Problems bottling from a casked ale

[natty brew]

Advice from the endless supply of advice please!

I am now casking my ales after primary fermentation with the priming sugar and then after leaving it in the cask for 3 to 4 weeks depending on the starting SG I crack the top of the cask open to expel excess gas and leave it cracked for a full 24 hours before bottling. The main problem I am having is that it is still very carbonated so when using a filling wand to fill bottles i am having to stage fill the bottles to allow foam to subside. Not ideal as air exposure time is huge and it becomes a slower messier job.

Am I doing something wrong? should the priming sugar be halved? Left open longer? I am hoping that the next one which is ready for bottling in two weeks will be an easier process than so far.

I look forward to hearing from people who may have anything to suggest.

Many thanks

Primary; experimental designed IPA

Secondary; own recipe mid brown session ale
:drink:

 

[desmosteve]

Sounds like you're doing something very wrong!
Why not just serve from the barrel? If you've primed it you're all done and it's ready to drink once carbed and clear
Why bottle after that......... what are you aiming for?

If you want to bottle you prime it then go straight to the bottling and it primes in the bottle

Your process sounds a bit **** about face!

 

[adman1966]

I've found that getting the beer as cold as possible before attempting to bottle a big help. Chill as low as you can and then try.
I usually chill to around 2 C and then it seems to work a lot better.

 

[Pakman]

Ideally you should bottle as soon as you have added the priming sugar to the beer. The other alternative, that I did with my Xmas brew, was drink it from the barrel over a short period and then bottle what is left by adding a second priming charge to each bottle and filling from the barrel. By the time you have drunk plenty from the barrel all the gas-iness has gone so it bottles easily. My Xmas brew tasted much better in January after maturing in the bottle than it did from the barrel over Xmas.
Graham

 

[adomant]

Sounds like air is getting introduced to cause foaming. Is the wand emiting the beer at the bottom of the bottle below the surface, is the tap/tubing/wand well sealed, is the cask pouring straight from the tap and not through a floater?

 

[Runwell-Steve]

You don't have to prime the bottles. All you are doing is bottling ready carbonated beer. That's what many people do to avoid sediment.

Get everything as cold as you can, beer, pipe, bottles etc.. That will help. Use a long bit of hose between the keg and the bottling wand.
Cap on foam.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Your process sounds a bit **** about face!

There is nothing **** about face about bottling ready carbonated beer. If you want bottles of beer without sediment this is a very good way of achieving it.