Bottling and Carbonating - 1st brew questions

[flying_pig]

Hi all, I'm currently trying my hand at brewing a Coopers IPA (from a kit until I know what I'm doing) and am about to bottle it this weekend and have a load of questions I'm trying to find the answers to online.

The main one being, can I bottle straight from my fermenation bucket or do I need a dedicated bottling bucket? Currently I don't have one but if it's better I'd look to pick one up.

I see to carbonate the bottles that corn sugar can be added to each bottle, can I just add the sugar granules straight to each bottle?

Finally, am I better mixing the sugar with some water and stirring this into my entire batch? I've seen this on a view videos online & may look to do this in future although I take it I would also need a dedicated bottling bucket for this to work.

Any help would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[JDGator]

yes you can add sugar straight to the bottles, which i have done, and it's kind of a pain in the butt. i found that adding your sugar to warm water helps it dissolve and then pour it into the bottling bucket. then siphon your beer on top of it. that is why an extra bucket is nice.

 

[Glynn]

Get a bottling bucket don't bottle from your fermenter. add your corn sugar to 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, then let it cool. transfer your wort to your sanitized bottling bucket and pour the priming solution in and stir. fill bottles with a bottling wand. make sure everything that touchs your beer is sanitized

 

[unionrdr]

Do you have the Cooper's DIY kit ot just the Cooper's Beer kit? The DIY brewing kit with beer kit would come with the "little bottler" as they call it that presses into the spout on the spigot to bottle with. And carbonation drops.

 

[Feldmann]

I have a primary fermenting bucket and a glass carboy for a secondary. After I've finished in the secondary, I rack it back in to the empty primary. I add my priming sugar to a pot of water and bring it to a boil then throw it in the bucket right before bottling.

Well that's what I used to do...I racked my last batch of beer into the secondary the same day that I brewed a new batch and put it into the newly available primary so I had a batch in both my primary and secondary at the same time. I just went to home depot the night before and bought a 5gal homer bucket for $4 and used that instead.

 

[unionrdr]

I bet it was really full. Those orange homer cheapo buckets are only 5 gallons.

 

[flying_pig]

Thanks for the info. At the minute I only used the Coopers IPA tin & brew enhancer. My equipment consists of a fermentation bucket and pretty crappy syphon & spigot that attaches to it. I'll get on the hunt a brewing bucket with a spigot already attached plus on of those spring bottlers this week then.

My local homebrew shop "sold me everything I would need" but I wasn't sure about bottling straight from the fermentation bucket. Is there any other reason for this or is it just to reduce sediment?

Cheers.

 

[unionrdr]

You don't want to dump priming solution in a primary or secondary. Stiring up all that yeast & trub you waited so patiently to settle out would be a bad thing. Get a bottling bucket. The beer will be way cleaner going into the bottles. Thus less yeast & tryb in the botom of the bottles at drinkin time.

 

[Revvy]

How are you integrating the priming sugar? If you're using a prime tab, then yeah going directly from the fermenter is fine...BUT unless yours is equipped with a spigot, trying to manitain a siphon from the fermenter and manipulating a spring fed bottling wand can be tricky.

Tricky enough that many folks end up hating bottling after trying.....

Even with adding prime tabs to the bottles, it's easier to fill with a spigot and bottling wand, rather than a siphon and bottling wand.

If you're not using prime tabs, and are planning to use sugar, then it is best to make a sugar solution and integrate it with the beer at bottling time. Adding dry sugar to bottles is very tricky, it can lead from under carbd to over carbed beer to even bottle bombs. Also dry sugar and the co2 in the beer already can lead to gushers while filling. The sugar acts as nucleation sites, and you get what amounts to the mentos/diet coke effect, all the beer shooting out of the bottle.

So then the issue is how to do that.....Do you add it to the fermeter or secondary? How to you get it all to mix?

The problem with bottling from a primary or secondary instead of using a bottling bucket, is that since you have patiently gone and let your beer settle and clear, in order to mix the priming solution and beer effectively, you would have to stir it in the carboy which would a) kick up all that nice sediment you have patiently let fall, b) possibly oxydize the beer.

It really defeats the purpose of both a long primary/no secondary or a secondary if you have to stir up all the nice sediment you patiently waited to settle just so you can have consistent carbonation.

Why don't you just go to the hardware store and make a bottling bucket? You can find everything you need, including a spigot there.

With my bottling bucket and my dip tube, I leave no more than about 3 ounces behind, which means I can get about 52 to 54 bottles per 5 gallon batch.

Go to a hardware store and get a translucent or white bucket...but look for one where the 5 gallon mark falls way below the top of the bucket. Usually it will say 5 gallons at 3rd band from the top. (oh get the lid too....I totally regret not getting it when I did.)

