Okay to bottle directly from spigot?

[MileHighHops]

I've only brewed three batches and this is the only way I've done it, never used a bottling wand. Same goes for wine, and it's always turned out fine.

Although...I recently read where someone mentioned bottling directly from the spigot isn't a good thing. Is this true? If so, can someone enlighten me as to why this is a bad thing? Perhaps too much oxygen is introduced?

Thanks!

 

[Revvy]

No it's not a good idea. The risk is of aerating and possibly oxidyzing the beer by letting it fall through the oxygen in the bottle. Wands fill from the bottom of the bottle to the top, pushing out the o2 as it fills. That doesn't happen from the spigot directly, it's falling INTO the air in the bottle.

If you don't have a bottling wand, at least you want to affix a hose to it, and use it sort of like the bottling wand to fill slowly from the bottom upward.

 

[ChshreCat]

A bottling wand makes it SO much easier too. You're not having to try to open and close the spigot on the bucket with each bottle. You just open the spigot and the spring valve at the end of the bottling wand does the rest. It's worth getting one for that if for nothing else.

 

[MileHighHops]

Thanks for the quick reply, Revvy. I can pick up a bottling wand for pretty chead at the LHBS so I'll get on that. So do I attach the spigot to a siphon hose which attaches to the bottling wand?

How long would this oxidation process take? We bottled a White Zin directly from the spigot last fall and it still taste great. So maybe it could have tasted better? Or it just takes awhile for the oxygen to harm the beer or wine?

 

[Revvy]

As to the wine question I can't answer that.

As to how to use a bottling wand, it really comes down to preferences, the standard old school way was to sit on the floor with your fermenter on the counter and your bottling wand at the end of the hose. Some folks liked that, me, it gave me a back ache, so I started to tweak my process to be the most comfortable for me. And I put together a thread that encourages other's to do the same. Come up with what works for you.

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

 

[MileHighHops]

A bottling wand makes it SO much easier too. You're not having to try to open and close the spigot on the bucket with each bottle. You just open the spigot and the spring valve at the end of the bottling wand does the rest. It's worth getting one for that if for nothing else.

Cool, thanks cat. I'm always looking for ways to simplify this new hobby of mine. I finally picked up an auto-siphon which made the racking process so much easier and enjoyable for me.

For 30 more bucks (auto-siphon and bottling wand) I could have just done it right from the beginning and saved myself lots of frustration. But I guess that's how we learn to appreciate this hobby even more once we have it all figured out!

 

[ChshreCat]

This pic from Revvy's thread shows my favorite way to set up for bottling:

You use the door of the dish washer to bottle on, then when you're done, you just close it up and all the spills, drips and leaks just go away!

 

[Tinga]

This pic from Revvy's thread shows my favorite way to set up for bottling:

You use the door of the dish washer to bottle on, then when you're done, you just close it up and all the spills, drips and leaks just go away!

I think the most important element to take away from this picture is to make sure to enjoy a homebrew while bottling.

 

[MileHighHops]

As to the wine question I can't answer that.

As to how to use a bottling wand, it really comes down to preferences, the standard old school way was to sit on the floor with your fermenter on the counter and your bottling wand at the end of the hose. Some folks liked that, me, it gave me a back ache, so I started to tweak my process to be the most comfortable for me. And I put together a thread that encourages other's to do the same. Come up with what works for you.

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

Hmmmmmmmm, dip tube and vinator. More solutions to making this a much more enjoyable process. Great thread Revvy, thanks for directing me there!!

 

[MileHighHops]

So, for the two cases of Belgian Wit I bottled directly from the spigot last night....should I just drink those faster to lessen the chance of oxygen affecting the beer. Or will it just not taste as good as it would have if I used a wand?

 

[RM-MN]

What that picture of bottling doesn't show is a bottle tree or bottles in the dishwasher. I run a load of dishes the morning of bottling and put the dishes away. When that is done, I quick wash my bottles in one sink with oxyclean in the water, rinse in the other sink and then sanitize with the vinator and put the bottles on the tines sticking up on the bottom rack. That way, they are right there, drained and ready to fill. When I get a dozen or so filled and sitting on the door of the dishwasher, I stop long enough to cap and store that many just so I don't knock them all over while trying to get just a couple more filled bottles sitting on the door. That gives me a chance to stretch my legs and back after just a little while. Then I go back and bottle another dozen.

 

[IceFisherChris]

If you've done it before without problems then why wouldn't it be okay? A wand is much easier though. I bottled from the spigot once and it's bit of a pain.... Get a spring wand, they are only a few bucks and a few inches of hose to connect it to the spigot.

 

[davel57]

That dishwasher idea saved me a couple of times when I pulled the bottling wand off of the spigot without turning the spigot off first.

 

[MileHighHops]

If you've done it before without problems then why wouldn't it be okay? A wand is much easier though. I bottled from the spigot once and it's bit of a pain.... Get a spring wand, they are only a few bucks and a few inches of hose to connect it to the spigot.

I guess I haven't noticed anything too off, but I'm a noob with not much to base my tastings off of so there may be some off flavors created by the oxygen that someone with more knowledge/experience would be able to note. At any rate, I'll just enjoy these batches and make improvements for my subsequent batches

 

[IceFisherChris]

Oh and be careful when moving your primary before transfering to the bottle bucket. Don't stir up hop floaties because they WILL clog up your wand, and then you will waste/lose beer!! Keep a cake pan or cookie sheet under your bottles just incase

 

[MileHighHops]

Oh and be careful when moving your primary before transfering to the bottle bucket. Don't stir up hop floaties because they WILL clog up your wand, and then you will waste/lose beer!! Keep a cake pan or cookie sheet under your bottles just incase

So if I'm dry hopping with loose hop pellets, should I just attach some cheesecloth with rubber bands to the end of my hose when transferring to keep all of that out of the bottling bucket?