Is bottling bucket necessary?

[markab]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to home brewing and am enjoying it very much. So far I've made several Cooper LME batches and I'm looking forward to moving up to doing some grain mash brew. I know several members her have suggested that a secondary fermentation container is not really necessary if you're not adding secondary hops, fruits, etc. I was wondering If I'm careful not to pull up any sediment (yeast cake) from the bottom of my fermenter if I can just bottle it from there? Is there another reason why people use bottling buckets? Thanks in advance for all your help.

Regards,
Mark

 

[bob1852]

You could, but how will you mix priming sugar without stirring up all of the gunk?

I guess if you use carb tabs it might work, but IMO - a bottling bucket is a neccessity...

 

[dvdanny]

If you use carb tabs or the very tedious measuring and pouring in sugar per bottle, then I guess not. That after all, is how the Mr. Beer kit works.

 

[logan3825]

You can do without but for they are not exactly expensive and will make things muc much easier. Unless of course you want yeasty beer.

 

[damnyankee]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to home brewing and am enjoying it very much. So far I've made several Cooper LME batches and I'm looking forward to moving up to doing some grain mash brew. I know several members her have suggested that a secondary fermentation container is not really necessary if you're not adding secondary hops, fruits, etc. I was wondering If I'm careful not to pull up any sediment (yeast cake) from the bottom of my fermenter if I can just bottle it from there? Is there another reason why people use bottling buckets? Thanks in advance for all your help.

Regards,
Mark

Mark,

I'm the cheapest bastard you'll ever meet. A bottling bucket, spigot, and bottling wand was best $30 I ever spent. Search this thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/stone-cold-lead-pipe-lockd-n00b-advice-54362/index16.html) about cutting a 2"-3" piece of tubing to connect your bottling wand to the tip of your bottle bucket spigot. Then bottle away. Easy Peasy (as my kids say).

 

[markab]

To prime the beer I was planning on disolving some dextrose in a cup or two of boiling water, cool it, add it to the fermenter, and gently stir it in. I also plan on letting the beer sit two weeks before refrigerating and drinking. Hmmm... now that I think about it, perhaps even giving the wort a "gentle stir" may stir up the wort excessively? Looks like I may need a bottling bucket after all. Thanks for all of your comments.

Regards,
Mark

 

[ChandlerBang]

Here is Revvy's thread on bottling. Somewhere else somebody posted some pics about bottling over the dishwasher, I can't find that one. I rack to the bottling bucket on top of the priming sugar solution, then bottle using a dip tube on the inside and a the bottling wand jammed into the spigot like Revvy suggests. Easiest thing in the world. And it's cheap. I used an old racking cane to make the dip tube. You do need a stopper (number 2 maybe?) to fix the dip tube to the inside of the spigot.
It makes me not want to kill myself while bottling. You might say I even enjoy it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

 

[markab]

H Yankee,
Thanks for your advice. I was hoping to avoid using a bottling bucket more so to save on time and cleanup then to save a few bucks. But I'm always open to ways on saving some

Regards,
Mark

Mark,

I'm the cheapest bastard you'll ever meet. A bottling bucket, spigot, and bottling wand was best $30 I ever spent. Search this thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/stone-cold-lead-pipe-lockd-n00b-advice-54362/index16.html) about cutting a 2"-3" piece of tubing to connect your bottling wand to the tip of your bottle bucket spigot. Then bottle away. Easy Peasy (as my kids say).

 

[speter]

Once I switched to kegging, I never use my bottling bucket anymore. At least not as a bottling bucket. Now, I usually use it to hold the milled grains from my Barley Crusher.

 

[jonmohno]

I thought about this stepsaver as well. If you trust your dry sugar you can just funnel a measured amout of it into bottles then rack your primary with a botteling wand at the end.Only thing is i have a fruity flavor that im wondering if will ever go away after 4 weeks into bottle fermentation.Not shure. But i think i may boil my sugar and rack to a bucket or other vessel to mix this way.It would have skipped all the sanitizing but i put too much trust into not boiling the sugar.Tabs sound good but expensive especially doing 5 gallons.

 

[petey_c]

markab, On the other hand... The first thing I do when I'm bottling, is to batch prime, gently stir and then cover the primary while I do some other stuff; check for bottle cleanliness, sanitize equipment, get out the wand, etc., etc.. By the time I'm done with all that (1 hr+), I believe that things have pretty much settled down. I use 16, 20 and 22 oz PET bottles, so no capping.

 

[mfraier]

You can make your own bottling bucket for 10 bucks, and it will save you many headaches. You can order a spigot from any supplier.....or get one at your LHBS. Then all you need is a bucket, or other plasstic container and a 1innch hole saw.

 

[damnyankee]

H Yankee,
Thanks for your advice. I was hoping to avoid using a bottling bucket more so to save on time and cleanup then to save a few bucks. But I'm always open to ways on saving some

Regards,
Mark

I completely understand. Really tho, crafting a great tasting brew only takes a little time and a little love. It isn't worth cutting corners.

For me, I am mindful the trub is full of proteins, fats, hops and other yeast metabolites, dead yeast, spent hops, etc. I don't know if I would add priming sugar and swirl all that together as I'm not sure biochemically if the sugars will crosslink with the proteins/fats in the trub or not.

As for the bucket & wand: they are a breeze to clean & sanitize in the bathtub. I personally fill up the bucket when cleaning and sanitizing:

1. The tub fills up the bucket alot faster than my sink (some in here may argue all that water is overkill...but I am mindful of what I learned in med school: "The solution for pollution is dilution").

2. There's more elbow room.

I also prefer to sterilize all my glassware (carboy & bottles) in the oven at 300 deg F for 1 hour. I cover with aluminum foil. I try to minimize using sanitizing chemicals when I can.

Everyone has their own method and you'll find yours.

Take care,

DY

 

[jonmohno]

Just because you skip secondary doesnt mean your cutting corners.there are things that to me mean less santizined and less risk for infection- not cutting corners.To me less you have to risk moving it and dipping it the less chance of off beer.
I actually started priming in my botteling bucket to save a racking step, only thing is i used dried sugar instead of boiled am am now wondering if this made a big difference in the outcome of my beer. so now im going to rack and boil sugar to a bucket to see if this changes the taste i keep getting. i hope this is what it is . lesson learned.hopefully