Brewing Master

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snip all | A bottling bucket will set you back about 10-12 dollars. | | Paul Don’t pay that much for a bottling bucket. Go to a grocery store that sells doughnuts or to a donut shop. These places receive icing in 5 gal food grade plastic buckets. I saw an empty behind the counter and they said they reuse them most of the time. And then proceeded to offer the bucket for .50 and the lid for .25 more. So for $.75 I got a 5 gal bucket. Then go to the homebrew store and buy the spigot assembly. Drill a hole so that the spigot will mount as close to the bottom of the bucket as possible. (I was told to mount mine high enough to avoid primary ferment trub, so mine spigot is higher than it should be for just bottling.) I used a 1" spade bit to drill the hole for mine. Total cost under 5 dollars, even if you have to buy the 1" spade bit. To use the bottling bucket. 1) sanitize your bottling bucket (1oz chlorine in 5gal tap water, 30mins) 2) boil your priming sugar in water. ( 1cup corn sugar or 1.25cup DME ) 3) empty sanitizing solution and rinse bucket with warm water. 4) pour boiled priming solution into bucket. 5) carefully rack green beer into bucket avoiding aeration by making sure    the end of your siphon is under the fluid at all times. 6) move hose to bottling bucket spigot. 7) use spigot to regulate flow into bottles or use a bottling wand. I don’t use a bottling wand because I found mine caused a lot of foaming. I use the spigot handle to start and stop my flow as the bottles are filled. brew another batch because this batch will be gone before you know it! Keep brewing, mark — #include std.disclaimer #include clever.quote                   #example: I brew therefore I am.

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 JS I recently finished bottling a batch that came in a kit, and had quite the  JS time bottling by myself. Mainly due to getting the siphoning from the  JS fermenter going. I did get it going, but when I got to the last gallon, I  JS found I did not have the lung power to get the rest out using a siphon and  JS had to pour it out into a sterlized pitcher to  JS continue. What other methods  JS are available to bottle efficiently and continuously? You should be syphoning from your fermenter into a bottling bucket.  Use a racking cane on the end of your syphon tube.  Fill the syphon tube with water, insert the racking cane in the carboy or fermenting bucket, and the flow will start naturally.  Let the flow clear (only takes a second or two usually). Then keep the outlet end of your syphon tube down in the bottom of the bottling bucket (or under the surface) to avoid spashing.  Add your priming sugar. Attach a bottle filler (Phill’ Philler from Listerman is great) to the other end of the syphon tube.  Syphon from the bottling bucket into clean bottles. No lung power required.  Another option (the one I now use) is to put a drum tap on the bottom of the bottling bucket, and have another tube attached with a bottle filler on the end, and use gravity instead of syphoning to fill the bottoms.

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: I recently finished bottling a batch that came in a kit, and had quite the : time bottling by myself. Mainly due to getting the siphoning from the : fermenter going. I did get it going, but when I got to the last gallon, I : found I did not have the lung power to get the rest out using a siphon and : had to pour it out into a sterlized pitcher to continue. What other methods : are available to bottle efficiently and continuously? Are there any purchases : that I should invest in? Siphonless buckets are available at a reasonable price, around $15 or so. They have a small valve near the bottom of the bucket that lets you pour directly into your bottles.  Check your local brew supply store, or even a hardware store, they should know where to get them. The easiest option, however, is to just dip your siphoning tube into your wort and let it fill up with beer.  (Be very clean, of course)  Then, leaving one end in the bucket, cover the other end with your thumb and bring it to a point below the bottom of the container your siphoning from.  Voalla! [sic]  You’ve started your siphone without sucking on anything! J. Huck

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I have always bottled out of a spare carboy with no problem. My bottling hose setup has the cane that goes from the bottom of the carboy up and over the top, and the wand with the shutoff for the bottles.   In order to keep from losing the siphon towards the bottom of the batch, just shove a block under one side of the carboy to tilt it over. To (re)start the siphon, as tempting as it is to use the "giant straw" method, I always just fill the tube up end-to-end with clean water, block off the bottle-end, and shove the other end in the carboy.  Then you can let the clear water run out and you’re in business.  Much less chance of infection that way.  Of course, you could always disinfect your mouth by gargling with vodka ;*} — Kevin Farlee       | DISCLAIMER                   | Stupid questions are                    | my own, and not my employers | to stupid mistakes

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: I recently finished bottling a batch that came in a kit, and had quite the : time bottling by myself. Mainly due to getting the siphoning from the : fermenter going. I did get it going, but when I got to the last gallon, I : found I did not have the lung power to get the rest out using a siphon and : had to pour it out into a sterlized pitcher to continue. What other methods : are available to bottle efficiently and continuously? Are there any purchases : that I should invest in? How about putting a small faucet/tap at the bottom of your bottling bucket.  Then you won’t have to siphon. —

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I recently finished bottling a batch that came in a kit, and had quite the time bottling by myself. Mainly due to getting the siphoning from the fermenter going. I did get it going, but when I got to the last gallon, I found I did not have the lung power to get the rest out using a siphon and had to pour it out into a sterlized pitcher to continue. What other methods are available to bottle efficiently and continuously? Are there any purchases that I should invest in? —

Sounds like it is time for you to invest in a bottling bucket. Unless you want to plunge into kegging. A bottling bucket has a valve on the side near the bottom. The valve has a short piece of tube that reaches to the bottom of the bottles. This along with using the dishwasher to sterilize bottles cuts bottling time in half A bottling bucket will set you back about 10-12 dollars. Paul | Paul Baker                 |   This town rips the bones from your back,    | | Deep Space Network         |   It’s a death trap, a suicide rap,           | | Jet Propulsion Laboratory  |   We’ve got to get out while we’re young.     |

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I recently finished bottling a batch that came in a kit, and had quite the time bottling by myself. Mainly due to getting the siphoning from the fermenter going. I did get it going, but when I got to the last gallon, I found I did not have the lung power to get the rest out using a siphon and had to pour it out into a sterlized pitcher to continue. What other methods are available to bottle efficiently and continuously? Are there any purchases that I should invest in? —                        ___/      Dallas, Texas  USA  —

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–                        ___/      Dallas, Texas  USA  —

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