Couple of questions about equipment

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

mikeyboy

New Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
NULL
Hi,

Never home brewed before, and am looking to get the basic hardware.

Firstly, I was wondering about fermentation bucket size. A lot of the beer kits I like the look of are around the 20 litre mark. I was just wondering what size bucket to go for. I can get a 25 litre bucket or a 33 litre bucket. Concerned that the 25 litre would be a little small and I would get spillage when mixing. On the other hand, if i were to go for the larger bucket, is there a downside to having more empty space above the liquid?

Secondly, on bottling. I plan to siphon the beer out of the fermentation bucket into a second bucket, leaving the sediment behind. I'll then mix priming sugar into the beer in the second bucket, and then bottle via a tap. Sound okay?

Also, is it okay to start the siphon from the first bucket to the second using your mouth, or does this risk contamination? How else would you start the siphon going?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, grateful for any advice.

Mike.
 
If you are worried about contamination you can buy an auto syphon.



0000315_auto-syphon-45-litre.jpeg



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIu6IRpFNr8[/ame]
 
lots of ways to protect the siphon end, a big syringe, pre-filling the tube with sterile water, i tend to have a short length of tube 2-3inches i sanitise and stick onto the out end of the terminating tap on the siphon tube to use a removable mouthpiece..

just ensure the siphon exit lays on the bottling bucket bottom so the beer escapes without dropping through air, the siphoning should agitate the beer to release absorbed co2 which should then form a protective layer in the bottling bucket protecting the beer from air, especially o2 which can now oxidise the beer,,,

i find emptying an fv is much easier through a tap, just attach a hose, open and when the level approaches the tap opening a gentle STEADY tip to keep the tap opening submerged is easy enough, as soon as the sediment starts to lift and turn the dregs cloudy stop...

lots of ways of doing things so sort out what suits you and run with it have fun..
 
Thanks, that's very helpful.

I think I'm gonna siphon from the fermenting bucket to the bottling bucket, and then use a tap for bottling.

Any views on having empty space above the liquid in the fermenter? Just wondering if a 20-25 litre brew in a 33 litre bucket might lead to problems: is it best to have the fermenter as full as possible, or does it not matter if there is quite a bit of space?

Thanks again,

Mike.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful. Just ordered all the kit except the bottles. Gonna try and get my hands on these for free rather than buying them.
 
Try asking your local if they would not mind putting a few to one side instead of binning them.
 
No problem with space in the FV it will fill with CO2 and you need space for the yeast head.
As Fil said you can get another short bit of tube to cover the end of the siphon tube when starting it off, then discard it.
Worth investing in a siphon clamp that fits on the edge of the FV and probably a little bottler for the bottling bucket.
 
Thanks again for the replies, very helpful. I've just ordered everything, and my first go is gonna be with a 40 pint American IPA kit.

Thanks,

Mike.
 

Similar threads

kenstel
Newbie question before I start my first brew kit
2 3
Replies
41
Views
2K
emmever
emmever
peterpiper
BZ gen4 outer recirculation mod
Replies
12
Views
801
foxy
foxy
alsch890
Sanitation and setup crisis
Replies
16
Views
1K
Frisp
Frisp
evil.soup
How to add hops and other additions to my fermenter?
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
evil.soup
evil.soup
kenstel
Is this normal?
Replies
17
Views
754
foxy
foxy

Latest posts

Back
Top