Bottling

[joaoking]

Alright, so a little over 2 weeks ago I bottled my 1st batch a Pale Ale. Simple recipe, nothing over the top but want to get the skill down. I took my priming sugar an boiled it for 5 minutes and added it to my bottling bucket. I then racked my beer on top of my priming solution. I did not stir it after I completed racking. I have read some posts recommending stirring the beer and some that say just rack it and bottle. Did I make a mistake not stirring afterwards. I was trying to avoid oxidizing my beer. Any thoughts?

 

[Math0]

Stiring always help, thats for sure. Did you add the sugar solution while still hot? It is not recommended to do so. But if you did, the temparature change would be enough to mix.

If it the solution was at room temperature, you might have some beer more carbonated then the others.

 

[E_Marquez]

Alright, so a little over 2 weeks ago I bottled my 1st batch a Pale Ale. Simple recipe, nothing over the top but want to get the skill down. I took my priming sugar an boiled it for 5 minutes and added it to my bottling bucket. I then racked my beer on top of my priming solution. I did not stir it after I completed racking. I have read some posts recommending stirring the beer and some that say just rack it and bottle. Did I make a mistake not stirring afterwards. I was trying to avoid oxidizing my beer. Any thoughts?

Aeration of fermented beer is to be avoided.
That said, racking your beer on top of the cooled priming sugar mix and then giving the beer a gentle few turns of a sanitized spoon.. no frothing, splashing or violent churning seems to work fine for me.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Alright, so a little over 2 weeks ago I bottled my 1st batch a Pale Ale. Simple recipe, nothing over the top but want to get the skill down. I took my priming sugar an boiled it for 5 minutes and added it to my bottling bucket. I then racked my beer on top of my priming solution. I did not stir it after I completed racking. I have read some posts recommending stirring the beer and some that say just rack it and bottle. Did I make a mistake not stirring afterwards. I was trying to avoid oxidizing my beer. Any thoughts?

You have hit on one of the many debates you'll see repeated over and over. I am a non-stirer, because I have found NO need to stir. When I bottle, I seal up my bottling bucket after adding the priming sugar, and run my siphon hose through a hole in the lid of the bottling bucket to fill it. Once I'm done siphoning, I put a bubbler airlock into the hole in the lid, and don't open it again until I am done bottling. The temperature differences and the gentle movement of the beer being siphoned has always been enough in my beers to mix the priming sugar.I prefer this methid for 2 reasons: first, you want to limit the oxygen you expose your beer to, and since I don't have CO2 to blanket my beer with, I keep the lid on and hope that some of the CO2 that comes out of suspension due to racking will form a layer across the surface, and second, I am constantly fighting fruit flies, so I am not willing to open my bucket, even to gently swirl a sanitized spoon into my beer and priming sugar to mix.

 

[PhillyMike]

Easiest way to mix the sugar into the beer is after boiling it and letting it cool down, add it to the bucket then start siphoning the beer into the bucket.

Instant mixing with no extra oxygen.

 

[Yooper]

I never stir my priming solution into my beer, and I also never cool it down.

I add the priming solution to the sanitized bottling bucket, then rack the beer into it. I always have the tubing in a circle on the bottom of the bucket, so that as the beer flows into the bucket, it fills from the bottom and swirls to mix since the tubing is in a circle. It works great, and I've never had uneven carbonation.

 

[drainbamage]

A little bit of stirring is ok, but oxidation is bad. I'll just pour the sugar water into my bottling bucket, then rack the beer over it. That always seems to be enough mixing to get everything blended properly.

EDIT: Yooper beat me to it. Great minds, I guess

 

[MarcusKillion]

my experience is that just siphoning off on top of the sugar and water is not very good at mixing it in to the beer . I stir gently while it is siphoning . Maybe 5 seconds every gallon or so . Try to stir with a paddle from bottom of bucket with an upward motion to make the bottom flow to the top without breaking the surface to avoid too much oxygen getting in .

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Alright, so a little over 2 weeks ago I bottled my 1st batch a Pale Ale. Simple recipe, nothing over the top but want to get the skill down. I took my priming sugar an boiled it for 5 minutes and added it to my bottling bucket. I then racked my beer on top of my priming solution. I did not stir it after I completed racking. I have read some posts recommending stirring the beer and some that say just rack it and bottle. Did I make a mistake not stirring afterwards. I was trying to avoid oxidizing my beer. Any thoughts?

So there you go. You're never going to get agreement. Try it yourself and see what you get. The debate will go on for ever, along with: glass or plastic, twist top or pop top, kegging or bottling, stirring the mash or letting it set, making a starter or pitching the smack pack/tube, and so on and so on.

But...keep asking, because it's great fun, no matter what side you come down on!

 

[jmcm_brew]

Never stirred never had carb issues

 

[Hello]

I'm one who doesn't stir nor let the priming sugar cool down from boil. So far so good.

 

[thenick]

I was wondering, what are your thoughts to slowly adding the priming while you rack your beer from the carboy? It would be mixed great and almost guarantee an even mixture with no need to stir or over expose for oxidization...

thoughts?

 

[Nagorg]

I have to say that I always give a gentle swirl. My Brother has had uneven priming after not swirling. (Nice of me to let him be the Guinea Pig huh? )

 

[bleme]

I have had uneven priming with both stirred and non-stirred batches. I started numbering all my bottles as I bottle to see if there is a pattern. So far the only thing that has seemed to help is using 2 cups of water to dissolve the sugar. Probably going to stop cooling.

There are worse problems. Even the bottles with carb problems are tasty.

 

[HeadStrong]

I'm doing my first ever batch. Reading everything here is worrying me. Honestly I didn't read up on priming. I added my dextrose (powder) straight to the fermented beer in the carboy, stirred it until I guessed it was dissolved (30+ seconds, a few times) thens siphoned it directly into bottles. What have I done?

 

[bleme]

I'm doing my first ever batch. Reading everything here is worrying me. Honestly I didn't read up on priming. I added my dextrose (powder) straight to the fermented beer in the carboy, stirred it until I guessed it was dissolved (30+ seconds, a few times) thens siphoned it directly into bottles. What have I done?

You'll find out in 3 weeks. Worrying won't change a thing so stick it in a closet, forget about it, and start on your next one.

 

[JLem]

never stirred never had carb issues

+1

 

[joaoking]

Alright so 2 weeks after bottling I threw 2 bottles in the fridge. After 72 hours in the fridge I pulled the bottles for a taste and for my first time brewing I thought it was good. Even the wife was impressed with her glass also. There is going to be some major brewing coming up here at the house.

 

[unionrdr]

I have had uneven priming with both stirred and non-stirred batches. I started numbering all my bottles as I bottle to see if there is a pattern. So far the only thing that has seemed to help is using 2 cups of water to dissolve the sugar. Probably going to stop cooling.

There are worse problems. Even the bottles with carb problems are tasty.

I start the boil for priming solution with 2C of water,so the finished sugar solution doesn't have too much gravity. A thinner solution mixes in easier than a heavier one. I found that out the hard way. I've had some slightly uneven carbing even after upward swirling with my plastic paddle. I think it's more like uneven numbers of yeast cells from bottle to bottle that are the real cause of uneven carbonation. It's interesting that no-one did/does a study on that aspect of it!...