Bottling from the spigot

Is there a downside to bottling directly from the spigot of the bottling bucket or should I use a racking cane? I'm trying to determine why I seem to be getting a little oxidation and a slight cardboard taste in my beer.

The reason you do not want to bottle from the spigot is you get a lot of oxidation.

That probebly answers your question LOL

Seriously - racking cane (is that what they are called) are wonderful - no splashing and you get the perfect fill everytime. As soo as the beer is up to the top - take it out and you have the perfect fill with no oxidation.

Definitely use a bottling wand.

Don't use the spigot OR racking cane, use a bottling wand attached to a spigot. Otherwise you'll get lots of foam in the bottles, oxidation notwithstanding.

bottling wand - correct - was at a loo for the correct term. SO - what's a racking cane??? Don't think I have one of those!

Here's what I do...



You need a 1-2 inch piece of bottling hose as a connector bridge between wand and spigot, and a couple of hose clamps. I use 2 white snap on types from my lhbs, but auto hose clamps could work as well.



I also have a dip tube in my bucket, that way I get every last drop except about 4 ounces of my precious beer.



It's a simple rubber stopper that fits in the back of the bottling bucket spigot, and a bent piece of copper tubing. You could bend any piece of plastic tubing as well, ball point pen body, piece of racking tube...

Grinder12000 said:

bottling wand - correct - was at a loo for the correct term. SO - what's a racking cane??? Don't think I have one of those!

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Sorry - it was 0500 when I posted my question. The racking cane is a plastic tube with a 90 degree crook for racking from a carboy. I meant bottling wand.

Revvy said:

Here's what I do...



You need a 1-2 inch piece of bottling hose as a connector bridge between wand and spigot, and a couple of hose clamps. I use 2 white snap on types from my lhbs, but auto hose clamps could work as well.

Click to expand...

I see what you're doing but does the hose go directly to the bottom of the bottle with the use of a bottling wand and you regulate the flow with the spigot valve handle? How would this be any different from bottling directly from the spigot? It seems a lot of air is introduced when turning the spigot valve on and off.

LOL - yea - and I answered at 6:08. Perhaps we should wake up before we post.

The bottling wand has a spring valve at the tip. You open the spigot to introduce the flow into the wand, insert wand into bottle and press bottle against the spring valve, opening the flow of beer. Fill it up to the top, then lower the bottle to remove the wand. Displacement will give you the perfect amount of headspace.

flyangler18 said:

The bottling wand has a spring valve at the tip. You open the spigot to introduce the flow into the wand, insert wand into bottle and press bottle against the spring valve, opening the flow of beer. Fill it up to the top, then lower the bottle to remove the wand. Displacement will give you the perfect amount of headspace.

Click to expand...

+1 Plus you are filling with the wand from the bottom up, which is genlty pushing out any O2.... Going from spigot only means there is a greater risk of oxydation in your beer, because in a sense, the beer is "falling." Plus like flyangler said, with the wand you get perfect headspace regardless of the size of the bottle...

With my setup you merely pust the bottle up gently to trigger the spring valve on the bottling wand, then pull the bottle downward when the beer reaches the top of the bottle, with a little over spill...this insures the right headspace.

My setup allows me to sit at a table and fill comfortably, without too much of a mess. I can judge when the bottle is full easier than when my wand was on a hose and I was looking downward.

Not counting sanitization, I can cap a 5 gallon batch of beer in 40 minutes.

I bottle from a spigot with no problems. My spigot is turned slightly up, so that if beer shot out it would actually spray 10 degrees up from horizontal.

That way no air is trapped in the spigot.

I bottle at a relatively slow rate into a bottle held against the spigot at about a 45.

No bubbles or "falling" brew is involved. If any bubbles appear, I slow down the flow a little.

No problems.

I have kept some brews from last september, had one last night, no oxidation.

My setup allows me to sit at a table and fill comfortably

Click to expand...

WOW - I dream of that day. I'll have to work on that!

cheezydemon - you still get a LOT of Beer to O2 doing that process but if it works - go for it.

I've used a bottling wand exclusively for the past few years for bottling wine since I always bottle from a carboy. I just got in a hurry during my last 3-4 beers and figured, why not? Looking back, I'm not surprised it's been introducing oxygen with the way it foams up during bottling from the spigot.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

Grinder12000 said:

cheezydemon - you still get a LOT of Beer to O2 doing that process but if it works - go for it.

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No bubbles means no 02. And yes it works. No disrespect, I probably need to post a pic. There is no "falling" beer. The spigot fills up rather than dumping because I angle it up.

The lip of the spigot contacts the slightly angled bottle and the beer runs in without making a bubble.

Cheezy,
I'm trying to picture this in my head - the spigot is pointed up, and the bottle, obviously is pointed mostly up also. so you just control the flow enough that the beer comes up out of the spigot into the neck of the bottle and runs down the side of the bottle? kinda like pouring a beer from a bottle into a pint glass by running it down the side to minimize foaming I guess.

