Bottling Buckets...

[jbowers]

So im tossing up between bulk priming and individual priming. Seems like individual priming is pretty easy if you have one of those measurers (which I do, came with kit).

My question is, if you rack your beer (which I did), do you really need to use a bottling bucket? Or will stirring the sugar in to a racked beer be pretty much fine?

The issue is, I'm keen to get cracking on another beer, but if I do then i'll have to buy another fermentor/bucket and at this stage I really cant justify it as it's such a new hobby.

 

[apd]

jbowers,

The advantages of bulking priming are that the process of racking your beer onto the priming solution gives it a good, gentle stir and ensures all of your beer is mixed with the priming solution and also, any trub is left behind. If you stir in your priming solution instead of bulk priming, you will mix up the trub. This might not be a problem if there isn't much there (since you racked to a secondary vessel). It will settle out in the bottle anyway.

But if you racked to a secondary vessel as you did, that means you have two fermenters doesn't it? So you can use your first fermenter as the bottling bucket. No?

If you want to just stir it in, I'd recommend dissolving it in some water first and then mixing it in.

Andrew

 

[brenjak]

With the racking to a secondary the idea is for the beer to condition and clear, usually at a colder temp like between 0 - 4 degrees. This temp will not allow the beer to carbonate. Whilst it may seem a PITA to be using the bucket for the third time (the bulk prime / bottle) it is worth it. I have a priming measure and have never used it. Bulk priming is the way to go, it saves times and allows equalled carbonation in the beers.

 

[jbowers]

jbowers,

The advantages of bulking priming are that the process of racking your beer onto the priming solution gives it a good, gentle stir and ensures all of your beer is mixed with the priming solution and also, any trub is left behind. If you stir in your priming solution instead of bulk priming, you will mix up the trub. This might not be a problem if there isn't much there (since you racked to a secondary vessel). It will settle out in the bottle anyway.

But if you racked to a secondary vessel as you did, that means you have two fermenters doesn't it? So you can use your first fermenter as the bottling bucket. No?

If you want to just stir it in, I'd recommend dissolving it in some water first and then mixing it in.

Andrew

The thing is i'd like to get another batch going soonish. Which would mean I couldn't use it as a bottling bucket. Could I mix in the sugar and then let it sit for a bit to let any sediment settle again? Say an hour or so...

Also, unrelated question. I'm dry hopping at the moment, and the hop plugs (in a hop bag with some marbles) are still managing to float a little, perhaps poking 1-2 cm out of the water. Whats the deal with that? Crazy buoyancy! Will that be an issue?

 

[Bribie G]

If you are using the brown PETs specially made for brewing then you can quite cheaply and easily slip a sugar cube into each bottle and biffo. It gives a good level of carbonation similar to carb drops, although some styles such as UK bitters can come out a bit overcarbed. I just let mine steam off in a jug for a couple of minutes.



On the other hand if you are using a selection of different sized bottles then bulk priming is the way to go. Sugar cubes fit exactly through the opening of any PET but no good for glass tallies, stubbies etc.

 

[jbowers]

If you are using the brown PETs specially made for brewing then you can quite cheaply and easily slip a sugar cube into each bottle and biffo. It gives a good level of carbonation similar to carb drops, although some styles such as UK bitters can come out a bit overcarbed. I just let mine steam off in a jug for a couple of minutes.

View attachment 33558

On the other hand if you are using a selection of different sized bottles then bulk priming is the way to go. Sugar cubes fit exactly through the opening of any PET but no good for glass tallies, stubbies etc.

Im using grolsch bottles, but I have a priming scoop, with a measurement size apparently designed for those.

 

[QldKev]

Most the yeast will not floculate out of solution in an hour or so, so I would not recommend trying to use the secondary fermentor for bulk priming.

You could leave the beer on the primary fermentor longer and only use the secondary for bulk priming. But that still means only 1 batch at a time.

Go to the big green shed know as Bunnys and get a round conoe drum/camping fermentor, about $16; you will save that in 1 batch of beer compared to the price of commercial beer. You will have the new fermentor for a long time. Even if you only got 16 brews from it, that just $1 a brew.


QldKev

 

[RobH]

I'm a little bit confused about the racking -> cold conditioning -> bulk priming.

If I want to cold condition _and_ bulk prime, can I rack it once into the secondary with the priming solution and then cold condition it for a few days, -or- should I rack it a second time to bulk prim solution after finished cold conditioning?

 

[jbowers]

Most the yeast will not floculate out of solution in an hour or so, so I would not recommend trying to use the secondary fermentor for bulk priming.

You could leave the beer on the primary fermentor longer and only use the secondary for bulk priming. But that still means only 1 batch at a time.

Go to the big green shed know as Bunnys and get a round conoe drum/camping fermentor, about $16; you will save that in 1 batch of beer compared to the price of commercial beer. You will have the new fermentor for a long time. Even if you only got 16 brews from it, that just $1 a brew.


QldKev

Does it have a spigot? I'm kind of keen to not bother with the whole syphoning thing after how easy racking was yesterday using just spigots...

 

[Synthetase]

The first things to hit the bottom of your primary fermenter will be large particles of hot and cold break and any other lumps of rubbish you don't want in your final product. Subsequently during fermentation, these will be covered by a nice layer of yeast cells as they floculate (drop out of suspension). When you rack to secondary the trub most likely to be carried over will of course be yeast and not unwanted garbage. So if you stir in your sugar in secondary, all you're doing is putting a bit of yeast back in suspension and a surprisingly large amount will settle out in half an hour (I've checked using a photometer). Personally, I really don't see a problem with this since you'll obviously need yeast in the bottle for carbonation and it will all settle out eventually anyway.

