Barrel to Bottle

[johnazjk]

Hi all,

First time brewing and it's going well so far...I think!

The beers has been fermenting since saturday and the hydrometer tells me it's still on the go. So, all good. Go on you yeast!

When it's done i'd like to barrell half and bottle half (it's 25 litres total). My plan is to syphon the lot into the barrel (leaving the yeast cake i've been told), which would have the sugar sitting in the bottom of it. Give it a good stir and then, using the tap on the barrel and the syphon, transfer half into bottles and cap.

Now. I thought that'd be ok but read on another forum (booo, hiss!) that stiring the beer at this stage (to mix the sugar into the whole brew) would add oxygen which could give the beer a poor taste.

Is that right? Has anyone got any experience they can share? The barrell/keg i'm using is http://www.balliihoo.co.uk/balliiho...r-keg-with-lcd-temperature-indicator-p-8.html and the bottles i'm using are...glass and bottle shaped.

Cheers!

 

[RobWalker]

Not quite. In reality your tap won't work.

I'd suggest a little bottler, but as you plan on kegging half, I would

Keg, racking off the yeast.
Stir in priming sugar.
Bottle using syphon tube with bottling attachment. Makes the whole thing 10x easier.
Seal keg. The excess pruning sugar (as kegs require less) should overcarb the beer, causing the pressure release valve to remove the oxygen.
Wait for carb, then drink!

 

[johnazjk]

Thanks rob! I'll do that and let you know how i get on!

Cheers.

John

 

[shocker]

Try taking some of the wort (the beer , that is) and transferring it to a saucepan without splashing and dissolving your priming sugar in that A couple of pints and some gentle heat on the stove , gentle no splash stirring and return to the rest of the brew ....gently . Then stir , again gently with no splashing . That gets all of your beer nicely primed ready to syphon off your bottle batch .

See , its the splashing and stirring that introduces oxygen . Do it nice and gently and you keep the risk to a minimum . Other than that , like Rob has told you . :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Be very gentle when stiring post fermentation. You dont want to introduce any oxygen as it will produce off flavours.

Edit: Shocker can type quicker than me!

 

[shocker]

Joey.....that is the nicest way that anyone has said "shocker is a gobshite" to me in years ! Thank you :thumb: :rofl:

 

[jonnymorris]

...Bottle using syphon tube with bottling attachment. Makes the whole thing 10x easier

What's a bottling attachment? Sounds like I need one.

 

[RobWalker]

i dunno what people call them, i picked mine up in my lhbs for like a quid. it has a valve on that you can turn on and off, so it'll keep flowing when you turn it back on, but you can stop the flow to move from bottle to bottle;

a racking cane/bottling wand does basically the same thing.

 

[shocker]

Rob , are you on about the "Little Bottler" ?

http://www.hopshopuk.com/products/view/ ... le-bottler

Me , I have started syphoning the brew into a bucket with a lever tap (rather than the round "drum tap") fitted and using that as the fabled Bottling Bucket . Now the posh people on here will have one of the above devices fitted....I just have a bit of rigid beer line from a pub (scrounged) connected to the tap with a couple of inches of PVC syphon tube . I have it set up so it ends about a foot above the floor so as a full bottle can be lowered and moved away without tipping . Because then all the beer would fall out and you would have to start all over again with the added step of sucking all the beer out of the carpet . And if THAT doesnt oxidise it I dont know what will ....not to mention all the stuff in the carpet . Dont get me started on Shake'n'Vac and its corrosive qualities when poured all over phone and broadband connections ....reallly....dont :nono: