I'm bottling my first batch ever on Wednesday and I have a question about siphoning

I've been roughly following the directions in How to Brew. I'm using the equipment from this kit.

My beer is currently fermenting in a bucket, and I'm going to siphon it into a bottling bucket (like with a spigot) for the actual bottling process. My question is: I have only one bucket lid (the one that came with the kit). Since I'll have two buckets in use simultaneously during the siphoning, where should I put the lid? (Should I buy another lid?)

More generally, when transferring between containers, how do you avoid having too much oxygen come into contact with the beer?

Posted Feb 2, 2014, 9:53 PM UTC

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jsl157•12 yr. ago

You'll be fine. Take the lid off to transfer, then put the lid on the bottling bucket while you bottle. Honestly, you'd be fine even without the lid while bottling, but I always do just to prevent anything from falling in. To protect from oxygenation, don't splash the beer while transferring.

vinpaysdoc•12 yr. ago

No lid needed for the bottling bucket. I cover mine with StarSan soaked paper towels, but, it's probably not necessary. Hopefully you have a bottling wand? It's so much easier with one.

In order to avoid oxygenation, I wedge the end of the siphon hose under the spigot of the bottling bucket and use a clip to clip the hose at the top of the bucket as well. This keeps the beer flowing smoothly into the bottom of the bucket and avoids aeration.