I would suggest dissolving your priming sugar in a little bit of water and bringing it to the boil on the stove to sterilise it prior to addition to your beer. Give it a gentle stir and let it settle for half an hour prior to bottling. It works fine for me and avoids excessive handling in addition to making sure that all bottles are evenly carbonated.

 

[murrayr]

not sure if been mentioned but bulk priming also allows you to use more or less sugar to get your desired CO2 levels for the particular style of beer. Using one set amount that those measurers has doesn't really allow this extra benefit.
murray

 

[QldKev]

Does it have a spigot? I'm kind of keen to not bother with the whole syphoning thing after how easy racking was yesterday using just spigots...

It has the thread for one, but you need to purchased the tap seperate, it's only a couple of $. I always keep a couple of taps spare at home so if I see any grime build up I just replace the tap; not worth loosing a brew over $2.

QldKev

 

[apd]

The thing is i'd like to get another batch going soonish. Which would mean I couldn't use it as a bottling bucket. Could I mix in the sugar and then let it sit for a bit to let any sediment settle again? Say an hour or so...

Also, unrelated question. I'm dry hopping at the moment, and the hop plugs (in a hop bag with some marbles) are still managing to float a little, perhaps poking 1-2 cm out of the water. Whats the deal with that? Crazy buoyancy! Will that be an issue?

How soon is soonish? Can't you bottle now to free up fermenter and then do your next brew? Bottling will take 1 or 2 hours, then you can get onto your next brew. Sure, you probably could mix in the sugar and let it sit for an hour to settle but are you really that desperate to get a brew going before you've bottled the current one? You've waited a week or two so far. Another few hours won't hurt.

Patience Grasshopper.

And sorry, I can't help with the dry hoppinf question. Never used plugs before.

Andrew

 

[jbowers]

It has the thread for one, but you need to purchased the tap seperate, it's only a couple of $. I always keep a couple of taps spare at home so if I see any grime build up I just replace the tap; not worth loosing a brew over $2.

QldKev

Perfect, that's all I needed to know. I just didnt want to pay another 30 bucks for a fermenter. Half that is very reasonable.

Bulk priming is better then I suppose, in the long run especially if I want to change carbonation levels etc.

If I am racking in to the bottling bucket then I might consider not racking it originally, just leave it in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks.

 

[jbowers]

How soon is soonish? Can't you bottle now to free up fermenter and then do your next brew? Bottling will take 1 or 2 hours, then you can get onto your next brew. Sure, you probably could mix in the sugar and let it sit for an hour to settle but are you really that desperate to get a brew going before you've bottled the current one? You've waited a week or two so far. Another few hours won't hurt.

Patience Grasshopper.

And sorry, I can't help with the dry hoppinf question. Never used plugs before.

Andrew

I can't bottle now, I'm dry hopping it. I have another week or so of that.

I think having 3 vessels is probably the best bet, easily allows for having 2 going at any one time.

 

[apd]

I can't bottle now, I'm dry hopping it. I have another week or so of that.

I think having 3 vessels is probably the best bet, easily allows for having 2 going at any one time.

Gotcha!

Yes, having 3 vessels is the go. But it's a slippery slope, my friend. Soon, you'll want 4 or 5...

Andrew

 

[planner]

Go to the big green shed know as Bunnys and get a round conoe drum/camping fermentor, about $16; you will save that in 1 batch of beer compared to the price of commercial beer. You will have the new fermentor for a long time. Even if you only got 16 brews from it, that just $1 a brew.

Bought one of these a couple of weeks ago, beware they are only sold as 25litre so they might be a bit short on headspace if used for primary fermentation. Mine was only purchased because it was short enough to fit into the 150litre esky I'm curruntly using to beat this hot weather (happy to make a couple of 18-20litre batches if it means production continues). Otherwise they are a good product.

Planner

 

[jbowers]

Gotcha!

Yes, having 3 vessels is the go. But it's a slippery slope, my friend. Soon, you'll want 4 or 5...

Andrew

I'm pretty good at saying no to myself. Or more, I don't have to. Being a student, my wallet does it for me

Next brew will be a DIPA based on this recipe I reckon: http://baderbrewing.com/store/product.php?...=392&page=1

Probably going to use safale us05 instead of the whitelabs but other than that keep it as similar as possible.

 

[jbowers]

Bought one of these a couple of weeks ago, beware they are only sold as 25litre so they might be a bit short on headspace if used for primary fermentation. Mine was only purchased because it was short enough to fit into the 150litre esky I'm curruntly using to beat this hot weather (happy to make a couple of 18-20litre batches if it means production continues). Otherwise they are a good product.

Planner

I'll be using this only as a bottling bucket. That's it. Also, I will probably just be making 5 gallon batches for the next couple, using american clone recipes (I love american beers). I'll do this until I get enough experience to make my own stuff.

 

[barneyb]

I think I just did something similar to what you're asking. I have 2 fermenters, I wanted to get 2 batches going within a week of each other and wanted to bulk prime.

Basically I put one brew in fermenter #1 and then after a week racked it to fermenter #2, leaving the yeast/hop cake in fermenter #1.

Then I cleaned #1 and put my second brew into that fermenter.

A week later I bulk primed my first batch directly in fermenter #2. I did this by boiling my dextrose in 1-2L of water and letting it cool, then I gently added it to the fermenter and carefully stirred it in well - being careful not to make any splashing.

Then I left it for about 30 mins in case any sediment needed to settle although after bottling there was no sediment in the bottom anyway.

I only bottled this batch last Saturday so can't tell you yet if the beer was ruined but it smelt bloody good. With the second batch I will mix the priming solution as I rack to the second fermenter but if you need to get 2 batches on at the same time - this worked for me.


Note that I am only new to this brewing caper but NigeP62 reckoned it was alright:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&p=556609