Potential bottle carbonation tip

[Nelson81]

Just a quick one, though this may help people who don’t like racking and batch priming (like myself), and are stuck between the choice of carbonation drops or faffing around, trying to perfectly measure individual quantities of sugar per bottle.

I’ve started using these:

https://amzn.eu/d/1cTeW67

They are mini sugar sachets, containing bang on 2.15g of sugar each. I’ve used 1 sachet per 500ml bottle for an IPA, and 2 sachets each for a pilsner, with perfect carbonation for both styles. I actually prefer the ipa with 1 sachet (see pic), a lovely gentle draught level carbonation yet with good head retention!

Ps, pic from Saturday, first bottle of a smash ipa (Maris otter and colombus) ABV 6.8%

 

[RichardM]

I tried sugar sachets once. It was as much faff tearing them open as measuring a teaspoon or half teaspoon of sugar.
I them lived to batch priming and then to kegging.

 

[MashBag]

Deary me no. Far too much faff.

Zevro sugar dispenser (and cane caster sugar) brilliant. 1 second per bottle.

 

[Nelson81]

Deary me no. Far too much faff.

Zevro sugar dispenser (and cane caster sugar) brilliant. 1 second per bottle.

Blimey, never seen those before, they do indeed look an even better option! Will definitely be cheaper in the long run, and comfortably beats my 3 seconds per sachet

 

[Nelson81]

I tried sugar sachets once. It was as much faff tearing them open as measuring a teaspoon or half teaspoon of sugar.
I them lived to batch priming and then to kegging.

I’m resisting the move to kegging, although would be the most time efficient method.. it just does not suit my lifestyle. I’m only consuming angel juice one evening max per week for health reasons (lost 3.5 stone this year so far) and having a keg set up would be disastrous on that front!

 

[MashBag]

Crate your bottles first, and set up double handed filler. All done in under and hour.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Zebro is good solution. Alternative low-faff if you want a bit more flexibility in amount of carbonation:

Calculste total sugar required, as if batch priming;
Dissolve in hot water, using 10ml per bottle (so eg 400ml boiling water for 40 bottles);
Use 10ml syringe (v cheap) to insert 10 ml in each bottle.

V quick, easy, and accurate.

 

[MashBag]

Zebro is good solution. Alternative low-faff if you want a bit more flexibility in amount of carbonation:

Zevro is fully variable. But I agree it is a bit more expensive than a syringe.

But is that not as much faff as a little packets?

I would replace my zevro of it failed, just click and go. No washing up, no solution to make or get wrong.

Another way of dosing is to make a gunpowder spoon, with a syringe & a coat hangar. These are also very good, but rarely discussed. Very quick & very cheap. Would easy win a time trial.

I bet I still have mine somewhere.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Zevro is fully variable. But I agree it is a bit more expensive than a syringe.

But is that not as much faff as a little packets?

I would replace my zevro of it failed, just click and go. No washing up, no solution to make or get wrong.

Another way of dosing is to make a gunpowder spoon, with a syringe & a coat hangar. These are also very good, but rarely discussed. Very quick & very cheap. Would easy win a time trial.

I bet I still have mine

Zevro is fully variable. But I agree it is a bit more expensive than a syringe.

But is that not as much faff as a little packets?

I would replace my zevro of it failed, just click and go. No washing up, no solution to make or get wrong.

Another way of dosing is to make a gunpowder spoon, with a syringe & a coat hangar. These are also very good, but rarely discussed. Very quick & very cheap. Would easy win a time trial.

I bet I still have mine somewhere.

The zevros I looked at were quarter, half or full teaspoon rather than fully variable, but perhaps you have a more advanced model.

I'm just offering an alternative!

 

[Brewshed]

I just make up a fining/priming solution of gelatine and caster sugar and use a 20ml syringe to dispense 5ml shots into each bottle once filled. It takes less than 5 mins to prime/fine 40 bottles and I know that each one has the same amount. Obviously, if you don't like fining then just leave out the gelatine.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Another way of dosing is to make a gunpowder spoon, with a syringe & a coat hanga

What's a gunpowder spoon?

 

[Nelson81]

I just make up a fining/priming solution of gelatine and caster sugar and use a 20ml syringe to dispense 5ml shots into each bottle once filled. It takes less than 5 mins to prime/fine 40 bottles and I know that each one has the same amount. Obviously, if you don't like fining then just leave out the gelatine.

Sounds like a good viable option.. is there not a level of dilution using this method?

 

[Brewshed]

Only a very small dilution. I usually use 5ml per 500ml bottle containing about 2g sugar per 5ml. If you make up the solution stronger you could reduce the volume needed per bottle.

 

[MashBag]

What's a gunpowder spoon?

It's a narrow straight sided spoon, used for accurate measure of gunpowder. This shape aids the accuracy and shoots caster sugar into bottles too.

Ok ok, enough already, I will go and look in the shed

 

[MashBag]

The pound coin is for scale. This is most likely a 5ml syringe. Made many pints.

 

[MashBag]

The zevros I looked at were quarter, half or full teaspoon rather than fully variable, but perhaps you have a more advanced model.

I'm just offering an alternative!

Bluetac/bread dough. Any dose you want.

 

[Twostage]

I tried to get a Zevro but I couldn't find one available in the UK at a reasonable price (or reasonable delivery schedule). The alternatives seemed to vary the amount dispensed depending on how you poured the sugar or how much sugar was left in the dispenser. I also wasn't sure the amount dispensed was what I wanted. So I decided to come up with my own solution which I designed, 3D printed and tested successfully this morning. Less than 2 seconds per bottle.

I've retired my spoon and funnel .

 

[RichardM]

I tried to get a Zevro but I couldn't find one available in the UK at a reasonable price (or reasonable delivery schedule). The alternatives seemed to vary the amount dispensed depending on how you poured the sugar or how much sugar was left in the dispenser. I also wasn't sure the amount dispensed was what I wanted. So I decided to come up with my own solution which I designed, 3D printed and tested successfully this morning. Less than 2 seconds per bottle.

I've retired my spoon and funnel .

Can we see a photo?

 

[Nelson81]

I tried to get a Zevro but I couldn't find one available in the UK at a reasonable price (or reasonable delivery schedule). The alternatives seemed to vary the amount dispensed depending on how you poured the sugar or how much sugar was left in the dispenser. I also wasn't sure the amount dispensed was what I wanted. So I decided to come up with my own solution which I designed, 3D printed and tested successfully this morning. Less than 2 seconds per bottle.

I've retired my spoon and funnel .

Ah, I picked up a Zevro on eBay a few weeks ago, very reasonable and quick delivery, with the aid of a small funnel I can now add sugar to 40 bottles in 1.5 minutes (thanks mash bag)

 

[Bitter_Dave]

Ah, I picked up a Zevro on eBay a few weeks ago, very reasonable and quick delivery, with the aid of a small funnel I can now add sugar to 40 bottles in 1.5 minutes (thanks mash bag)

I assumed one of the reasons for getting a zevro thing was that you didn't need a funnel. Is that not the case? If you are going to have to sterilise and dry a funnel you may as well use a measuring spoon I woikd have thought