DME priming problems

Tony Dyer · Oct 27, 2024

I always used to use priming sugar (destrose?) for priming but a while ago I decided to try DME. I have done 5 or 6 brews using DME for priming and all of them have seemed OK until you pour the stuff into a glass, at which point a massive froth monster appears. It takes 3 glasses to pour a 500ml bottle. The froth dissipates in a few minutes and the beer is perfectly drinkable.

My last 3 brews I've reverted to priming sugar again and the problem has gone away.

Any ideas? I use the Brewers Friend priming sugar calculator.

The Baron · Oct 27, 2024

All I can think is it has not fully dissolved and is creating many nucleation points but it really should have dissolved I would have thought

Agentgonzo · Oct 27, 2024

how are you measuring the sugar/DME? By weight or by volume (teaspoon etc)

Bitter_Dave · Oct 27, 2024

Are you dissolving DME in water and THEN adding it to the bottle, or adding it dry? Sugar dissolves and ferments easily in beer at fermentation temp; not sure about DME - never used it to prime. Given the amount used it does not seem worth using DME to prime.

Tony Dyer · Oct 27, 2024

No, I dissolve it in boiled tap water and add the solution to the transfer vessel before syphoning the beer into it. Brewers Friend did calculate quite a large measure (can't remember exactly). The bottles didn't really gush on opening, only on pouring.

BTW good to see a fellow fan of the good Captain on here!

Larse · Oct 28, 2024

Sounds like it's over-carbonated. If you think of champagne (carbonated to ~4.6 volumes) and how it pours - froths like mad when you pour and then settles down so you can top the glass up, this seems similar. And champagne doesn't have head forming properties so it settles quickly whereas beer does not.

Brewers Friend calculates DME at about one third more weight than dextrose. 100g of DME = 75g dextrose. Does that ring a bell or do you think you added more than that?