Bulk Priming Advice: Should I Rack Twice?

[stindall]

Hi All,

I have a wit beer that has been in the fermenter for about 2 weeks now. I racked it once after primary had finished because I wanted to pitch a new batch onto the yeast. So the first batch in now in second fermenter and has been sitting basically idle for about 6 days. I am about to bottle.

Here are my questions. Should i:

1. rack again (meaning a second racking) into another pale along with my sugar solution and then bottle from there, or,

2. avoid racking again and just stir the sugar solution into the current pale and then bottle.

I realise there is no right/wrong answer to this, i am just after people opinions. I tend to think that racking a second time might cause to much oxidisation but i am worried about stirring any sediment that has settled back into the beer. Or is this sediment actually live yeast that i want to stir back in to facilitate carbonation in the bottle?

Thanks,

Steve...

 

[sinkas]

Rack 3 times for good luck

 

[RobboMC]

My understanding is that there's plenty of yeast in solution to do the carbonation,
so it's really about whether you're after a clearer beer or a murky one.

For clarity, keep that small amount of secondary sediment out of the beer by racking the clear beer off it.

Now I always rack twice.

 

[atkinsonr]

+1 for that.
You'll probably find there is a small amount of sediment in your secondary which is best not disturbed as it will be transferred into the bottle.

 

[reviled]

I bulk prime by hooking a piece of hose up to my fermenter tap, and put the other end in my bottling bucket, then just open the tap... Easy peasy B)

 

[rwmingis]

I don't know if you really need to rack again. It's a bit of extra work and mess to sanitise a second bucket. I bottle straight from my primary or secondary. I bulk prime by pouring the sugar water directly into the fermenter with a slow stream. As there is a CO2 blanket and boiled water has no oxygen, there is no oxidation here. I give it a bit of a stir from the top using the ol' racking cane (which i sanitise in my HLT when washing bottles) and voila, easy bottling. Stirring from top doesn't really stir up sediment, although, moving the fermenter definately can.

I usually have a bit of a taste before and after priming and it's evident the priming solution mixes in well. Also any overflow from bottles goes into my pint glass which i happily sample too.

As for consistency, I reckon I have little problem, as most bottles carbonate the same. The real issue for carbonation consistency is the amount of head space me thinks.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Jase71]

So if bulk priming in the main tub, would you wait a couple of days if you wanted to rack it to a second tub ? Or would racking be the first step, then bulk priming in the second tub, then bottling after the yeast has settled?

 

[stindall]

So if bulk priming in the main tub, would you wait a couple of days if you wanted to rack it to a second tub ? Or would racking be the first step, then bulk priming in the second tub, then bottling after the yeast has settled?

Jase,

You pretty much want to bottle straight after you have added the priming sugar so that secondary fermentation happens in the sealed bottle (causing carbonation). Typically you would rack out of your fermenter straight into your bottling bucket which has your priming sugar solution in it and then bottle straight away. I was just unsure if two rackings would cause a problem so that is why I asked about stirring the sugar into the top.

Steve..

 

[hosko11]

For what it's worth, I'd rack again.

I aim for clearer beers (only done ales so far) so rack to secondary (cube) which is then cold conditioned at 1-2C. Then when it comes to bottling I rack it a 2nd time into a bottling bucket (usually the fermenter), warm the beer up to about 20C gently pour in the sugar solution, stir and bottle. I haven't had any problems doing this.

 

[Pollux]

I only have two fermenters and one cube, and I quite often start two batches at once, thus filling both fermenters....

I then wait for the quicker of the two to settle out, stick it in the cube overnight to make sure it is well and truly finished, then rack back into the now cleaned and sanatised fermenter it originally came from to bulk prime...

I double racked a honey blonde the other week, 6 days primary, racked onto 500g honey dissolved in boiling water, then racked back to the original fermenter to bottle....

No signs of oxidation at the 2 week bottle taste test.

 

[buttersd70]

With anything, taking care is the key, and racking is no exception. Personally I always rack twice, from primary to 2nd/cold, and again to bulk prime. Sometimes I do multi stage ferments, which require even more.

The only time I've ever had oxidised beer was in (very) long term storage. It exhibited itself as excessive sherry like flavours, and was confined entirely to PET bottles that had leeched from the extended time (over 12 months. Closer to 15-16 months). So these bottles had leeched CO2, were undercarbed or flat as a result. The oxidation was due to the ingress of oxygen through the PET. Other bottles from the same batch, which hadn't leeched co2 out were fine.

Oh, and these were before I stared using polyclar, which aids coloidal stability anyway. And as far as infection risk....again, taking care is the key. I've only ever had a single infection (to date, fingers crossed), and that was confined to 2 bottles in one batch, which makes it fairly ovbious it was the bottles that were the culprits.