Then get a spigot and make a dedicated bottling bucket. It really defeats the purpose of both a long primary/no secondary or a secondary if you have to stir up all the nice sediment you patiently waited to settle just so you can have consistent carbonation.

Mine is the translucent Leaktite brand 5 gallon container with the gallon and liter markings from Homedepot.

Here's a pic of mine from my bottling thread.

One of my dip tubes and what gets left behind.

You'll find a ton of good info here to make bottling easier.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

Hope this helps you understand better.

But in truth, you'll really thank us if you if you go ahead and make or buy one.....

 

[Glaurung30]

How are you integrating the priming sugar? If you're using a prime tab, then yeah going directly from the fermenter is fine...BUT unless yours is equipped with a spigot, trying to manitain a siphon from the fermenter and manipulating a spring fed bottling wand can be tricky.

Tricky enough that many folks end up hating bottling after trying.....

haha I have done this. I put the bottles on the floor and held the bottling wand with my toes and used my hands for working the siphon. haha

 

[cramar]

For your first batch why dont you just bottle directly from the primary, get some carbonation tabs or add sugar directly to each bottle.
I did the same thing on my first Coopers mod recipe and a few weeks later it tastes great.
If all goes well you can expand your gear in future batches.

 

[Revvy]

For your first batch why dont you just bottle directly from the primary, get some carbonation tabs or add sugar directly to each bottle.
I did the same thing on my first Coopers mod recipe and a few weeks later it tastes great.
If all goes well you can expand your gear in future batches.

Adding dry sugar directly to the bottle is one of the biggest ways to end up with inconsistant carbonation and/or bottle bombs, it's nearly impossible to get the same amount of sugar into each bottle, PLUS being dry it's more difficult for the yeast to eat the sugar, as opposed to it being in a solution of the same density as the beer. Carb drops are a little bit better, but you are limited to exactly that amount of sugar as opposed to bulk priming which allows you to carb to the style of the beer. Additionally many folks complain about prime tabs, that they take longer that the 3 weeks it usually takes for a beer to carb, that it leave more sediment than traditional bulk priming, and sometimes they don't break down and the yeast has a difficult time eating those as well, resulting in inconsistant carb issues.

Really, trust us who've been doing it longer than you, it's easier and the results are more consistent if he just develops the right bottling habits, and a better system from the get-go.

Then he won't be one of those folks who whines about how hard bottling is or how bad his results are.

 

[Glaurung30]

I used to add regular sugar and then I started to use the sugar drops but it was a pain to measure enough for each bottle or to drop one tab in every bottle. Like Revvy said, you are stuck with the amount of sugar the drop is which might give it more carbonation that they style of beer you are making needs. This past week I did my first batch with a bottling bucket and using priming sugar. I was bottling straight from the primary before and using the tabs. Using the bottling bucket, I got a much cleaner looking beer and it was very easy. Just boil your water, throw your priming sugar in, cool it and put it in the bucket. The transfer does the mixing for you. It was really easier I think than measuring out a couple of teaspoons of sugar and pouring it into bottles 45 to 50 times. haha

 

[seriousbeef]

Get a bottling bucket don't bottle from your fermenter. add your corn sugar to 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, then let it cool. transfer your wort to your sanitized bottling bucket and pour the priming solution in and stir. fill bottles with a bottling wand. make sure everything that touchs your beer is sanitized

This

priming EVERY bottle manually with sugar is not just time consuming, but inaccurate and will result in irregular carbonation. Its not worth the time and will result in great frustration! Leave stress at the door and make bottling day enjoyable :rockin:

Don't stir vigorously either, only stir slowly under the surface of the beer just to make sure the priming sugar is thoroughly mixed - you don't want to risk any oxidization.

 

[flying_pig]

Some good advice, thanks. I've had a look and plan to get a bottling bucket sometime this week before bottling, one of the things I was worried about was the amount of sediment and if this helps reduce it then that's a bonus. I have a few things I want to pick up at the store anyway so I'll add another bucket to the list and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[unionrdr]

Def easier to leave the yeast cake behind when racking to the bottling bucket after 3 weeks or so. The yeast cake is quite compacted at that point. I rack clear beer over to my bottling bucket at that point cosistently.

 

[flying_pig]

Thanks for all the help again, I went out over the weekend and picked up a bottling bucket and the spring bottling pipe thing, it made the process of bottling a lot easier. I've noticed a few of my own mistakes already but hopefully the beer won't suffer too much when I finally get round to trying it and the next time should go smoother.

Cheers for the help. No doubt I'll be back with more questions come my second batch.