Bottled for the first time... Damn, I hate bottling buckets!

[cjgenever]

What's up with floaties? I rack clean beer to my bottling bucket. Confused

 

[norsk]

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/INVERT-TUBE-BACKNUT-P179C104.aspx

I use these in all of my fermentation buckets. For the bottling bucket it is positioned just off the bottom...

 

[Ster]

Floaties...

I hold the autociphen and slower lower with the decreasing beer level.

Sometimes I accidentally hit the bottom sludge and suck up some floaties. The quickly fall to the bottom under the spigot and only show up in the last bottle usually.

 

[The_Glue]

The photo in your original post shows a long length of tubing above the bottling wand. Does this tubing remained filled with beer after a bottle is filled? Or do you need to retilt the bucket to fill the tubing with beer to fill your next bottle?
If it is the latter then perhaps it is lack of pressure, from the volume of beer in the bucket, to displace all of the air in the tubing back up into the bucket.

Try using only 3 inches of the tubing to connect the wand to the bucket spigot.

Since you are only bottling one gallon batches a two gallon bucket would be easier to keep tilted with blocks or a rack to extract down to the last few ounces of beer.
I've found small food grade buckets at the grocery store for 50 cents apiece. These buckets also have an airtight seal with a removeable rubber gasket. The buckets had held frosting. Drill the bucket to put the spigot at the very bottom. Just leave enough clearance for the spigot flange and washer. You will just have to keep the bucket upside down for storage or during use up on blocks to protect the spigot from damage.
Hope this helps. Bottling should be relaxing.

That is actually masskrug's photo, i quoted his post, i use a shorter bottling wand plugged directly into the spigot but otherwise our setup looks the same. My wand stays empty during the entire process, it never fills up properly, the beer is just floating down the inner walls of the tube without filling it up properly. (this makes the process of filling up the bottles really slow)
I think i should just get smaller food grade buckets then, or maybe i should try to get a different bottling wand.

 

[flars]

That is actually masskrug's photo, i quoted his post, i use a shorter bottling wand plugged directly into the spigot but otherwise our setup looks the same. My wand stays empty during the entire process, it never fills up properly, the beer is just floating down the inner walls of the tube without filling it up properly. (this makes the process of filling up the bottles really slow)
I think i should just get smaller food grade buckets then, or maybe i should try to get a different bottling wand.

If you have the wand connected to the spigot with a short piece of tubing and the level of beer inside the bucket is above the spigot, something is wrong with that spigot if the wand does not stay filled.
Get a replacement spigot. They are usually less than $3.
Pop the current spigot apart and look for gunk that may be clogging it.
Good luck solving this.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'm with Adam. I just put about 3 inches of tube from spigot to wand and I put the bucket up on a shelf, or on a table and sit on the floor. This makes the bottling wand a no hands operation.

I do (did) this. Felt pretty clever at the time! :cross:

 

[narl79]

I always brew an extra 1/2 gallon of wort so by the time its done fermenting ill have 5 1/2 in the bucket. I can get all my bottles done without risk of getting floaties iny bottles from having to tip it. And what ever I have left over I bottle just as extra and use those to open early to test carbination. No waste of neer here lol cheers.

 

[Reindeer]

Thats why I have a wife. She's great at holding buckets at an angle.

 

[masskrug]

I use the same bottling setup but when i bottle my wand doesn't get filled up with beer, the beer just slowly dripping down the walls of the wand, is that a problem? I think that could cause oxidation but i am not sure.

I've never had that issue. Your connection must not be tight, or your tip is clogged. Have you opened up the tip and cleaned the spring?

 

[Justdrumin]

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/INVERT-TUBE-BACKNUT-P179C104.aspx

I use these in all of my fermentation buckets. For the bottling bucket it is positioned just off the bottom...

So does this point up so the tube is above sediment during transfer and you point down as a dip tube while bottling? I'm just trying to fully understand. If this is true...what a GREAT idea!! Hassle free transfer to bottling bucket and it helps get that last bit in the bottling bucket as well.

 

[norsk]

So does this point up so the tube is above sediment during transfer and you point down as a dip tube while bottling? I'm just trying to fully understand. If this is true...what a GREAT idea!! Hassle free transfer to bottling bucket and it helps get that last bit in the bottling bucket as well.

Exactly... When using in my fermenting buckets I turn the spigots to the side to raise them above the trub, and they are positioned just slightly higher than in my bottling bucket. In the bottling bucket, the down tube is positioned just off of the bottom and drains the bucket completely during bottling..
I used to make my own down tubes, but these are so cheap and well made that I just obtain the spigots and down tubes from Williams... I have them on 4 of my 7 gal fermenting buckets and a dedicated bottling bucket...

 

[passedpawn]

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/INVERT-TUBE-BACKNUT-P179C104.aspx

I use these in all of my fermentation buckets. For the bottling bucket it is positioned just off the bottom...

I have that in my bottling bucket also. Worked great.

I've added a 2nd spiggot and dip tubes to my bottling bucket. Bottle 2 at a time. Really makes the process go much faster.... twice as fast I suppose.

Bam!

 

[adamdillabo]

Very cool.

 

[Zuljin]

Tubes, elbows, wands and spigots? I just grab a handful of bottles and shove them into the bucket. They fill.

Actually, I use a serving spoon turned upside down under the edge of the bottling bucket. Works for me.