Transfer to Bottling Bucket Question

[CampfireBrewingCo]

Our first brew is scheduled to be bottled this weekend. We made an American Light kit from Brewers Best. When pouring the wort out of the pot into the fermenter we got some trub that made its way into the fermenter, not a ton but some. I obviously don't want the trub to get transferred into the bottles but I do want the yeast. When my yeast goes dormant does it settle to the bottom into the trub? If so how can I get the yeast into my bottles without disturbing the trub? I know that I should be syphoning the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. Am I overthinking this and just need to syphon off the beer and leave the trub behind?

At bottling time the beer will have been in the primary for 2 weeks. The kit said about 4-7 days but the owner of the LHBS said to let it sit about 2 weeks so it clears a little more. The yeast was a dry yeast packet.

Thanks all!

 

[NorCalAngler]

You're overthinking it. There are plenty of yeast in suspension even if your beer appears clear. Pour the priming sugar solution into the bottling bucket then siphon the beer over the top of that. Use a sanitized spoon and give the beer a few gentle stirs to evenly distribute the sugar and you're golden.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Leave the trub, there will be enough yeast in suspension to carb your beer.

 

[D_Struct]

While you will have yeast settle out into the trub, there will still be yeast in suspension in the beer.

Just avoid the trub at the bottom of the fermenter and syphon everything within about a half-inch or so above it.

 

[CampfireBrewingCo]

Good deal. Thanks!

 

[brewagentjay]

+ 1 on just don't worry....Leave Trub or Cake behind.
+ 1 on stiring during bottling.

 

[pcollins]

I'll chime in here and so no to stirring.

I think if you're using a priming solution i.e., sugar dissolved in water, and you're putting that in the bucket first, by the time you siphon all the beer on top of it it's pretty well mixed. The spoon is just one more piece of gear to sanitize and get in the way during bottling.

 

[Erythro73]

Pour the priming sugar solution into the bottling bucket then siphon the beer over the top of that. Use a sanitized spoon and give the beer a few gentle stirs to evenly distribute the sugar and you're golden.

You do not need to give a few gentle swirls. Just siphoning the beer on top of the priming solution pretty much guarantee the distribution will be uniform. There's no reason why it wouldn't. But, if it helps you feel more confident about the process, then go for it! But keep in mind that only of moving a little bit the bottling bucket (from the ground to the countertop) and the action of putting the autosiphon in the beer may give enough disturbance in the beer to "re-uniformize". You really don't need to stir.

 

[phatuna]

You should read Revvy's stickied post on the subject prior to bottling: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

Everything you will need to know to bottle effectively can be found here

 

[NorCalAngler]

I highly recommend stirring and here is my logic:

1. Sanitizing a spoon takes 20 seconds of your time and stirring takes 5 seconds
2. My first batch had uneven sugar distribution without stirring
3. Few things are more frustrating in brewing than finding out some bottles are overcarbed and some are almost flat, almost ruining what should have been a great beer.

For those saying stirring is unnecessary that's fine, but 25 seconds of my time is well worth not spending hours cleaning, sanitizing and bottling only to have carbonation issues in three weeks. You're probably right that the swirling of the siphon mixes it well enough, but I'll never take my chances again.

 

[osagedr]

The "to stir or not to stir" question is pretty interesting. I rack my beer on top of the priming sugar solution at bottling and give it a firm but gentle stir before I start. I then give another stir every dozen bottles or so.

It would be fantastic if I didn't have to give it the extra stir every dozen bottles. Can I abandon this practice safely?

 

[NorCalAngler]

The "to stir or not to stir" question is pretty interesting. I rack my beer on top of the priming sugar solution at bottling and give it a firm but gentle stir before I start. I then give another stir every dozen bottles or so.

It would be fantastic if I didn't have to give it the extra stir every dozen bottles. Can I abandon this practice safely?

I've never heard of intermittent stirring while bottling. I would think once the sugar reaches equilibrium in the beer after the initial racking and stirring then additional stirring is unnecessary.

 

[brewagentjay]

I highly recommend stirring and here is my logic:

1. Sanitizing a spoon takes 20 seconds of your time and stirring takes 5 seconds
2. My first batch had uneven sugar distribution without stirring
3. Few things are more frustrating in brewing than finding out some bottles are overcarbed and some are almost flat, almost ruining what should have been a great beer.

For those saying stirring is unnecessary that's fine, but 25 seconds of my time is well worth not spending hours cleaning, sanitizing and bottling only to have carbonation issues in three weeks. You're probably right that the swirling of the siphon mixes it well enough, but I'll never take my chances again.

Preach On.........:rockin:

 

[BMWMK2]

I have done two batches so far and both of them i batch primed just like everyone says i put the sugar water solution in the bottling bucket, siphon onto the solution, putting it in a way that it wirlpools and both times i have 6 or so bottle that were overcarbed and the rest were way undercarbed. i will stir from now on!

 

[northernlad]

You do not need to give a few gentle swirls. Just siphoning the beer on top of the priming solution pretty much guarantee the distribution will be uniform. There's no reason why it wouldn't. But, if it helps you feel more confident about the process, then go for it! But keep in mind that only of moving a little bit the bottling bucket (from the ground to the countertop) and the action of putting the autosiphon in the beer may give enough disturbance in the beer to "re-uniformize". You really don't need to stir.

This is not the case in my world. I no longer have inconsistent carbonation since I began stirring a couple times during the rack.
Heavier wort stays incompletely mixed when you add top off water to the fermenter, so too can the heavier priming solution in the bottling bucket.

I do like the creation of the word Re-uniformize.