Kronos
Well-Known Member
Can anyone recommend a good priming sugar or an equivalent product for an all grain Dortmunder lager that I shall be bottling soon. Also how many grams per litre is recommended.
Priming Sugar
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Rockuronium
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I always aim for 7g per Lt if I want a decent carb, only ever used household sugar, I'm sure the purists would have other ideas. :wink:
strange-steve
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Agree with Rock, don't bother using anything other than granulated sugar. His suggestion of 7g/L will give around 2.6 vol which is a good call for a Dortmunder.
Normal granulated sugar for me too. I always use this calculator to work out how much to use. http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
Kronos
Well-Known Member
That's made things a lot easier than I thought. :thumb:
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
AlanManley
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+1 for this one.
Although I'll admit I always struggle with understanding the "Volume of CO2" so I just leave it at 2?
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Make that +2.
The table below is handy for getting a CO2 range for a particular style but after that it comes down to whether you like your beer on the fizzier side or not.
'Volume of CO2' is the volume of CO2 gas that is dissolved in the same volume of beer. At 20*C and under stable conditions and atmospheric pressure the ratio is about 0.9 volume CO2 to 1 volume of beer.
So when we add sugar to prime beer, more CO2 is generated in the enclosed space of the bottle/keg and since it can't go anywhere it stays in solution, and increases the Volumes of CO2 it contains. And different beer styles are suited to different 'Volumes of CO2' as you have found out I am sure, and thats why we add different quantities of priming sugar to suit.
Hope this helps.
Kronos
Well-Known Member
What is the best way to add the priming sugar to the bottles.
Is it best to put it directly into the bottles or syphon the beer into another fermenting bin and mix it to this first.
Is it best to put it directly into the bottles or syphon the beer into another fermenting bin and mix it to this first.
I would recommend boiling the sugar gently in around 200 ml of water let it cool, then pour into bottling bucket, when the beer is added it should disperse evenly through the brew. Never had any problems with this method, good even carbonation throughout
That's the way I do it although I do give it a gentle stir as I've found I occasionally get uneven carbonation if I don't. The batch I bottled last night I forgot to stir and the dregs of the bucket tasted very sweet so I suspect I'm going to have the same problem again.
I wouldnormally have put 5g to 500ml bottles and results varied from gushers to great pourers.I then done as alikav has said and works out fine although tried the same when I bought a pressure barrel recently and the beer was totally flat.Ive found two factors at fault:
1 I forgot to lube the o-ring
2 I over tightened the cap.
So frustrated that I may just use it as a secondary fv.
Sent from my ALE-L21
1 I forgot to lube the o-ring
2 I over tightened the cap.
So frustrated that I may just use it as a secondary fv.
Sent from my ALE-L21
JapanBrew
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10 seems a bit much but maybe that's table sugar? Anyways I'll give it a shot. I'll go with 8 grams a liter. I was hoping to force carb my kegs but the wife wants the kegs out of the fridge. So, looking around for a used freezer I can convert. If I had extra cash, I'd just buy my wife a new fridge for kitchen since the my ex took my new, expensive one. I was stuck with a very old one one of my staff members had. It works but not so efficient.
That was what my local HB shop said when I first started - a teaspoon or 5g per bottle. I use table sugar to prime usually but sometimes brewing sugar also - whatever is lying about lol.
I did look at the carbonation tables online and thought I am using way too much sugar but I have never had a problem with it so left it as it is.
Kronos
Well-Known Member
I have been putting a teaspoon of house hold sugar direct into each the bottle and after month in the bottle they taste too sweet. I have a 23 litres of Northern Brown Ale nearly finished fermenting and I don't want another load of sweet bottles.
Can anyone suggest what I should do, would reducing this to half a teaspoon full of sugar be ok, would that be enough to give carbonation.
Can anyone suggest what I should do, would reducing this to half a teaspoon full of sugar be ok, would that be enough to give carbonation.
Hoppyland
Senior Member
Two questions:
Was the beer well-enough carbonated?
What temperature did you keep it at for the month?
If it was well-enough carbonated, and yet tasted sweet, there are two possibilities. Either the yeast hadn't finished working when you opened the bottles, or the beer had a sweet-tasting but non-fermentable ingredient. If the yeast hadn't finished, then as time goes by it'll get fizzier, then gush, then maybe even blow the bottles!
Well, it will be enough to give carbonation. But it might not be as much as you like. Not easy to say - how big is a teaspoon? What do you think is half-full?
For me, the big thing is to make sure that your beer has genuinely stopped fermenting before you bottle it. Make sure the FG is near what you expect, and stable for several days.
Secondly, have a think about batch-priming (some recent threads have mentioned this). With batch-priming you put all the priming sugar into the FV/bottling bucket in one go. You know exactly what weight of sugar you've used, and the volume its dissolved in. Much better than "two-thirds of a small teaspoon for each bottle - but not as small as the spoons Granny had" :smile:
Kronos
Well-Known Member
The teaspoon is a measured one, the stainless type where level it off. Fermenting wise I kept it in the house for 5 days and then for the last three weeks or so it has been in the shed so it could have got to 5c at some point. I suppose this could have been the down fall. It is clear as a bell though.
I will ensure the brew fermenting at the moment has really finished. I am a little stuck where I can store the bottle, it is either in the house or in the shed. And I will try batch-priming.
I will ensure the brew fermenting at the moment has really finished. I am a little stuck where I can store the bottle, it is either in the house or in the shed. And I will try batch-priming.
Hoppyland
Senior Member
This could be the main issue. Your beer is going to take more that 5 days to fully carbonate. I'd try keeping it for about 2 weeks in the house. The carbonation process is exactly the same as the fermentation process: the yeast chomps the sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. In the FV, its the alcohol that you want to produce, you throw away the CO2. In the bottles, the opposite applies: its the CO2 that you're interested in. But it's the same process, and will work best at the same temperatures. Your shed is a great place to mature the already-carbonated bottles, and the beer's clarity is testament to this, but an ale yeast at 5C will have long since gone to sleep!
Try batch-priming - personally I find it a lot easier and predictable, but everyone has their own method of choice!
