Pros/cons of using carboy as a bottling bucket

I'm getting ready to bottle my first batch. My kit came with a plastic bucket and a 5 gallon glass carboy. I didn't do a secondary so I can't bottle from the primary bucket.

I'm trying to decide if I should just go buy a second bucket for bottling. They're cheap enough that if they make my life easier while bottling, then it may be worth the purchase.


Thanks!

*** note - I suppose I could bottle directly from primary if I had those sugar tablets, dumped the priming sugar/water directly into the primary, or, if it's even possible, just measure the priming sugar per bottle, but boiling the water/sugar and combining it with the beer in a separate vessel seems like the best way to go.

you could probably bottle from the carboy. The kit i recently purchased came with 2 buckets, one with a spigot for bottling. I'd imagine it would be easier to use a bucket because you can just flip the valve on and off, but if you siphoned from the carboy I'd imagine it would work.

Hope this helps.

Pros : none.
Cons : it would be a huge PIA.

get yourself a bottling bucket, a 4" piece of tubing, and a bottling wand. Much easier.

tgmartin000 said:

Pros : none.
Cons : it would be a huge PIA.

get yourself a bottling bucket, a 4" piece of tubing, and a bottling wand. Much easier.

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Agree. You would have to keep the auto siphon from stirring up sediment AND fill bottle at the same time. Get the list above, you wont regret it at all.

BrutalBrew said:

Agree. You would have to keep the auto siphon from stirring up sediment AND fill bottle at the same time. Get the list above, you wont regret it at all.

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Fully agree. The only thing I can add to that are that your primary bucket wouldn't be suitable anyway, because one of your primary goals while bottling is to avoid aerating your beer as much as possible, for that you want a bucket with a spigot + the wand/tubing keep brew jostling to a minimum.

It's a quality of life thing.

Actually, I have done this a number of times (for the same reason as the OP) and it is no harder than bottling from a bottling bucket. Yes, you do have to siphon the beer into the bottles rather than using a spigot, but a siphon isn't hard to start and works fine with a botting wand.

I vote for giving it a shot from the carboy. It'll either work out just fine, or it'll be a learning experience!

I use an auto-siphon to bottle from a pot, I heat up honey in the pot first, siphon the beer in and then siphon into bottles.

No real concerns about aeration and its not a PITA. I stick the tube into a bottle before any of this begins and mark where the tube hits the bottom so there is no splashing or long drop from the beer into the bottle. I just pinch it off when it reaches the top, pull it out and there is about a 1-inch displacement of the tube so its the perfect headspace.

philjohnwilliams said:

Actually, I have done this a number of times (for the same reason as the OP) and it is no harder than bottling from a bottling bucket. Yes, you do have to siphon the beer into the bottles rather than using a spigot, but a siphon isn't hard to start and works fine with a botting wand.

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+1. I either rack from my primary into a carboy or another fermentation bucket, depends on what I have free at the time. I have never racked direct from the primary though. I use an auto syphon and bottling wand. Works like a charm.

When I got my kit years ago. The bottling wand kept leaking. I resorted to spigot being tunred on and off for each bottle. Had to have a chair to sit in and do this. Until I made an extract Wit. First 10 bottles or so pretty good. Closer I got to the last of Wit. Beer staled. Bottling wand and tubing. All other beers were fine but for whatever reason when I did that Wit there was a difference.
I've always transferred from primary to a bottling bucket./ Bottling bucket would have the priming sugar/water solution.

I recommend you move your beer to the bucket before bottling. Then you can use sugar to prime and not worry about stirring trub up in your beer while mixing.