Bottling Leftovers From Keg

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jgriffin

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Question for the keggers out there.
Most of my batches are 20-23 litres, so it wont quite all fit in the 18L kegs i have. Plus i'd like to have some beer of each batch bottled so i can see how it ages, and for taking to parties etc.

So i was wondering how exactly should i prime the mixture so that i can bottle the left-overs. I've had the following thoughts and suggestions

a) Bulk Prime the whole lot
I could bulk prime the lot, bottle a 1/2 dozen bottles, and then wait a week for the yeast to clean up the extra fermentables in the main lot before kegging.
But won't this kind of be introducing more flavours and "haze" that i've spent that last 4 weeks CC'ing etc to clear?

B) Bulk prime just enough to bottle
I guess the problem here is that i lost a couple of litres to the priming / bottling fermenter. Normally that litre or two doesn't matter, but when i'm only doing 1/2 dozen bottles this is kind of wastefull.

c) Make up DME mix and pour into bottles
This seems to be to be not only a pain, but hard to manage. Sure, i know each bottle takes 750ml, but who here can claim to fill each bottle to the exact same amount each time?

d) Carbonation drops
Seems easiest way, but i don't like the fiziness these things make

Anyone got a way i haven't thought of?
 
I used to prime my bottles with some dextrose, or I suppose you could use DME, fill with beer then cap. I now either bottle the extra or use my little 10L keg.

Hoops
 
or

e) Get some brown 750ml - 1 litre PET bottles and put the beer in those. Carbonate with your kegging system and a carbonation cap.

Beers,
Doc
 
I fill my keg with whatever brew it is and bulk prime the remaining 4 -5 litres. Usually only need a small amount of caster sugar to prime the rest, that is dependant on the amount of carbonation for the style.

Check this out to work out what amount of priming agent you will need for your beer, I find this calculator pretty good.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator...tml?3493970#tag

C&B
TDA
 
for small amounts of leftovers from the fermentor I just use dextrose in each bottle. Add a little more for higher carbonation - a little less for lower etc. You get prety good at doing it with a teaspoon by eye after a while...

Asher for now
 
as im the only one drinking my beer at home, i like to bottle about 10ltrs per brew. Some i keep for myself for tasting but the rest i spread around. i love making beer, but i dont think i can afford to drink everything i'm making.

I just bulk prime, bottle.
 
What I normally do, and I will say this, I HATE bottling my brews,
is that I mark my CC container at 19litres and fill from the fermenter to the CC container to this level. I then bottle the balance of the brew into some bottles primed with sugar or dextrose and put them away for conditioning.
By doing this I have got beer for the keg that has CC'd and the bottled beer primes up fairly quickly cause it has still got some yeast left in it.
I have bottled beer after CCing for a couple of months and the bottles dont prime that well or take a long time.
If I HAVE TO bottle a whole brew then I bulk prime in the normal manner but I dont CC the beer for long before bottling.
After all, that is what bottle priming is all about.
Cheers
 
I just prime in the bottle. I like to draw off the first beer into a bottle - this is where most of the yeast ends up. The next lot into the keg and whatever is left over goes into bottles.

I use PET bottles of any description and prime with table sugar (10g/litre).
 
sosman said:
I just prime in the bottle. I like to draw off the first beer into a bottle - this is where most of the yeast ends up. The next lot into the keg and whatever is left over goes into bottles.

I use PET bottles of any description and prime with table sugar (10g/litre).
Thats pretty much what i do exept i use beer bottles.
I find there is this chunk of yeast that does come out when you first open the tap fully, best to fill a bottle with that at least. then i have been filling a few more bottles with whats left.
I haven't bottled for over a year but iam all exited about the brews i have done lately with a half a slab going into bottles from from each brew.
So much so i have increased my batch size to allow for some bottles.

Cheers Jayse :chug:
 
So much so i have increased my batch size to allow for some bottles.

I've gone the other way ... I can't be assed bottling so I have dropped my batch size to 19L ... no need to worry then :)
 
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