Siphoning from fv to bottels

[Chadders]

Hi all my first ever brew is nearly ready. I got a Woodfords wherry kit for crimbo it's been in the fv for 7days now it bubbled like crazy for three days then slowed I am going to check the gravity tomorrow if it's below 1014 as the instructions suggest it's done or should I leave it few more days. I'm going to bottle it so can any of you give me any tips for Siphoning it into bottles
Cheers

 

[Hulpy]

You are not going to like the advice but here goes... There are Two key rules; patience & greed
Both you will ignore at first (everyone does)

Patience, its your first brew but once the bubbles stop the best thing to do would be to transfer to a second fv and then put it for another week somewhere much colder like a garage or utility room (cold crashing and means much less sediment in the bottles you proudly give to non brewers.)

When it comes to bottling and racking (the second fv) thats where greed kicks in you have to "write off" a certain amount, experience will tell you what this is and will get less but makes a difference a racking cane will also pay for itself in 1.5brews so invest, a fifty pence plastic tap saves a lot of mopping.

The hard part...

Then bottle then leave for 2weeks absolute minimum! (Too late too late will be your cry when the last bottle of your brew is the best you try!)

But as i said at the start you'll ignore all the above... Because its the first time youve made beer its magical and hell your having a pint made by you as soon as possible!

 

[Chadders]

Thanks for the great reply I do have patience so I'm prepared to wait, I do have a keg with a tap so would i be best transferring into that first for a week and putting it in the garage before bottling? Then do I need to prime the bottles? as I would have already primed the keg! it would definitely make things easier not using a siphon just worried about getting to much air into it

 

[Hulpy]

I syphon off my fv into my keg, clean the fv (then syphon back into the fv) and put into the cold with a solid bung, then put into the keg primed with sugar or bottle from there.

Sediment is frustrating in bottles particularly if giving to others who dont brew so crucial to reduce as much as possible (cant say ive alsways won this battle. Did all this plus beer finings on my latest brew and still didnt win!)

 

[mcc111]

Use the instructions only as a guide - just like following a recipe when cooking (it might say 20 minutes in the oven, but only you can tell when it's cooked). The only way to know for sure when your brew is done is to take hydrometer readings over a few days. If the SG remains the same, it is ready. BUT, like Hulpy says, if you rack it to a second FV and leave it a little longer, it will be well worth it.

If you're bottling, the best thing to do is to batch prime (and only prime once), rather than individually prime bottles. It's easier and ensures all your bottles have the same fizz.

 

[Chadders]

Just bottled it definitely batch priming next time putting the sugar in is a pain!! the gravity hadn't move for 3 days. just used the calculator and it's come up as 4%abv it says on the box it should be around 4.5 so it's not bad will that go up a bit after a few weeks in the bottles

 

[shrekfeet]

I'm new to this game but I have done a lot of reading and thought that racking off for secondary fermentation was now old school and you were better to leave the fermented beer on the yeast sediment after it had finished fermenting. My understanding was tha the yeast sediment reabsorbs some byproducts of fermentation over the next couple of weeks, you then rack to a primed vessel and bottle or keg etc. Am I wrong?

 

[Chadders]

I'm very new to all this so what you are saying is to leave it a few more weeks in the primary fv after its finished then transfer to another fv prime then bottle

 

[nobyipa]

I'm very new to all this so what you are saying is to leave it a few more weeks in the primary fv after its finished then transfer to another fv prime then bottle

1.014 seems a bit high
next time leave in primary longer till you get nearer 1.010
then transfer into a secondary fermenting bucket [dry hop at this stage if you wish] for another 5 to 9 days to clear better
then on bottling day re rack to your bottling bucket and batch prime
use a bottling wand
[youtube:1hjt1ca3]UcPN9jMeLGI[/youtube:1hjt1ca3]
how i do it
1st weigh your sugar[depending on beer style 80g to 150g] into a small saucepan add 250 ml of water bring to the boil and simmer for 3 to 4 mins to sterilise the sugar
cover leave to cool or cool it in a bath off water
then when your priming solution is at or slightly cooler than your wort
pour it into your wort using a sterile stirrer spoon whatever [DO NOT SPLASH OR INDUCE ANY AIR WHILST DOING SO]
get a nice whirlpool going leave for half an hour with a lid on
then bottle
and thats it
:thumb:

 

[Chadders]

That seems a bit excessive it means racking 3 times but if it's worth it I'll give it a go next time, about the gravity being given 1014 that's what it said it should be on the box I did leave it 3 days after it hit 1014 and it didn't budge so decided to bottle another question is what is the best to use for Priming I used brewing sugar but I've heard you can use just normal white sugar or brown and also malt treacle honey etc

 

[nobyipa]

any type of sugar will prime
myself personally use brewing sugar
my normal white or brown sugar i have which yes is cheaper and does the job is never totally clean if you know what i mean the odd wet spoon might of found its way in there
i use brewing sugar as it is always vacuum wrapped and clean and i am the only person to get hands on it

bit excessive results





and my ruby sunday smoother that was racked once

still fantastic beer but you can see the difference
:thumb: :drink:

 

[Chadders]

Wow that is clear I will definitely give it a go next time