Bottling bucket question: oxidation?

[dvizard]

Hi,

I wonder: everyone (including Palmer) seems to be all about how a beer can easily get oxidized when you transfer it to secondary, and that beginners should be careful with it. At the same time, many advocate transferring the beer off the trub to a bottling bucket for adding priming sugar and bottling, kind of as a standard practice. Is possible oxidation of the beer not a problem there? Why not?

Thanks for clarifications,
-dvizard

 

[mdindy]

with good technique you can avoid oxidation with either bottling bucket AND secondary. the idea with the secondary is for most beers there really is nothing to gain, so why risk any oxidation or contamination when you are not gaining anything from it anyway.

 

[VegasBrew1]

I would agree it is a problem. But either kegging or bottling, you need to get it ready for consumption. Secondary is an option, carbing isn't.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I've had great results cold crashing my beer before transferring it to the bottling bucket and being careful not to let the beer splash at all. Using this technique I've opened bottles after a year of conditioning and never had any issues with oxidation. There's always some added risk of contamination any time you move your beer, so I try not to move any more than needed.

 

[BigFloyd]

If you're batch priming, using a bottling bucket is necessary unless you want a bunch of gunk in the bottles.

For most types of beer, secondary is purely optional. Also, the oxidation risk isn't just from the transfer (if done poorly) to the secondary. Much of it comes from letting a beer sit in a secondary with too much headspace that's filled with just air (no extra CO2).

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, with secondary, you want as little head space as possible to prevent oxidation. Also, use a racking tube if your fermenters have spigots. Run the tube from the sanitized spout of the spigot to half-way around the bottom of the bottling bucket to induce a swirl when adding the priming solution. Or an auto-siphon if your fermenters don't have spigots, in the same manner. Dito for secondaries. I don't use a secondary unless I'm oaking, adding fruit, etc. Less moving of the beer is less chance for contamination of any sort. Not to mention, losses from racking, trub, etc. The more you move it the more you loose, if only a small amount.