Priming without a bottling bucket

I am bottling my first batch this weekend.

I do not currently have a bottling bucket; I'll be going to the nearest homebrew store in about 3 weeks to get one (gas prices dictate when I make the trip).


It seems that the preferred method of the experienced members of the forum is to use the priming sugar to make a "syrup"; add this to the bottling bucket, and then siphon the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket.





I have seen elsewhere that you can make the priming syrup, stir it into the fermenting bucket, give it 30 minutes to re-settle, and then bottle.

I'm still using a Mr. Beer with the spigot, so I can bottle from this (without siphoning) if the method is possible.

Is this possible to pull off, or would it be better to put sugar individually into each bottle? I am using different sized bottles for this batch, so it would be a giant pain.

I am fairly a noobe myself, so take this with a grain of salt. As you said, this is your first batch, right? I'm guessing that you were told that your beer would be done fermenting roughly in about a week?

From what I have learned and been told and actually experienced the results, a lot of guys will leave their beer in the primary for three to four weeks. This allows the yeast to clean up after themselves thus resulting in a cleaner tasting beer.

My suggestion is to test you patience, let the beer sit for two or three more weeks until you can get your bottling bucket. I have a feeling you won't be dissapointed and your first batch will knock your socks off.

By adding your piming sugar/syrup into the fermenter, you are increasing the chance to oxidize your beer, which you DO NOT want to do. Assuming that you are going to stir it in.

Congrats on your first batch, I remember mine and I acted like a possive maniac. Remember, leaving it alone and patience it the best thing for our beer.

Adding your priming solution to your fermenter will work- but, I wouldn't do it. First of all, you'd probably have uneven carbonation due to the inability to really stir it well. So, some bottles would be overcarbed and some undercarbed. But that's not the biggest issue. The biggest issue would be to stir all that crud that is on the bottom of the fermenter (and after at least two weeks in the fermenter- there should be aLOT!) back up into your beer and bottle that up with the beer. So, you'd have a ton of nasty tasting sediment in a possibly unevenly carbonated and oxidized beer. I think it would be better to either rack to another carboy and bottle via siphon, or wait until you have a bottling bucket.

I'm not familiar with Mr. Beer, though, so if you have a way to get the beer out without disturbing any sediment through a float tube or something, that would work better. You can add the priming sugar to each bottle individually then, and fill.

stagstout said:

I am fairly a noobe myself, so take this with a grain of salt. As you said, this is your first batch, right? I'm guessing that you were told that your beer would be done fermenting roughly in about a week?

Click to expand...

This saturday will be 3 weeks.

YooperBrew said:

But that's not the biggest issue. The biggest issue would be to stir all that crud that is on the bottom of the fermenter (and after at least two weeks in the fermenter- there should be aLOT!)

Click to expand...

Would it take longer than the 30-60 minutes mentioned to re-settle?


The crap on the bottom wasn't my concern, it was the time it took for it to settle + the newfound sugar in the fermented beer.

If you have a hard ware store nearby you can use pretty much any plastic bucket for bottling. They probably won't have a spigot, but you could siphon instead.

shootermcgavin7 said:

Would it take longer than the 30-60 minutes mentioned to re-settle?


The crap on the bottom wasn't my concern, it was the time it took for it to settle + the newfound sugar in the fermented beer.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean about re-settling, if you don't care about it. It took three weeks for that stuff to all settle out the first time, it's not going to settle down in 30 minutes. You'd bottle some seriously floater-ridden, trub laden, probably oxidized, unevenly carbed beers.

Why wouldn't you just either bottle the way Mr. Beer suggests? I'm not sure I'm understanding what the issue is.

shootermcgavin7 said:

Would it take longer than the 30-60 minutes mentioned to re-settle?


The crap on the bottom wasn't my concern, it was the time it took for it to settle + the newfound sugar in the fermented beer.

Click to expand...

I would be really concerned with a stir and settle method. The main problem is that the sugar will also settle out of solution. You won't get an even carbonation with that method.

a common schedule for brewing beer is the 1-2-3 method
1 week in primary
2 in secondary
3 in the bottle
according to that schedule you're just now reaching the minimum date to bottle
what's the rush?
do you have a bottling bucket yet?
the batch I have going now went 5 weeks in primary then into bottling bucket and bottles
be patient
you're gonna get a bucket, right?

Dave

I'd just follow the instructions for bottling that came with Mr. Beer. it'll be yeasty since you can't secondary...but that's the problem with mr. beer

carnevoodoo said:

I would be really concerned with a stir and settle method. The main problem is that the sugar will also settle out of solution. You won't get an even carbonation with that method.

Click to expand...

Sugar is water soluable, and won't settle out of suspension. I would bottle it just the way the Mr. Beer instructions say. Where's revvy? He's our resident Mr. Beer expert.

Thanks guys. I'll add the sugar directly to the bottles this time, that seems to be the consensus.

EvilTOJ said:

Sugar is water soluable, and won't settle out of suspension. I would bottle it just the way the Mr. Beer instructions say. Where's revvy? He's our resident Mr. Beer expert.

Click to expand...

Oh right. Basic science. It would have to be saturated to do so.

How do people get uneven carbonation from bottle to bottle? Is it just not mixed enough? I never had a problem with bottling, but I moved to kegs pretty quick, so I guess I never explored that issue because I never had it.

uneven carbonation from bottle to bottle comes from not stirring you sugar priming solution into your beer before you bottle it. I put the priming sugar solution into the bottling bucket then rack on top of that to bottle and it works great.

EvilTOJ said:

Sugar is water soluable, and won't settle out of suspension. I would bottle it just the way the Mr. Beer instructions say. Where's revvy? He's our resident Mr. Beer expert.

Click to expand...

I was driving to work...it is the first week of MedSchool...So my waking up at "zero dark thirty" is "Zero Dark on the hour." And I'm starting work at 7:30 am all week...

What's the question?

Oh yes, mr beer and bottling..

I recommend racking from the mr beer to another spigoted container, adding sugar syrup and bottling from there like in regular batches...A hardware store bucket and plastic spigot is cheap, but any container with a spigot will work, a 2-3 gallon cooler, anything really... When I used to brew with it, I attached a 1/2" rubber tube to the spigot of the mr beer and racked it to a cooler, then attached the rubber hose to the spigot on the cooler and then bottled from there...

The point is, getting it off the yeast and getting the priming solution mixed.