Bottle Priming

[MmmBeer]

Noob here, interesting read.
May I ask what size measuring spoon you use to dose the dextrose direct to the bottle please? (How much do you put in each bottme?)I am presuming we are talking 500ml bottles.
Thank you.

Edit .. forgot to say it is an ale/beer I am attempting, not a lager.

If you want to be accurate, use one of the online calculators, there's a Brewer's Friend one available from the Calculators tab at the top of the page, then scroll down to Bottling and Priming. There are several others online, such as the Home Brew Shop, https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Priming-Sugar-Calculator.html

Enter a few details, then it will calculate the optimum amount for your batch size, divide this by your number of bottles, for bottle priming. It works out about 1.2g per bottle for a bitter.

 

[braziliain]

I found priming each bottle to be a real faff and I don't have the patience. It also concerned me that once a packet of carb drops is open and you haven't used them all, how do you keep them sanitary for your next batch? I also tried priming each bottle with a syringe of sugar solution but couldn't remember which I had done and which I hadn't. For me, it was a recipe for bottle bombs.

I very quickly changed to batch priming in a bottling bucket and haven't looked back. It's easy and consistent .

 

[Mavroz]

Put some figures in the brewers friend calculator and it is showing i should be using 124g of dextrose for 23 litre batch.... is that too much as approx 40 bottles using 1.2g per bottle as suggested is approx 50 to 55g.

For an English ale or bitter how many grams of dextrose would you gents use per bottle? I have just under 23 litres in the fermenter.
Carbonation drops suggest 2 per 500ml bottle.

 

[Mavroz]

The author notes on the calculator say that 3.5 ounces will be just fine for 5 Gallons.
I think I will try this as that seems right with what the calculator throws out with the figures I entered.

 

[braziliain]

I always use the Beersmith calculator and for 23L at 2.0 volumes CO2 it is suggesting 103g sugar.

Calculator has never let me down before. It is telling me that for 124g of sugar you will get 2.2 volumes CO2

 

[chewie]

Noob here, interesting read.
May I ask what size measuring spoon you use to dose the dextrose direct to the bottle please? (How much do you put in each bottme?)I am presuming we are talking 500ml bottles.
Thank you.

Edit .. forgot to say it is an ale/beer I am attempting, not a lager.

Google for cook/chef measuring spoons, you will get 5 or 6 in a set of varying sizes from 1/4 teaspoon to a tablespoon.

 

[Mavroz]

Google for cook/chef measuring spoons, you will get 5 or 6 in a set of varying sizes from 1/4 teaspoon to a tablespoon.

Yeah the mrs has these already, but i quite like the "weighing" of the dextrose to make it more accurate.

Thank you.

 

[Mavroz]

I always use the Beersmith calculator and for 23L at 2.0 volumes CO2 it is suggesting 103g sugar.

Calculator has never let me down before. It is telling me that for 124g of sugar you will get 2.2 volumes CO2

Where would i find the Beersmith calculator please?

 

[Linalmeemow]

Where would i find the Beersmith calculator please?

This calculator has always worked well for me: https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[braziliain]

Where would i find the Beersmith calculator please?

I have the Beersmith 2 app on my Android phone. It's a paid app but if you are planning on all grain brewing it is great. I design all my recipes in it. It has a few tools built in and one of them is a carbonation calculator.

Before I used Beersmith, I used the Brewersfriend calculator linked above. It also works great.

 

[DavidDetroit]

I've only done the priming sugar in boiled water or beer method (about a 1/2 liter). You can cool the mixture first or add it hot (after the siphoning has begun and there is just enough beer transferred to the bottling bucket to cool the priming solution. The long tube from the racking cane sitting at the bottom of the bucket swirls the mixture naturally. I like this method for its consistency and hands-off nature.

 

[The Baron]

A small funnel and a measuring spoon and I can prime 40 bottles in a couple of minutes flat.

I've tried batch priming in secondary fv and thinks that's more effort, esp washing up, with no better result.

works for me I use a flat knife to go over my spoon so I get pretty consistent amounts also can do in a couple of mins too - batch priming too much effort in my mind all that cleaning and sterilising after plus more chance of oxidisation and infection

 

[DavidDetroit]

Are you saying you don't use a bottling bucket? I have heard of bottling straight from the fermenter into bottles. Is that it? Thanks!

 

[The Baron]

Are you saying you don't use a bottling bucket? I have heard of bottling straight from the fermenter into bottles. Is that it? Thanks!

yes straight from the bucket

 

[DavidDetroit]

Great, that makes perfect sense now.

 

[Drunkula]

I sometimes think sugar sitting there in a packet might have fly gob on it, and wild yeast landing on it and unless you boil that off, like you so carefully boil your wort and sanitise everything - well putting spoons of sugar into a bottle is like farting in a hungry child's mouth and calling it dinner.

This isn't a metaphor, I've done side by side experiments and it's coming up on Brulosophy soon and the results will stagger you. The triangle tests were a bit skewed while I had to build up each eye-watering trump but you'll all be abandoning brett for those oh-so-trendy sours very soon.

 

[DavidDetroit]

works for me I use a flat knife to go over my spoon so I get pretty consistent amounts also can do in a couple of mins too - batch priming too much effort in my mind all that cleaning and sterilising after plus more chance of oxidisation and infection

Are you all familiar with John Palmer? If not, he gets referenced a lot on the sister site to this one in the US. He wrote, "If you don't have a bottling bucket, you can gently pour the priming solution into the fermentor and gently stir it. Allow the sediment in the fermenter to settle for 15-30 minutes before proceeding."
By the way, one last question on procedure: do you transfer to a secondary or stay with one bucket and then in the bottle?
I do three weeks in the primary with no secondary ever.

 

[Tom Parsons]

Hi all, I've only done a few brews so far, but I am currently a firm fan of drops. I batch primed one IPA and during the process introduced far too much oxygen mostly spoiling the beer.

My latest brew was a Kriek that I primed with a single drop in 500ml PET - I would describe it bordering on too fizzy - I would recommend trying some with one and some with two and see which you prefer after a couple of weeks warm conditioning.

I don't think I'll batch prime again as I just don't want to risk the oxidisation, using drops is more expensive than using granulated sugar, but the simplicity makes it worth while for me.

 

[bobukbrewer]

I put a tip of brewing sugar on a teaspoon and add to each bottle (regular readers will know I bottle in 4 to 7 days) and hope for the best - works fine for me..........

 

[Drunkula]

I don't think I'll batch prime again as I just don't want to risk the oxidisation

Just pour a sugar solution into the fermenter, gently swirl near the top and leave it for 20 minutes. Carbonation drops are a collossal waste of money.