Bottling, sugar and carbonation drops

[prospectjim66]

Hi,
I’ve just bottled my first attempt at brewing, I put 2 carb drops into most bottles as per instructions, I also experimented by only putting 1 carb drop in 2 bottles as I also saw someone else does this, I also did 4 bottles with sugar as per another recipe. I will await the results and compare. Really looking forward to trying it, the final SG was 1.004 so the ABV is 4.45% according to my chart. It smells and looks ok, time will tell.

 

[yrhendystu]

Carb drops are basically sugar, you could also use sugar cubes too or just teaspoons of powdered sugar. I use 2L plastic bottles so I just bung in a few tablespoons but that'd be dangerous with glass.

Priming will also bump up your % too as it'll ferment a bit more. I did a batch with a lot of experimenting, it was fun. Did varying amounts of sugar, brown sugar, lemon tea, jelly, cocoa (rank!). Brown sugar is the only one I still experiment with. I also tried coconut sugar recently in a ginger beer, tasted soapy.

Sounds like you're having fun with your new hobby. Try and keep a bottle to one side to drink in a few months, the extra age will improve it greatly.

 

[Chico1980]

Hi,
I’ve just bottled my first attempt at brewing, I put 2 carb drops into most bottles as per instructions, I also experimented by only putting 1 carb drop in 2 bottles as I also saw someone else does this, I also did 4 bottles with sugar as per another recipe. I will await the results and compare. Really looking forward to trying it, the final SG was 1.004 so the ABV is 4.45% according to my chart. It smells and looks ok, time will tell.

My first few brews I used carbonation tablets as I thought they would be easy. Depending upon brand they recommend different amounts of tablets, with 500ml bottles I couldn’t find a happy medium.
now I use measuring spoons and normal ‘table’ sugar. 1/2 tsp (roughly 3G) for ipa’s or craft style beers, 1tsp (roughly 5g) for wheat beers or lager styles. Works a treat and sooo much cheaper.

 

[kelper]

I use 2L plastic bottles so I just bung in a few tablespoons but that'd be dangerous with glass.

Do you mean teaspoons?

 

[yrhendystu]

I did originally type that but then changed it. Like I said. It'd be dangerous for glass but no worries about doing it with plastic.

 

[terrym]

I did originally type that but then changed it. Like I said. It'd be dangerous for glass but no worries about doing it with plastic.

Except when you open them perhaps?

 

[yrhendystu]

No, no issues as long as you don't drop it.

 

[BradleyW]

Does it matter if it's beer then sugar or sugar then beer going into the bottles?

 

[kelper]

If you add sugar to a dry bottle it won't stick to the sides. But no worries either way.

 

[Ezza]

When I put the sugar in filled bottle I got a gusher instantly before I could put bottle cap on so now I put sugar in first.

 

[Chico1980]

When I put the sugar in filled bottle I got a gusher instantly before I could put bottle cap on so now I put sugar in first.

+1 on sugar in 1st.

 

[kelper]

If you get a gusher when you add sugar to beer, it means the fermentation hasn't finished and there is lots of CO2 in your beer

 

[Drunkula]

If you get a gusher when you add sugar to beer, it means the fermentation hasn't finished and there is lots of CO2 in your beer

Nope. It means that the sugar's surface is acting as a nucleation site and releasing the co2 that's left in the beer. At 20c you'll still have 0.86 vols of co2 in the beer after it's fermented.

 

[yrhendystu]

I add sugar first. Sometimes if it's clumpy I'll disolve it in some hot water first.

 

[terrym]

I add sugar direct to bottles, always have.
I now leave my beer in the FV to finish and more besides. When the sugar goes in I might get a little foaming , but not much to cause concern. So yes that's the sugar nucleation thing.
However when I returned to brewing a few years ago I bottled as soon as the FG was achieved and I regularly used to get gushers, which I put down to the fact that even though the FG might be stable there may be more CO2 to come out of solution before the equilibrium is reached. And the remedy at the time was to leave it longer before I bottled, which I then remembered is what I had done previously to get round this problem, well before I found out about yeast cleaning up etc etc on this forum.
Finally if you allow the beer to finish then leave it then crash cool at the end, there will be less than the equilibrium CO2 in the cold beer at the time of bottling, and therefore less tendency for it to want to be displaced by the sugar as it is added.

 

[kelper]

Nope. It means that the sugar's surface is acting as a nucleation site and releasing the co2 that's left in the beer. At 20c you'll still have 0.86 vols of co2 in the beer after it's fermented.

You are full of shugar! My Youngs Barley Wine has been fermenting for 12 days but is finished; SG steady at 1.005 for two days. I added sugar to my trial jar and it just went to the bottom - no fizz at all.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5pgaS3fShRHR5b3M7

 

[Flan]

I add sugar direct to bottles, always have.
I now leave my beer in the FV to finish and more besides. When the sugar goes in I might get a little foaming , but not much to cause concern. So yes that's the sugar nucleation thing.
However when I returned to brewing a few years ago I bottled as soon as the FG was achieved and I regularly used to get gushers, which I put down to the fact that even though the FG might be stable there may be more CO2 to come out of solution before the equilibrium is reached. And the remedy at the time was to leave it longer before I bottled, which I then remembered is what I had done previously to get round this problem, well before I found out about yeast cleaning up etc etc on this forum.
Finally if you allow the beer to finish then leave it then crash cool at the end, there will be less than the equilibrium CO2 in the cold beer at the time of bottling, and therefore less tendency for it to want to be displaced by the sugar as it is added.

Just a quick question, i bottled 5 litres of my first brew and put the rest (17-18l) in a pb, the priming calculator posted on here said to put 1.1g of sugar in a 500ml bottle and 61g in the pb with the beer being at 5°C as it had been cold crashed for 2 1/2 days, does this sound right as it seems a bit low and am worried about it being a bit flat.

 

[kelper]

It needs to be warm for secondary fermentation! About 21c is ideal

 

[Flan]

It needs to be warm for secondary fermentation! About 21c is ideal

I have the pb in my thermostat fridge at 19° and the bottles in the living room at around 20°C. Does my fridge need to be warmer

 

[kelper]

You said 5°C previously???