Why do I use a bottling bucket

[Rokie]

Today is bottling day and I had a question. I am using plastic buckets for my primary and bottling bucket. The bottling bucket has a “Bottling Spigot” in it. After washing and sanitizing everything this morning I starting wondering what is the purpose of a bottling bucket. I know it facilitates the mixing of the priming sugar and the use of the spigot makes bottling easer. But, other that that what the propose of a bottling bucket?

What better way to spend a Saturday than bottling beer!

Cheers

 

[homebrewer_99]

In the secondary you allow youw brew to mature and the yeast to filter to the bottom of the container.

After that is done then you can bottle anytime.

 

[chillHayze]

But, other that that what the propose of a bottling bucket?


Cheers

**Must ...resist...urge...>>!!!****

TO BOTTLE!












But seriously...
You seem to have covered the points of a bottling bucket. Really any clean ding-free container would work. You just get a nice mixing of the beer and priming sugar when you add them together in the appropriate fashion. And you don't have to start another siphon (refering to us poor SOBs without auto-siphons.)

 

[david_42]

No more than what you've said, it makes mixing the priming sugar easier and the faucet is less of a pain than a racking tube. Each successive racking reduces the amount of trub that ends up in the bottle. If you used carb. drops and are very careful, you can bottle from the secondary or even the primary.

 

[Sasquatch]

You can also add priming sugar (boiled in water) to the secondary if there's room, and then give it a gentle stir. This method has the advantage of not using another vessel (reducing contamination potential) and of not disturbing the pancake of CO2 on top of your beer. The bucket way almost guarantees a good mix of sugar, and you get off the trub, so there's no danger of your last couple of bottles being sludgy. But both methods work fine if you're careful.

 

[Walker]

In the secondary you allow youw brew to mature and the yeast to filter to the bottom of the container.

After that is done then you can bottle anytime.

Oh, oh... HB99 is guilty of posting without reading.

Get him, EP!!!

-walker

 

[Ivan Lendl]

i think the question is "can i skip the bottling bucket and bottle strait from the secondary?"

i've done that a few times, and it works fine. Stirring up trub is not much of an issue, the only problem i had was having enough room to put in the priming sugar/water solution.

 

[El Pistolero]

I know it facilitates the mixing of the priming sugar and the use of the spigot makes bottling easer. But, other that that what the propose of a bottling bucket?

I bottled the first time with just a bottle wand and syphon tube, and vowed to get a bottling bucket before I was a six-pack in. Bottling from the spigot instead of a syphon tube is just so much easier, and anything you can do to ease the pain on bottling day is a big plus.

Oh, oh... HB99 is guilty of posting without reading. /images/smilies/smile.gif

Get him, EP!!!

With 3000 posts and 30 years of experience, Bill is entitled to skip to the end if he likes, IMHO. Once cheers gets to 3000 he can too.

 

[boo boo]

i think the question is "can i skip the bottling bucket and bottle strait from the secondary?"


Sure you can, but then you have to prime each bottle seperatly and that is a PITA and makes carbonation uneven.
I bottle straight from the secondary.................into a keg, lol.

 

[budbo]

I use one because it came with the kit.

 

[NEPABREWER]

So how will this go? 1) beer in primary carboy for 2-3 weeks 2) siphon to secondary and hold for 2 more weeks? 3) then siphon to bottling bucket add sugar and bottle?
Is secondary fermenting required or just a formality for clarity, aesthetics etc.

 

[brewhead]

for most of the beer kits you will probably start off with and for most medium gravity ales, the 1,2,3 rule of thumb applies

1 week in the primary
2 weeks in the secondary
3 weeks in the bottles

the secondary is for clarity mostly. if you are doing darker beers such as stouts, you could get away with not using a secondary, however i always use a secondary becasue it's a process that i started cultivating.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Good post being that Im coming up on my first bottling session in about a week or so. My kit came with a primary bucket, but I lucked out and got a hand-me-down 6.5 carboy from a buddy of mine.

I guess I could get some use out of my bucket. And using a spigot sounds better that the flimsy plastic bottling wand that came with my kit. Just a noobs thoughts......

 

[El Pistolero]

And using a spigot sounds better that the flimsy plastic bottling wand that came with my kit. Just a noobs thoughts......

No, you need that bottling wand so you can fill the bottles from the bottom. You don't want to just pour directly from the spigot...too much oxidation. The best way to do it is to attach the bottling want to your spigot with a small piece of 3/8" ID tubing.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Yes, I know. I was going to use a piece of tubing to place into the bottle before I transfer the beer and use the spigot with its on/off to control the flow. I guess this weekend I'll play with the wand and see how well it does.

 

[Texas65]

My kit came with a bottling bucket and a wand. The wand I have attaches to the spiget on the bucket and has a valve (check valve) at the bottom. This allows me to slide the bottles over the wand and depress the valve with the bottle. Makes things really easy and you don't have to worry about excess oxygen or a broken syphon.


Primary: Sanitizer
Secondary: air
Bottle Conditioning: Blonde Ale
Drinking: Nut Brown Ale
Planning: Red Rock Ale

 

[Desert_Sky]

N The best way to do it is to attach the bottling want to your spigot with a small piece of 3/8" ID tubing.

Just wanted to say thank you. I took your advice and it work perfectly.

 

[El Pistolero]

Just wanted to say thank you. I took your advice and it work perfectly.

You're very welcome. I in turn will pass that thanks on up to which ever wise board member it was that turned me on to that trick.

 

[chillHayze]

My kit came with a bottling bucket and a wand. The wand I have attaches to the spiget on the bucket and has a valve (check valve) at the bottom. This allows me to slide the bottles over the wand and depress the valve with the bottle. Makes things really easy and you don't have to worry about excess oxygen or a broken syphon.

Yes the wand is definantly ftw.

 

[RookieBrew]

Not to hijack the thread...

I like that your bucket has a spigot on it. Could I use my brewpot which has a spigot on it as my bottling "bucket"? And if so, would just boiling a few gallons of water in it (for 10 minutes-ish) be enough to sterilize the whole thing? I have a 12 gallon bucket, if that changes things at all.

Thanks!

 

[Brewsmith]

Can the bottling wand fit on the spigot? I think that for me, that's one more chance to burn myself on the pot. You'd still have to dump the boiling water too. Just drill a 1" hole in a food grade bucket and attach a spigot.