Bottling straight from FV

[towser]

Up to now I have bottled straight from the FV, using a bottling stick, sticking half a teaspoon (well ok a measured 2 grams) of white sugar in each bottle. the results have been excellent......however, I read a lot that this is considered bad practice and beer should be casked first.

I have a few questions therefore:

Is it really bad practice to bottle from a fermenter or secondary fermenter?

If you cask, what would suffice as a cask? ie would a fermeting vessel with an airlock suffice?

If you cask first, what about getting CO2 into the bottles? By adding a 2 gram measure, I know that each bottle will build pressure. I'm worried that by casking, most of the yeast will drop out, leaving nothing left in the bottle and a resulting flat beer (although that's my theory)

Is adding sugar direct to a bottle good practice or should I use a separate vessel first? Isn't this more opportunity for bacteria and air getting in the beer? How does the sugar circulate evenly at such low temperatures in such a vessel?

[nobby]

If you like your beer bottled straight from the FV keep on doing it. I bottle straight from the FV and have had good results. I know some people who bottle from a Keg. But as yet no one has come forward and said I used to bottle from the FV and now bottle from a Keg and its better.

[trucker5774]

I bottle from the FV most of the time. If I have a spare FV I use it as a bottling bucket. Regardless of which bucket I do it from I dissolve the sugar (about 80g for ale and 140g for fizzy lager stuff) in about 200ml of boiling water, or better still some beer you have drawn off. Cool it and then add it to your bottling bucket then rack your brew into it. It will mix on its own.

If you feel lazy you can add the priming solution to your primary FV and stir GENTLY. If I do this way, I allow a couple of hours just in case I have disturbed any sediment (never have done though)

I have very good beer with both methods (mainy AG) It's too much hassle adding sugar to the bottles. If you really want to, make up the priming solution as I described and use a syringe to add it to the bottles

If you decide to cask first dont worry too much about the pressure when you transfer to bottles. Chill the cask and transfer to bottles as normal..............even without adding sugar, the now carbonated beer will foam a little as it fills the bottles. Fill close to the top and the foam will exclude any air. Keep the bottle cold and the CO2 will stay in the beer for ages. Even when I open a 2 litre bottle and shamefully only drink half of it, it's still good from the fridge a week later. Your full sealed bottles should be fine.

[towser]

Thanks for that. I think I will give the bottling bucket approach a try next up.

[ChrisG]

I always bottle from the FV....dont see a problem with this.

Tho i did try priming the full batch last time but disolving the sugar first in water and syphon off the beer to another bucket then fill from that.

I have also read that bottling cloudy beer is bad pratice, but the beer is never fully clear anyway and I would say its best to get it bottled and let it settle in the bottle.

Never had a beer go off due to this.

[booldawg]

What if the tap in the primary FV sits a bit low and is too near the yeast cake? Wouldn't the flow through the tap disturb the yeast and put too much of it in the bottles?

The bottom of the taps on my FV protude about 1cm further than the bottom of the FV. I think they're too low and this could be happening. If this is the case maybe I'm better off using a syphon tube and bottling bucket. I just worry about oxidising the beer due to unesseccary disturbance.

[mysterio]

What if the tap in the primary FV sits a bit low and is too near the yeast cake? Wouldn't the flow through the tap disturb the yeast and put too much of it in the bottles?

The bottom of the taps on my FV protude about 1cm further than the bottom of the FV. I think they're too low and this could be happening. If this is the case maybe I'm better off using a syphon tube and bottling bucket. I just worry about oxidising the beer due to unesseccary disturbance.

Yeah, this would be my worry. With a yeast like US05 I wouldn't dream of it. But if you were using English ale yeast, something that sticks to the bottom like chewing gum, I don't see any trouble. I would want to give it an extended time in the primary, probably two weeks in total