Surely the effect of the opening is the same regardless of its angle? Can you go into this some more, please? Very interested to hear more about this as I've never seen anyone mention it before and I'd be quite glad to add another arrow to my quiver (so to speak).
As someone who (usually) uses one of these devices I'd like to present another perspective to manticle's POV - it seems to me that a sediment reducer (in the right hands) is much less likely to be a risk to a brew than racking to secondary (still in those same right hands). Don't mean to suggest that a sediment reduce is as effective as racking in terms of beer clarity. I just don't understand why they are being presented as being mutually exclusive. For the record, I can't say with any certainty that the sediment reducer does terribly much but it is easy to clean and only ever presented a problem for me on a GB where I left all of the grated ginger (1.5kg) in primary.
No worries bum.
My bulk priming method.
After Cold Crashing for 2 or 3 days I sit my fermenter on the kitchen bench the night before bottling, allowing it to reach ambient temperature.
I do the usual srcub up and sanitise of everything that will contact my beer.
I place the sediment reducer into the tap of the bottling vessel, which is a 25 litre fermenter, at an angle which will allow the entering beer to circulate when entering the vessel through it's opening. Probalbly five or ten degrees lower than the horizontal.
I have cut two pieces of bottling wand off around an inch long and insert these into both the primary and bottling vessels outer tap openings.
I place the bottling vessel on a small flat wooden kiddies chair and connect the two vessels up using a piece of plastic tubing around 1.5 metres long of relevant diameter to go over each piece of bottling wand sticking out from the taps.
After my carbonation calculation I boil up my priming solution, cool it in a water bath and carefully pour it into my bottling vessel trying not to airate.
I open the bottling vessel tap and pick up the vessel. I kink the plastic tubing at the primary vessel's tap and open the tap.
Allow the beer to flow slowly through the tubing by unkinking the hose, lowering the bottling vessel at the same time. when the air is expelled from the tubing ensure the sediment reducer opening is covered with priming solution by tilting the vessel. This will ensure air bubbles don't travel back up through your brew(with a bit of luck).
Let the beer flow into the priming solution and once there is enough beer in the vessel to cover the tap opening when the vessel is perpendicular place it on the small chair. Make sure there is enough difference in the height of both vessels to allow gravity to do it's work.
The beer will circulate nicely and mix the priming solution through the brew as it enters.
Shut the bottling vessel tap off when there is about 1 litre of brew left above the trub then shut the primary tap off.
Remove the hose from the primary vessel end and place it into a bottling wand.
Place the bottling vessel up on the bench and bottle through your wand.
I have found very even carbonation levels with this method. I once made the mistake of putting the wrong angle on the sediment reducer which stopped the beer circulating upon entry and experienced uneven carbonation.
The times I have used the sediment reducer as it is designed it filled up with sediment. I don't see any benefit in it's use this way over disregarding it completely.
I hope I've explained it clearly, writing down and explaining methods isn't my forte.
