A better bottling 'bucket'?

I've been discouraged with the bottling bucket and the amount of aeration I get from the spigot. I can't seem to get it to be bubble free, like some have discussed here. I wonder if people have other options for bottling buckets? I do keg, but bottle alot for gifts+parties. I've thought about getting a #2 plastic water bottle and cutting the bottom off to make a conical style vessel. There would be practically zero loss, and it would eliminate the bubble effect of bottling spigots.

I wanted to ask other people what they have used or thought of for a bottling bucket. And maybe stir up some of the common brainpower of the HBT forum. Maybe one of our great Vendors will run with it.

I use an auto siphon to rack from either primary or 2ndary directly to keg or bottles. Attach a bottling wand to your auto siphon tubing, and as long as your siphon connections are bubble-free, s'all good

I only get any bubbling at all in the first bottle and the last bottle. I have never detected any effects from oxidation due to bottling.

kh54s10 said:

I only get any bubbling at all in the first bottle and the last bottle. I have never detected any effects from oxidation due to bottling.

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Word. I bottle the majority of the beer I make and have never noticed any oxidation.

Keys to bottling are getting a vinator and sitting in a chair when you do it.

kh54s10 said:

I only get any bubbling at all in the first bottle and the last bottle. I have never detected any effects from oxidation due to bottling.

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Same here. I've even separated the first and last bottles, and haven't been able to detect a notable difference between them and the other bottles.

If you're getting air in the line when bottling, you either have a faulty valve or need to secure the tubing better.

Another great tip I use when bottling inside. Put your bucket on the counter above your dishwasher and open the dishwasher door. All your overflow/drippings will go onto the dishwasher and not onto your floor. Also I use the dishwasher on its heated dry setting to finish sterilizing my bottles (run a cycle with no soap after cleaning and sanitizing).

If you have kegs, you have a superior bottling "bucket" already.

www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/priming-keg-bottle-conditioning-92692/

Well going back for reference.... I already use the Dishwasher method to bottle. I have a vinator in the door with the drawer pulled out slightly. i sit on a bench next to it. Bottling bucket above. Starsan pump a couple bottles, drain on the rack whlie I fill with the wand as per (Revvy's?) post here. That functionality has been AWESOME. Great assembly line action.
I will purchase a new spigot next time I'm at the LHBS and re-work that part of it to start with.

You can bottle from a kettle with a valve.

What type of dip tube are you using inside the bucket. You may not be getting an actual siphon going and that will allow air to seep in i THINK.

Why do people always assume that those little bubbles are oxygen and co2?????

There really should be oxygen at the bottom of the bottling bucket where the spigot it. The reason we rack with the beer rising in the bucket and fill from the bottom of the bottle is that as the co2 infused liquid rises upward, it pushes oxygen up and out the top.

I wouldn't worry about a few little bubbles. Once you've been running the spigot, what you are seeing is more that likely co2 which is more present in the solution than oxygen.

Like someone earlier said, the only times those bubbles you might see that are o2, would be possibly in the first and last bottle.

Well I know it's not all CO2 because I've bottled still "beers". I make alot of the Skeeter Pee! (http://skeeterpee.com/) and it does the same thing.

It's more than a few bubbles... and maybe it's nothing... but half my spigot is "air" and I get lots of bubbles drawn down. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'm just a Gear-Geek and looking for a reason for a piece of equipment.