Ed at Brewmasters, I bet he could ship to you next day since he's only over in Marietta.
 
Damn, now I feel old. and that one in L-ville is kinda crappy. You should start ordering from Ed at Brewmasters, I bet he could ship to you next day since he's only over in Marietta.

L'ville shop may be crappy, but they've been in business since 1978. That says something. And it's on my way to work (commuting from Athens to ATL sucks).
 
Since secondary is not so popular anymore, why not just go with primary in the actual bottling bucket?

If you are doing this to save effort, you might consider a Better Bottle with a racking adapter. The racking thing lets you position the outflow tube just above the crud. You'd have to stir the bottling sugar very well and let everything settle out again before bottling, though.
 
I'm an extract/specialty grain brewer... a Kit Kid... if that makes a difference. Not alot of "trub" to worry about.
 
L'ville shop may be crappy, but they've been in business since 1978. That says something. And it's on my way to work (commuting from Athens to ATL sucks).

Wanna buy a small house in Decatur? I'll sell it to you cheap, and throw in some homebrew...

Where abouts in Atl do you work? There are several other shops around you should check out. BMW, Winecraft, Hop City, etc.
 
I'll give you $5 for the small house in Decatur.

What's the place on Marietta St? My friend has recommended it to me.
 
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