Bottling bucket questions

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HOLMAN

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So I brewed my first batch about 9 days ago. I'm thinking through in my head how I want to transfer the beer into the bottling bucket. I'm going to siphon it, but my real question is how concerned should I be about exposing the brew to air? Will I still be all right if the brew is exposed to air while the transfer is taking place? Is there an "airless" technique/solution to this dilemma? I'm open to any feasable solution. Thanks in advance.
 
Do you have an auto siphon? It's much easier than a regular one.

We do it all the time, if it was bad for the beer it wouldn't be recomended... Just siphon slowly, making sure the hose is at the bottom of the bottling bucket. WHen I'm done filling my bucket with beer and priming solution I have a large glass pot lid that fits nicely over my bucket...but that's really not necessary.

Here's the page from how to brew that covers bottling. http://howtobrew.com/section1/chapter1-3.html
 
I think it is an autosiphon.Would it have a little release button thingy at the end that opens a valve? But thanks for the peice of mind, I've been dreading exposing it to air, but I feel better about it all ready.
 
I think it is an autosiphon.Would it have a little release button thingy at the end that opens a valve? But thanks for the peice of mind, I've been dreading exposing it to air, but I feel better about it all ready.

mini-autosiphon.jpg
 
Auto siphon, or regular siphon, you'll be fine. Just make sure anything the beer comes into contact with is sanitized, and don't splash the beer around when you siphon to the bottling bucket. At this point you want the beer to stay very 'quiet' and avoid as much sloshing or splashing as possible. This can lead to oxidation of the beer which can give a cardboardy taste to the beer after bottle conditioning.

I use an autosiphon to transfer to the bottlling bucket, then cover it with saran wrap, and have never had an issue with oxidation.
 
I've been dreading exposing it to air, but I feel better about it all ready.

Your beers much hardier than you realize....It's not some mewling baby...so don't treat it that way. :D

Believe it or not, it is really hard to ruin/infect your beer, especially if it is your first batch, and you took even the most rudimentary sanitary precautions....It is actually more likely for an experienced brewer to get an infection- Perhaps they let something slide in their cleaning/sanitization process and something from their previous batch got nasty between brewing sessions, and infected their latest batch- It sometimes happens that small matter gets lodged in a hose connection and doesn't get cleaned out or zapped with the sanitizer....Or perhaps over many uses a fermenter or bottling bucket develops a scratch in it, which becomes a breeding ground for contamination.....but with brand new, cleaned and sanitized equipment...highly unlikely.
 
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