Food Grade Bucket and Bottle Priming Questions

[nicklawmusic]

So I went to my local butchers the other day and asked if he had any large food grade plastic buckets as everyone seems to bang on about using a bottling bucket.

He gave me two. The larger one, which could hold most of the beer from my primary, really, really smells of herbs and seasoning! I've given it a good wash but the smell remains.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of the odour? I'm concerned if I use this bucket (which, in its present condition, I don't intend to) my beer is going to have a very strange herby flavour?

Which leads me on to my second question...

Without answering:
• Just buy another fermenter
• You need a bottling bucket
• I wouldn't bother bottle priming
• etc, etc...

Is it feasible to boil my priming sugar and prime using sugar water rather than just adding the sugar straight to the bottle?

And if so, how do I ensure that I'm putting enough of the mixture into each bottle? I mean, I normally put in 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) into each bottle, but surely sugar water is diluted by the water.

Any tips? (Without answering 'you need a bottling bucket'. I have one, it just smells of pork and herbs!).


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[Homercidal]

I'd forget the smelly bucket. Buckets are cheap and any food grade 5 gallon bucket will work for bottling. Do you have a bakery nearby ? They often have buckets of stuff like icing, Peanut Butter, honey, etc. Just make sure they are White and HDPE.

As far as the sugar goes, the recommended process is to boil the sugar with a pint of water to sanitize it. Then add it to the bucket, THEN siphon your beer onto it. The cool beer will cool the priming solution quickly and prevent the hot solution from killing the yeast (well, some of the first ones will die, but then you are good). Make sure to get a good swirl going without splashing.

This way the sugar is evenly distributed throughout the beer and each bottle should have the same amount of carbonation.

 

[nicklawmusic]

I've read that you can add your sugar water to your primary fermenter and then siphon directly into bottles. Is that true?


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[nicklawmusic]

Or is there a way to spoon into each bottle the sugar water solution that has been sterilised as if you were priming each bottle with a 1/2 teaspoon if dextrose, and if so how much?


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[Homercidal]

I've read that you can add your sugar water to your primary fermenter and then siphon directly into bottles. Is that true?


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Or is there a way to spoon into each bottle the sugar water solution that has been sterilised as if you were priming each bottle with a 1/2 teaspoon if dextrose, and if so how much?


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I think bulk mixing the priming solution is the fastest and easiest way, personally. I would NOT add priming sugar to the primary. If you add it, the only way to mix it all in, is to MIX IT ALL IN, meaning you've just stirred up the yeast and trub.

You *could* add the sugar by teaspoonfuls to each bottle, or, I suppose, add a few mls of solution by dropper, but this is really the long way to go about it. It's very easy to mix some sugar water and get it boiling (while you sanitize the bottling bucket and gather things you need for the bottling process. As I said, I don't bother chilling the solution because the first quart or two of beer is going to chill it quickly anyway.

One other thing I've done it canned sugar water so when I want to prime some bottles I just crack a couple of small jars of solution (depending on how much beer I'm bottling, or how much carbonation I want) and siphon right on top. No boiling of mixing sugar and water. It takes an hour or two one day to make a bunch of sterile priming solution.

 

[nicklawmusic]

What I'm trying to establish is IF, instead of adding dry sugar, I added sterilised sugar that has been boiled, how much of the solution I'd have to prime each bottle with? Surely by adding water and boiling the sugar you are diluting it?


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[nicklawmusic]

I'm talking about bottle priming without a bottling bucket here.


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[Homercidal]

Well, you would divide the weight of the solution by the number of bottles you are going to fill and then add that much of the solution to each bottle. It's certainly doable, but I think you'll find the process more tedious and less accurate than using a bottling bucket. Also, any miscalculation you have when adding the solution to each bottle is amplified by the small size of the bottle. With a bucket, any error is likely to be very minor when compared to the amount in the bucket.

In order to get an accurate measurement of each bottles recommended priming solution needs, you might have to have a fairly accurate scale and then convert that to ml in a syringe and then draw up that same amount each time.

 

[MaxStout]

The small volume of water to dissolve the sugar won't dilute 5 gallons of beer very much. I think bulk priming in the bucket (if stirred well) will result in much more consistent proportions than spooning in small amounts into each bottle. In the latter method, if you don't get the volumes exact each time it can result in a great variations in carbonation.

After racking your beer onto the sugar solution, stir very gently to mix. Do not create any turbulence that can introduce air into the beer, as that can cause oxidation off-flavors.

 

[nicklawmusic]

How important is sterilising your priming sugar? I've got a bag that has been opened but is wrapped up and in a sealed container. Do I need to go to the lengths of boiling it?


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[Homercidal]

I'll be honest. You aren't going to get bacterial growth of any significant amount on plan sugar. The odds of the sugar being the culprit behind an infected beer is very low.

I've primed bottles with corn sugar and siphoned the beer on top before. Back before I knew how much easier using a bottling bucket was.

So if you are set on not using a bottling bucket, I say go for it and I wish you the best. If you are planning on siphoning directly from the primary, try to get someone to help you manage the siphon and the bottling. It's easy to suck up a bunch of yeast and trub if you aren't on top of things constantly. Not only that, but they can help hand you bottles and take the filled ones. Makes the job a lot easier.

 

[poptarts]

probably not, but taking the risk on infecting your beer right before its done is silly when all it takes is 5 mins and making it liquid insures it gets mixed well.

 

[nicklawmusic]

I think I'll just buy a new bag of dextrose and prime each bottle like last time . Worked well with my first batch!


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[Homercidal]

FYI you can simply use table sugar. It works the same as corn sugar/dextrose just very slightly different amount by weight. I think Howtobrew.com has the priming sugar calculator listing a bunch of different priming sugars and the amount needed for different carb levels.

You can use brown sugar or honey, or DME as well. Basically anything that the yeast will eat that won't leave crud floating around (so don't use powdered sugar. It has cornstarch added...)