[liquidbrewing]

Ok, so I have bottled a lot in the past.  Usually, I bottle from the keg after cold crashing the carboy for a few days, I would add 1/2 pack of yeast to the keg, and, well I forget how much sugar, sorry,and then bottle with my Beer Gun,  nonetheless, always carbs up great.  I ran into some personal problems and sold all my kegging setup.  So, I want to get some feedback on how to brew as simple as possible.  I've brewed in a bag before, planning on doing that for mash/lauter.  I'm just wondering what is a good way, to bottle from the carboy?  What is a good way to add sugar and yeast without introducing a lot of oxygen?  Also, if I do an extended cold crash, let's say around 7 days, do I really need to add yeast, or will there be enough in there to bottle condition?

Sorry, lot's of questions!....

[In The Sand]

Why cold crash if you're bottle conditioning? I've never bottled before but if I did I think I'd just ferment out and then bottle, leaving enough yeast in suspension to eat up the priming sugar. If you're worried about clarity, won't the yeast just settle out in the bottom of the bottles when you put them in the fridge?

As far as doing it without oxidation, you've seen the way I keg. Why not bottle the same way with a CO2 push (unless you already sold your CO2 bottle). I use a ported carboy cap with a small pickup tube going down into the carboy, a tube going out, and another tube going in the second port on the cap pushing CO2. Then just have someone capping them for you, or add a racking cane with a check valve so you can stop the flow when you need to. You'll just have to push at a low enough pressure to be able to stop it when you need to. I vote for having somebody come from the other side of town to help you cap. Just wish I could think of someone

[cornershot]

IMO you can and should cold crash before bottling to reduce sediment. No need to add more yeast.
I wouldn't bottle from the fermenter. You'll get too much sediment. Use a bottling bucket or clean carboy.
As far as avoiding oxygen when bottling, if you have no way to purge, you can warm the beer before transferring to your bottling vessel. Warm liquid will absorb less O2 and I suppose the warm beer will release it's dissolved CO2 from the agitation during racking and blanket the beer with CO2.
Beyond that, invite a friend to help bottle and RDWHAHB!

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[liquidbrewing]

Why cold crash if you're bottle conditioning? I've never bottled before but if I did I think I'd just ferment out and then bottle, leaving enough yeast in suspension to eat up the priming sugar. If you're worried about clarity, won't the yeast just settle out in the bottom of the bottles when you put them in the fridge?

As far as doing it without oxidation, you've seen the way I keg. Why not bottle the same way with a CO2 push (unless you already sold your CO2 bottle). I use a ported carboy cap with a small pickup tube going down into the carboy, a tube going out, and another tube going in the second port on the cap pushing CO2. Then just have someone capping them for you, or add a racking cane with a check valve so you can stop the flow when you need to. You'll just have to push at a low enough pressure to be able to stop it when you need to. I vote for having somebody come from the other side of town to help you cap. Just wish I could think of someone

  I've cold crashed in the past when I've bottle conditioned in the past.  Hardly any sediment at all and always carbed up nice.

  Yeah, I'll call you when I get it worked out!

[duboman]

Ok, so I have bottled a lot in the past.  Usually, I bottle from the keg after cold crashing the carboy for a few days, I would add 1/2 pack of yeast to the keg, and, well I forget how much sugar, sorry,and then bottle with my Beer Gun,  nonetheless, always carbs up great.  I ran into some personal problems and sold all my kegging setup.  So, I want to get some feedback on how to brew as simple as possible.  I've brewed in a bag before, planning on doing that for mash/lauter.  I'm just wondering what is a good way, to bottle from the carboy?  What is a good way to add sugar and yeast without introducing a lot of oxygen?  Also, if I do an extended cold crash, let's say around 7 days, do I really need to add yeast, or will there be enough in there to bottle condition?

Sorry, lot's of questions!....

To answer your questions:
If you are only cold crashing for 7 days there is no need to add yeast, plenty will be left in suspension and I would recommend crashing, it really helps clear the beer in a timely manner.

For priming sugar a good rule of thumb is .75-1oz per finished gallon of beer. Best to be weighed out, not measured by volume. Take 1-2 cups boiling water and dissolve sugar to make a simple syrup. Add syrup to bottling bucket and rack beer on top using a siphon. You do not want any splashing of the beer. After racking, gently stir to ensure a good mix (Sanitized spoon). You do not want to bottle directly from the carboy as you will pull too much sediment. Also, you can place a nylon or muslin bag over the racking cane to act as a filter, especially if you dry hop.

Be sure all bottles are thoroughly cleaned with your preferred cleaner and sanitized with Star San or Iodophor, including caps and use a bottling wand to fill.

A couple handy time saving items are a bottling rack and vinator. Using these items and process I can usually knock out a 6 gallon batch in about an hours time. Some people like to use their dishwasher door as their bottling platform to catch spills, etc and make cleanup a breeze.

Once complete, place bottles in a room that's at least 70F for a couple weeks and they should carb up nicely, bigger beers may take more time to fully condition and carbonate. Hope that all helps!

[liquidbrewing]

Thanks duboman!

[gymrat]

I rack to a second bucket that has a spigot on it. That gets it off of the yeast cake so I can gently stir the sugar in without mixing the sediment in. I pour my sugar solution in the bottling bucket and rack the beer on top of that. That gets it pretty well mixed in before I am even ready to stir. After racking I stir very slowly so as not to get oxygen in the beer. From there I just hook my hose with the bottling wand on it to the spigot and begin filling bottles.

[klickitat jim]

That's how I do it too.

[ynotbrusum]

I don't stir it even.  When racking onto the sugar solution, just make sure that the hose is long enough the reach the bottom of the bottling bucket and point it toward/along the side wall ., so that a gentle whirlpool effect is created.  It mixes up perfectly well without the need to stir at all!  Depending on where the primary is sitting, I may need to put the bottling bucket on a short foot stool or chair to get the right height differential for a particular hose, but other than that, it's easy-peasy (though I prefer kegging!)

[erockrph]

I don't stir it even.  When racking onto the sugar solution, just make sure that the hose is long enough the reach the bottom of the bottling bucket and point it toward/along the side wall ., so that a gentle whirlpool effect is created.  It mixes up perfectly well without the need to stir at all!  Depending on where the primary is sitting, I may need to put the bottling bucket on a short foot stool or chair to get the right height differential for a particular hose, but other than that, it's easy-peasy (though I prefer kegging!)

I do this too. I generally pour in the sugar solution after I get about an inch of wort in my bottling bucket in hopes that all of it gets mixed thoroughly. I've never had an issue with inconsistent carbonation when doing this.

I try to let my bottling bucket sit in place for about an hour before bottling. This lets some of the sediment that gets racked over drop below the level of the spigot before bottling.

[duboman]

I used to not stir and really never had a problem but it's such a simple step I started doing it just because....

I simply use my already sanitized racking cane to give a gentle swirl to give me piece of mind but it's probably not necessary:)