Tips on bottling without a spigot

[nicoleg]

Hi, I have a brew ready for bottling in a homemade water bottle fermenter that does not have a spigot.
It has a considerable amount of yeasty gunge around the top of the liquid level and sediment at the bottom, as shown.

(it's actually more sedimenty and yeast gunky now that it's done fermenting)
Any tips for bottling so I get as little gunk in the bottles as possible?
Like maybe pour it all out in one go (minus the sediment) into a bucket and then bottle?
I feel like repeatedly tipping the fermenter to fill individual bottles will result in the sediment getting stirred up...
But I also want to avoid getting too much of the gunk at the top in the bottled brew.
Please advise!
Thank you in advance!
Love,
Nicole

 

[AkTom]

You need a racking cane with a siphon tube. Siphon into a clean container. You don't want to pour. That will mix it all up and oxygenate your beer. A bottling wand is great for bottling. You should get a bucket with spigot. It will make your brewing life so easier and better.

 

[Photopilot]

If that is beer in there or anything you want carbonated you will need to be adding sugar before bottling unless you choose to add drops to each bottle.

Another vote for a bottling bucket with a spigot and bottle filler wand.

 

[Jwin]

Mini autosiphon+ bottling wand. Then get a starter kit. Midwwest puts one on groupon all the time. Or, if you insist, intall a spigot in your hi-C bottle before you ferment something else. But seriously, at least a bucket.
Otherwise, welcome to the hobby and dont expect to save any money for a while. Hobbies cost money.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm with Jwin. Get a food safe bucket & put a spigot in it that'll take a piece of 3/8" tubing on the end of the spout for a bottling wand. Use a mini-auto siphon to rack the beer from your jug to the bottling bucket where you can bulk prime the fermented beer to bottle it. And get some Starsan to sanitize everything that touches the beer while racking to the bottling bucket, then to the bottles.
Here's some helpful links;
Starsan-http://www.midwestsupplies.com/star-san.html
Mini auto siphon-http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenters-favorites-rack-magic-mini-siphon.html
Bottling wand-http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenter-s-favoritestm-plastic-bottle-filler.html
Get a 2 or 3 gallon bucket, then make a hole about 1.5" off the bottom,& install this spigot- http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenter-s-favoritestm-bottling-spigot.html
Priming sugar calculator-http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html
Get a small kitchen digital scale to weight the suggested amount of sugar. Then mix it in a cup of boiled water. Cool & pour into beer when you're ready to bottle.

 

[ame]

I used some pvc tube and a brass ball-valve.

Put one end of the tube in the beer. The other end has the valve. Open the valve and suck on the end to start a syphon. I used a wide drinking straw pressed into the valve for hygiene reasons. Once the syphon has started close the valve and discard the straw.

Next, position your bottles below the level of the bottom of the vessel (you need to stand the vessel up on something). Open the valve, fill the bottle, close the valve.

This is really a two-person job. One to hold the end of the tube in the vessel and move it down and avoid the yeast. The other to open and close the tap and move bottles.

 

[Sadu]

I brew small batches in half gallon growlers and have been *gently* pouring the growler into a sanitised jug. The trick is to do it in one pour so the sediment doesn't get disturbed more than it needs to. Then pour from the jug into the bottles. I use carbonation drops since I got some included with my kit but you could add priming solution to the jug.

If you do it very gently and slowly I don't believe this results in any more oxidation than racking to a bottling bucket then transferring to bottles.

 

[unionrdr]

You use a racking tube to transfer to the bottling bucket. With the tube around the bottom, it doesn't get oxygenated. At this point, that'd be bad. And a bottling wand to fill the bottles prevents oxidized beer as well.

 

[nicoleg]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I should have mentioned I live on a tiny island in the Caribbean and there are no brew shops in the country, and overseas shipping for specialised gear is prohibitively expensive. I could probably find some tubing to make a siphon, but unless one of you wants to send me a fermenter with a spigot and a bottle wand I will have to make do without!
I appreciate all your tips for getting by with very limited equipment! And suggestions for future solutions when my situation is different.
Thanks again!
Nicole

 

[nicoleg]

Ok, thanks again for all your tips. I want to bottle tonight - I like Sadu's approach for gently pouring the brew into a sanitised brew bucket (I use a weak bleach solution to sanitise) and bulk priming.
However... this is a ginger beer and I would likecto backsweeten it slightly. But, I only have plastic bottles to use for bottling so I think that rules out pasteurising to stop carbonation (will plastic bottles melt in 70 C water?). My fridge is tiny but I could probably squeeze them in to stop carbonation but I know it doesn't fully stop it - just slow it down... but since I am using plastic bottles hopefully there won't be too much of a chance of explosion.
I don't really have access to any non-caloric sweeteners that aren't known carcinogens...
so any other suggestions please my friends? I really appreciate it! You are all welcome come visit me in St Lucia and drink my homemdade ginger beer on the beach!
Thanks again,
Nicole

 

[Ike]

ALSO: post your recipe for ginger beer! I have one that's getting very high reviews from friends and family, but I'm always looking for new additions.

 

[goondog]

Nicoleg

Kudos to you for jumping into the hobby and problem solving on the fly!! Most of us are nowhere near that brave!

I agree with sadu with bulk priming w sugar of choice.

you might try cold crashing the fermenter for a few days to compact the yeast/sediment and then use a fine screen fabric to filter out any trub when you pour.

Good luck im sure itll be the best homebrew ginger beer on StLucia !

 

[nicoleg]

Hey guys, if anyone wants my recipe it is here - but I haven't tried the beer yet so I have no idea if it is any good!

https://photolucia.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/this-is-how-we-brew-it/

 

[flars]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I should have mentioned I live on a tiny island in the Caribbean and there are no brew shops in the country, and overseas shipping for specialised gear is prohibitively expensive. I could probably find some tubing to make a siphon, but unless one of you wants to send me a fermenter with a spigot and a bottle wand I will have to make do without!
I appreciate all your tips for getting by with very limited equipment! And suggestions for future solutions when my situation is different.
Thanks again!
Nicole

Are you near Bonaire?

edit: Should have added. May be able to share bulk order costs with another home brewer if you are not that far away.