Begginer questions about bottling

[Vorsicht709]

1) The instructions on my priming sugar tell me to add it to 250 ml (yes im canadian) of boiling water and add to beer, do I need to let it cool?

2)when racking from carboy to bucket to add the priming sugar, do I put the racking tube into the carboy full of beer, or the empty bucket

 

[Poindexter]

I generally bring my small amount of water up to about 180-190dF, mix in/ disolve the sugar, put a lid on the pot and walk away. A nice long 20 minutes at 180 will pasteurize just as well as a 3 minute boil.

After "a while", an hour or so, whatever, put the cane in the full pot of beer so you can control where you suck from and get the siphon rolling. I generally dump the warm sugar water into the bottling bucket while the plain water is still running out of the siphon, so the actual beer hits cooler water with the priming concentration already down a very leetle bit.

Don't worry about cooling the priming mixture all the way down to room temp. Some of the bajillion yeast in your five gallons of beer are going to survive having cooled the priming sugar water the last 40 degrees.

 

[bradsul]

A fellow Canuck! You should add your location to your profile, we Canadians have to stick together.

1. I don't bother letting my priming solutions cool. The little bit of yeast that gets killed with the initial hit of hot liquid isn't enough to worry about.

2. The priming solution goes in the bottling bucket, the racking cane goes in the carboy, the hose goes into the bucket. Rack the beer onto the priming solution and then bottle away!

 

[Bobby_M]

You can add the still-hot mixture to the bottling bucket then rack the beer onto it. No need to cool it because it gets well diluted quickly but a quick dip in some icewater wouldn't hurt either. The stiff racking cane goes into the fermenter and the soft tubing goes into the bottling bucket. Make sure they're both well sanitized inside and out (the tubing and cane I mean).

 

[beergears]

.. before starting make sure your bucket spigot is in the "closed" position... or you gonna have beer/sugar shoes!


I didn't last night.. caught it quickly. I blame it on the (new) spigot, poorly-designed user interface..!

 

[Vorsicht709]

wow thanks, ive never seen a quicker response, and I will update my profile. Its nice to meet another canadian and fellow fisherman

 

[bradsul]

There are quite a few of us (Canadians specifically). You should post a hello into the Introduction forum.

 

[grasshopper1917]

Geeese leave it to a Newfie to try and put the racking cane in the empty bucket

Hehehhee just kidding welcome aboard - im a Cape Bretoner - good to see another fellow maritimer

 

[Vorsicht709]

wow I figured it was all americans on this forum. Im bottling tomorrow, It just sucks theres another two weeks until I can taste the stuff

 

[Vorsicht709]

So Im also assuming the racking cane always goes into the full vessel

 

[toadyus]

hmm...correct me If I'm wrong but I always add 1 1/2 cups of water too my beer bucket containing 1/2 cup dextrose and 1/2 cup cane sugar...sure has been okay for the three batches I've done and has carb'd my beer quite nicely....

oh and yes the racking cane goes in the full container =)

 

[Vorsicht709]

Okay two more questions.
1) Once the beer is bottled do I keep the room warm, or room tempature.
2) Can the bottles be on thr ground, or do I have to use something to keep them off the ground

 

[toadyus]

I always put the beer back in the boxes that I buy them in and let them sit in the same place that the beer originally fermented for 2 weeks...you can test a beer after a week but I've learned patience and don't touch it for 2 weeks your just asking for an un-carbed beer and nobody wants to waste beer =)

 

[bradsul]

Around 70F is best for carbing but any temp suitable for the yeast you used is just fine really. If the bottles will be sitting on a cold concrete floor or something I'd want to keep them up off it, but for the most part they will be fine on the floor.