advice

bartonj

hi all, i bought a kit from homebrew.ie. it's a Belgian Saison its in it final stage now, its in the barrel maturing, im wondering can i bottle from the barrel? or should i of bottled after fermentation instead, also do i need to wait a month for it to be ready like it says on the instructions.
Kind Regards
Josh

BeerNut

Should be fine if you bottle from the barrel. Don't just open the taps into the bottles if you can avoid it -- use a bottling wand or beer line.

mordeith

bartonj wrote: »

hi all, i bought a kit from homebrew.ie. it's a Belgian Saison its in it final stage now, its in the barrel maturing, im wondering can i bottle from the barrel? or should i of bottled after fermentation instead, also do i need to wait a month for it to be ready like it says on the instructions.
Kind Regards
Josh

What barrel are you referring to . . . a pressure barrel?

bartonj

I got a kit from homebrew.ie that came with a fermenting bucket a white plastic barrel and c02 injectors etc, I followed the not very clear instructions that came with it, it said to bottle/barrel but i haven't got my bottles yet so i put it in the barrel thinking i can then bottle it after, as it said to mature for 4 weeks, 2 at a higher temp and 2 in a cold dark room,

is there away of bottling it without loosing too much c02 and without using a counter pressure bottle filler?

bartonj

mordeith wrote: »

What barrel are you referring to . . . a pressure barrel?

just check yes it is a pressure barrel

BeerNut

bartonj wrote: »

is there away of bottling it without loosing too much c02

You can generate new CO2 in the bottles by adding half a teaspoon of sugar in each. Beer in pressure barrels tends not to be very carbonated, but you can test that yourself before you start.

Your enemy here is oxygen: how do you plan to get the beer from the barrel into the bottles without it splashing and becoming oxidised?

bartonj

BeerNut wrote: »

You can generate new CO2 in the bottles by adding half a teaspoon of sugar in each. Beer in pressure barrels tends not to be very carbonated, but you can test that yourself before you start.

Your enemy here is oxygen: how do you plan to get the beer from the barrel into the bottles without it splashing and becoming oxidised?

dont have a plan just yet, still researching the best way, so if you can suggest any it would be very much apreciated

mordeith

bartonj wrote: »

dont have a plan just yet, still researching the best way, so if you can suggest any it would be very much apreciated

As Beernut said the carbonation from barrels can be relatively poor (used to use one myself). However I would advise just leaving it in the barrel and dispensing from that rather than trying to bottle and then carbonate again.

BeerNut

mordeith wrote: »

I would advise just leaving it in the barrel and dispensing from that rather than trying to bottle and then carbonate again.

Well yes. I'm assuming the OP has decided not to do that.

bartonj wrote: »

dont have a plan just yet, still researching the best way, so if you can suggest any it would be very much apreciated

Best option: use a siphon with a bottling wand to siphon the beer out through the top.
Second best option: attach a bottling wand to the tap and fill the bottles from there.
Third best option: attach a length of tubing to the tap, place the other end inside the bottle, touching the bottom, and fill it by opening the tap.

Will any of these work for you?

mordeith

BeerNut wrote: »

Well yes. I'm assuming the OP has decided not to do that

Ah yeah I agree, but i was thinking why would you bother? OP has co2 to top up pressure when it starts to go down in the keg after dispensing X amount of drinks. Less chance of ruining what he has done so far.

bartonj

BeerNut wrote: »

Well yes. I'm assuming the OP has decided not to do that.


Best option: use a siphon with a bottling wand to siphon the beer out through the top.
Second best option: attach a bottling wand to the tap and fill the bottles from there
Third best option: attach a length of tubing to the tap, place the other end inside the bottle, touching the bottom, and fill it by opening the tap.

Will any of these work for you?

I'll buy myself a bottling wand so, thanks for the advice