Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

[DustyDog]

No priming bottling is mentioned in the 'top tips thread' Can anyone go more on this??? Is it (of course it is) possible to place priming sugar in the FV, but is there a specific amount and a certain order to do this??? Cheers ppl

[oakwell]

have a look here
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

[daddies-beer-factory]

Hi DustyDog,
a lot of peeps will rack off from FV into a "bottling bucket" with the sugar already added to the latter - however if you just tip sugar in and stir, it might not mix evenly - then you get a few bottles with all the sugar & the rest flat. the answer is to stir in a sugar syrup or add the sugar to the bottles.

[Martin G]

Surely that is priming the bottles?

What about conditioning in a pb and then bottling cold and clear?

[DustyDog]

What is a pb??? Just looks interesting having nice clear beer in the bottle, rather than having sediment in the bottom. The link posted looks interesting too.

[Martin G]

Hi, yep nothing wrong with adding the priming solution to the bucket, but to my mind that is not 'no priming bottling' as you will still be carbonating in the bottle as the priming sugar is used up. If you rack to a pressure barel (sorry for the lazy pb acronym!) a couple of points before final gravity you can condition nicely and then cool if possible and release the pressure very slowly and bottle the conditioned beer.

[Belter]

I've heard talk of no priming. No sure how consistent it is but you basically bottle after fermentation, wait for a long time and get carbonated beer. It makes sense to me As after about three-four weeks I get perfect carbonation in the bottle and then if left for say a couple months I get a much higher carbonate beer. Like I said though, not sure how consistent it would be and you'd probably get a few flat batches.

[jmc]

I've heard talk of no priming. No sure how consistent it is but you basically bottle after fermentation, wait for a long time and get carbonated beer. It makes sense to me As after about three-four weeks I get perfect carbonation in the bottle and then if left for say a couple months I get a much higher carbonate beer. Like I said though, not sure how consistent it would be and you'd probably get a few flat batches.

I love GW's book Brew Your Own British Real Ale. It's really useful when starting AG or extract brewing. In this GW recommends no addition of sugar when bottling and relying on yeast slowly converting residual sugars in the bottle. Some may do this OK but only batch I made this way was flat.

For those new to brewing, I'd recommend addition of sugar syrup to bottling bucket. Maybe try the no sugar route when you've got a few brews under your belt and know when there's residual sugar that will condition bottles OK.

[orlando]

This is something I admit to not quite understanding yet. A lot of brewers making cask conditioned beer do just this. A few points above the FG the beer is casked and allowed to finish fermenting sealed up to produce the conditioning. When I tried it it had 2 faults, first and foremost was acetaldehyde which does not condition out, the second was the beer was too flat even for me. Clearly it can be done and as I think the pinnacle of brewing is cask conditioned beer I need to understand what is happening here much better. Until I do fermenting right out and bulk conditioning before packaging is my approach. If bottling, priming with beet or cane sugar syrup, if kegging, force carbonation. But one day, possibly soon, I will get a cask and have a crack at the "ultimate beer".

[Martin G]

If going for no priming then using a pressure barel gives a chance to vent a little and check that you are happy with the beer before bottling. That is my understanding of what Wheeler advises, rather than going straight to bottle. A cask is vented for a couple of days whereas a bottle is poured straight away, wonder if that makes a difference? I fing a cask is better if it has sat around for a while before racking, rushed one for a Christmas party and had aldehyde (luckily the folk were not too discerning, but it hacked me off). I am paranoid about having a cask blow on me so usually replace the keystone after about a week in the cask now, which may also help a bit.

[Belter]

Why does Acetaldehyde not condition out? The difference between green beer and conditioned beer is largely acetaldehyde. If left long enough it should condition out... In my understanding.

[Eric]

If going for no priming then using a pressure barel gives a chance to vent a little and check that you are happy with the beer before bottling. That is my understanding of what Wheeler advises, rather than going straight to bottle. A cask is vented for a couple of days whereas a bottle is poured straight away, wonder if that makes a difference? I fing a cask is better if it has sat around for a while before racking, rushed one for a Christmas party and had aldehyde (luckily the folk were not too discerning, but it hacked me off). I am paranoid about having a cask blow on me so usually replace the keystone after about a week in the cask now, which may also help a bit.

Very valid. No bottling done here, but prime with various sugars into plastic pressure barrel as soon as primary fermentation abates and generally within a week. If when sampled there is the least twang, the keg will be vented. This can make a vast improvement and I would imagine the same would be true of beer that was bottled.

[orlando]

Why does Acetaldehyde not condition out? The difference between green beer and conditioned beer is largely acetaldehyde. If left long enough it should condition out... In my understanding.

Maybe eventually it does but I have never kept a beer that long, when I have experienced it I have noticed it lessen but never disappear. It's not a problem if you ferment out completely and leave the yeast to clear it up. Impatience is the problem.