It sounds like you've got the bottling from the spigot process pretty refined, but it seems to me that there is still increased possibility of oxidation becuase of the increased surface area of the beer. Using a racking cane with the bottle straight up and down, the surface area is no larger than the inner circumfrence of the bottle.

EvilTOJ said:

Don't use the spigot OR racking cane, use a bottling wand attached to a spigot. Otherwise you'll get lots of foam in the bottles, oxidation notwithstanding.

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Totally agree here...not only do you avoid the bubbling with a wand, but you can start/stop the flow without having to pinch the tubing. Also minimizes spilling and waste.

-Tripod

Revvy said:

I also have a dip tube in my bucket, that way I get every last drop except about 4 ounces of my precious beer.

It's a simple rubber stopper that fits in the back of the bottling bucket spigot, and a bent piece of copper tubing. You could bend any piece of plastic tubing as well, ball point pen body, piece of racking tube...

Click to expand...

Brilliant idea! I was trying to come up with a way to maximize my bottling output...I may have to borrow your idea, Revvy! Hope you don't mind!

-Tripod

Quick question - I get attaching the tube to the spigot and then to the wand and making sure that's all been sanitized.

BUT do you need to worry about sanitizing the spigot beforehand? Seems like it makes sense no? If so, what, just spray some Star San solution on it and into the spigot?

Revvy said:

My setup allows me to sit at a table and fill comfortably, without too much of a mess. I can judge when the bottle is full easier than when my wand was on a hose and I was looking downward.

Not counting sanitization, I can cap a 5 gallon batch of beer in 40 minutes.

Click to expand...

+1

I tried out your method bottling my last batch and it was infinitely superior and much more comfortable than sitting on the floor with a bunch of bottles.

And my socks didn't get wet from walking around in beer that had dripped all over the floor from moving the bottling wand around all over the place.

This method makes the banana dance ------->

fastricky said:

Quick question - I get attaching the tube to the spigot and then to the wand and making sure that's all been sanitized.

BUT do you need to worry about sanitizing the spigot beforehand? Seems like it makes sense no? If so, what, just spray some Star San solution on it and into the spigot?

Click to expand...

I drain out a gallon or so of sanitizer through my spigot, the attach the wand to it after.

Right. I don't think I was clear in my question... when I go directly from my secondary's spigot to the bottling wand is what I was asking...

Put a bit of Star San in a bowl with water. Submerge the spigot into that bowl for a few minutes. Then open the spout and let just a little beer out to clear it.

Attach wand and bottle.

fastricky said:

Right. I don't think I was clear in my question... when I go directly from my secondary's spigot to the bottling wand is what I was asking...

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So you want to bottle straight from the secondary? You do realize that in order to evenly integrate the sugar syrup (if you are boiling your priming sugar) with the beer, you would have to stir, which would then kick up all the sediment that you patiently waited to settle by using a secondary....

Plus if the trub is higher than the spigot, you will possibly be getting a heck of a lot of sediment in the beginning anyway...

Those are the reasons most of us rack the beer to a bottling bucket...to get it off the sediment and evenly integrate the priming syrup and the beer....

Good point. I reckon that makes the most sense, even if I plan on putting carbonation drops into each bottle...

Carb drops or not, you still don't want all that gunk in your bottles. Trust me, I've done it. You don't want to do it. I brewed a pale ale that tasted like a hefe. That yeast taste does not compliment a pale whatsoever.

True, true... no shortcuts...

Revvy said:

Here's what I do...

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What happened to the dishwasher door part of this bottling primer? That's one of the best parts!!

gingerdawg said:

What happened to the dishwasher door part of this bottling primer? That's one of the best parts!!

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That's not me, that's grinder...I don't have a dishwasher...he took my spigot and put his over the dish washer.

He gets full credit here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

Grinder12000 said:

WOW - I dream of that day. I'll have to work on that!

Click to expand...

If you have an automatic dishwasher it might be easy for you to do. Do the "grinder method"... I throw a towel down on my kitchen counter next to my bottling bucket. I place the bottling bucket on the counter above the dishwasher. I have a short hose connected between the bottling wand and the bucket. (You know, I really should go back and edit this to remove the phrase "I have a short hose.") I sit down in a chair, open the dishwasher door, set empty bottles on the open door and fill them. Once a bottle is full, I place it up on the kitchen counter. Once all the bottles are all filled, I stand up and cap them.

The best part? When I'm finished, I close the door and run the dishwasher, cleaning not only drip pan, but the dirty dishes inside.

Revvy said:

That's not me, that's grinder...I don't have a dishwasher...he took my spigot and put his over the dish washer.

Click to expand...

Heh... I thought you were the one I learned that trick from also. I'll have to remember to attribute that to grinder.