How best to bottle for the first time

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Crystal_Ball

Crystal_Ball

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Im currently brewing Milestone Donner and Blitzed. My gravity reading has been 1.008 for several days so im happy that it has finished fermenting. As you can see from the two images attached the sample taken from the top is very clear and sample taken from the bottling tap is not.

Should I transfer this brew into another FV and bottle from there?
Or
If I bottle from current FV will it clear over time in the bottle? Either through little bottler tap attached or through tube?

Or does anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks

P1040504.jpg


P1040505.jpg
 
I'm a newbie but read a lot on here about leaving for a few days at a lower temp helps the yeast fall out of suspenion and settle at the bottom.

Are you heating the FV in some way (ie with a belt or heatpad) ? If so switch the heat source off.

Another option would be to syphon into a 2nd FV and move that somewhere cool like a garage or shed for 3-4 days before bottling. I did this recently with a Cooper Mexican Cerveza and have bottled and the bottles have gone clear after 2-3 days in secondery fermentation so appeared to work a treat !

I would try and avoid moving your initial FV too much to get it somewhere cool as think this will shake things up and make it cloudier.
 
Spapro said:
I'm a newbie but read a lot on here about leaving for a few days at a lower temp helps the yeast fall out of suspenion and settle at the bottom.

Are you heating the FV in some way (ie with a belt or heatpad) ? If so switch the heat source off.

Another option would be to syphon into a 2nd FV and move that somewhere cool like a garage or shed for 3-4 days before bottling. I did this recently with a Cooper Mexican Cerveza and have bottled and the bottles have gone clear after 2-3 days in secondery fermentation so appeared to work a treat !

I would try and avoid moving your initial FV too much to get it somewhere cool as think this will shake things up and make it cloudier.
Click to expand...

I'm not heating the FV. The under stairs cupboard temp is about 18C.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
After fermentation has stopped the yeast in suspension slowly settles. So even when the beer in the top of the FV is very clear, if you're drawing the liquid from the bottom of the FV it'll still be cloudy.
I just bottle it as is. The bottles with the cloudier beer in will end up just as clear but with more sediment in than the bottles with the clearer beer. It doesn't affect the taste though you may have to be more careful when pouring your beer.
This is assuming you're going to prime each bottle individually. Some people prefer batch priming which would involve transferring your beer from the primary FV to a secondary. But I don't bother with that, just use a jug to collect beer from the tap, and prime each bottle.
 
Cwrw666 said:
Some people prefer batch priming which would involve transferring your beer from the primary FV to a secondary. But I don't bother with that, just use a jug to collect beer from the tap, and prime each bottle.
Click to expand...

It's not necessary to transfer to a secondary to batch prime (I never have), it's easily done in the primary if your careful about not stirring up the sediment
 
Cwrw666 said:
After fermentation has stopped the yeast in suspension slowly settles. So even when the beer in the top of the FV is very clear, if you're drawing the liquid from the bottom of the FV it'll still be cloudy.
I just bottle it as is. The bottles with the cloudier beer in will end up just as clear but with more sediment in than the bottles with the clearer beer. It doesn't affect the taste though you may have to be more careful when pouring your beer.
This is assuming you're going to prime each bottle individually. Some people prefer batch priming which would involve transferring your beer from the primary FV to a secondary. But I don't bother with that, just use a jug to collect beer from the tap, and prime each bottle.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of your answer!
Was planning on either using drops in each bottle or measured sugar in each one and then filling with the littler bottler attached to the FV tap. Was going to do a mixture to see how it works out as this is first bottling attempt. Although after reading on here some say it doesn't make too much difference as long as it isn't over carbed.
 
The idea of bottling from a tap on the FV has always terrified me. How do you sanitize it? Anything could have crawled up there! I always siphon into a second bucket with a sanitized tap on it. But good luck, whatever you decide to do!
 
Speccy said:
The idea of bottling from a tap on the FV has always terrified me. How do you sanitize it? Anything could have crawled up there! I always siphon into a second bucket with a sanitized tap on it. But good luck, whatever you decide to do!
Click to expand...

Interesting point. I did sterilse it before attaching but obviously it has been open to the elements. (In the cupboard) Next time may put a bag over the tap once sterilised. Or will I have to sterilise the bag?! Oh the dilemmas!
Although I'm sure I won't be the last to do it?
 
Better not take any tips from me about sanitisation - I don't use anything other than sloshing a bit of boiling water around to scald things and I definitely don't sanitise the tap on the FV before bottling. Though incidentally I've never had a brew go off either. My main concern is keeping fruit flies away when bottling - they can smell a brew from a mile away, and get one of those in a bottle and you've got instant malt vinegar :lol:
 
Bottled this today which took about 1 1/2 hour including sterilising,filling and capping which I didn't think was too bad for first attempt. Quite satisfying seeing my first 40 bottles capped ready to drink in a few weeks time.
 

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