Transfer to bottling bucket after cold crashing . . . what's the point?

[ElyIrishBrew]

So I've got the 2-bucket Brewer's Best brewing kit, and my first brew, a Muntons Connoisseur Export Pilsner (brewed yesterday), is busily fermenting here in my office as I type this.

Instead of transferring to a secondary, once fermentation is complete I'm going to cold crash to settle more particulates before bottling. Not sure yet how long to keep the cold crash at 35 F, but I've got a garage fridge for beer and fishing bait that's perfect for it.

Once the cold crash is finished, I can do one of two things.

1. Add priming sugar to the bottling bucket and transfer the wort there, using the spigot for bottling. This is what the kit directions call for.

2. Leave it in the fermenter, add the proper amount of priming sugar to each bottle and siphon directly from the fermenter.

The spigot seems quite convenient, but it just seems to me it would be better to leave well enough alone, that transferring to the bottling bucket will get that beer all agitated, and my reading indicates you don't want to do that when you are bottling.

So, thoughts from you veterans would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

Splitting the sugar equally between bottles is a very hard thing to do. If you really don't want to use the bottling bucket then you can get carb drops to put in the bottles. They are little sugar "candies" that have the proper amount of sugar in them already. I'd still suggest using the bottling bucket though that way you know that your priming sugar mixture is evenly distributed. As long as you are siphoning carefully you shouldn't agitate the beer very much while transferring it.

 

[dinnerstick]

it's a pain to weight out the sugar individually for bottles, that's all. either way, go with whatever works for you. what's more of a concern is fermenting a pilsener in your office, should be fermented cool in the 10-12 deg C range not room temp, and should be lagered for at least a few weeks after fermenting

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

it's a pain to weight out the sugar individually for bottles, that's all. either way, go with whatever works for you. what's more of a concern is fermenting a pilsener in your office, should be fermented cool in the 10-12 deg C range not room temp, and should be lagered for at least a few weeks after fermenting

Yikes. The directions on the Muntons kit didn't say anything about that. The said ferment at 65-70 degrees F, then transfer to the bottling bucket and bottle once fermentation is finished. I figured I'd cold crash to help settle the particulates more.

I wasn't aware pilsners needed lagering. Why wouldn't they mention that on the kit directions?

 

[ahpsp]

If you're going to the trouble of cold crashing, you should definitely transfer to the bottling bucket before bottling. If you siphon gently you won't oxygenate the beer, and you will leave all the trub and yeast behind in the primary. It will be hard to manage keeping the gunk out of your later bottles if you bottle from the primary.

 

[Gameface]

Kit directions are not customized to the kit they're in. They're just generic (and typically poor) instructions that will produce beer for most people most of the time.

 

[amandabab]

Yikes. The directions on the Muntons kit didn't say anything about that. The said ferment at 65-70 degrees F, then transfer to the bottling bucket and bottle once fermentation is finished. I figured I'd cold crash to help settle the particulates more.

I wasn't aware pilsners needed lagering. Why wouldn't they mention that on the kit directions?

pilsners need lagering.
A muntons pilsner kit is actually an ale.

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

Yikes. The directions on the Muntons kit didn't say anything about that. The said ferment at 65-70 degrees F, then transfer to the bottling bucket and bottle once fermentation is finished. I figured I'd cold crash to help settle the particulates more.

I wasn't aware pilsners needed lagering. Why wouldn't they mention that on the kit directions?

Pilsners are lagers and need to by fermented cool. However, I am willing to bet money that they gave you ale yeast to make it easier to brew and you will just have an ale that is just like a pilsner. I would be really surprised if a Muntons would do something like that considering how many kits they sell. 65-70 is fine.

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

Ah, cool. So it's an ale and not a pilsner. Had me worried there for a bit.

Muntons should just call it what it is.

Thanks for the other advice on plan 1 or plan 2. Think I'll go ahead and transfer to the bottling bucket after cold crashing. Anyone want to help me out with how long to leave it at 35 F while cold crashing, or is it done cold crashing when it reaches 35?

 

[dinnerstick]

sorry to panic you! i can't believe they sell an ale and call it pilsener. as for the cold crash, depends on the yeast. highly flocculent british yeasts will go down quickly, cal ale takes a bit longer, who knows, maybe the kit came with a witbier strain! i would guess it's as neutral an ale strain as possible (s05 or similar) which in my hands takes more than 2-3 days to clear, more like 5-7. if it's in glass or clear plastic you will be able to see in such a light beer when it's clear. if not you can guess, it's not the end of the world to have that last bit of yeast in the bottle

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

sorry to panic you! i can't believe they sell an ale and call it pilsener. as for the cold crash, depends on the yeast. highly flocculent british yeasts will go down quickly, cal ale takes a bit longer, who knows, maybe the kit came with a witbier strain! i would guess it's as neutral an ale strain as possible (s05 or similar) which in my hands takes more than 2-3 days to clear, more like 5-7. if it's in glass or clear plastic you will be able to see in such a light beer when it's clear. if not you can guess, it's not the end of the world to have that last bit of yeast in the bottle

I'm not overly worried if there's a little sediment in there. "Cloudy" days can be just as much fun as clear sailing if other things are good. Just figured I'd put as much of a clearing finish as possible on it. The initial wort was a medium brown, not the pale gold/yellow of a pilsner.