Priming syrup

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

Hi all, I decided to prime my Raja`s Reward ale with syrup, I made up with 150g of caster sugar and 350ml of hot water, I let it cool and added 10ml per 500ml bottle with a syringe, but after 10 days in a warm summerhouse I only get a very small Fsst when I open it, I left it in the FV for a week after it finished and it was almost clear when I bottled it, so I made up a starter bottle of fresh yeast and added 2ml to each bottle today and it looks more lively now, question is is the 150g of caster sugar and 350ml of hot water with 10ml per bottle enough, or did I let it clear too much before priming. In dark distant past I only ever used plastic kegs.

 

[Dutto]

A new concoction of your own making, brew put in an environment for only 10 days with no temperature control and then you start messing with it and adding yeast?

Sorry but:

1. The original syrup was probably enough.
2. There would have been plenty of yeast available no matter how “clear” it looked.
3. Only 10 days in an uncontrolled environment is way too soon.

I suggest that in the future you use the 2+2+2 method. (Look it up if you don’t know what it means.)

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi all, I decided to prime my Raja`s Reward ale with syrup, I made up with 150g of caster sugar and 350ml of hot water, I let it cool and added 10ml per 500ml bottle with a syringe, but after 10 days in a warm summerhouse I only get a very small Fsst when I open it, I left it in the FV for a week after it finished and it was almost clear when I bottled it, so I made up a starter bottle of fresh yeast and added 2ml to each bottle today and it looks more lively now, question is is the 150g of caster sugar and 350ml of hot water with 10ml per bottle enough, or did I let it clear too much before priming. In dark distant past I only ever used plastic kegs.

Unless my sums are wrong, that's 4.2g of sugar per bottle. I'd say that was about right. You just haven't left them long enough

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

Thanks guys, I`ll leave it longer next time, I didn`t think an extra 4 days would have made that much difference,,,, Dutto, I`m not sure what the "new concoction of my own making" is, as for an uncontrolled environment, the summerhouse was kept at 20c, I`m off on a trip for 2 weeks now, so hopefully it will be nice when I get back.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I use about the same numbers priming at you do 160g in 350ml. only I use brewers sugar which is a monosaccharide (glucose or also known as dextrose) which makes it easier to to convert to alcohol and co2 for the yeast. Also I don't cold crash which could mean more yeast are suspended in the beer. My primed bottles are kept indoors at 20-21c usually and have usually carbonated in 7-10 days. Using a mono rather than a poly sacchiride may carbonate quicker due to less breaking down of sugars needed. Sugar is glucose and fructose.

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

I use about the same numbers priming at you do 160g in 350ml. only I use brewers sugar which is a monosaccharide (glucose or also known as dextrose) which makes it easier to to convert to alcohol and co2 for the yeast. Also I don't cold crash which could mean more yeast are suspended in the beer. My primed bottles are kept indoors at 20-21c usually and have usually carbonated in 7-10 days. Using a mono rather than a poly saccharide may carbonate quicker due to less breaking down of sugars needed. Sugar is glucose and fructose.

Thanks for that helpful info, I`ll definitely stick to brewing sugar from now on

 

[moto748]

I use a priming syrup too, I like that you can meter the amount of sugar per bottle accurately this way. But I think variations in each brew probably count for more. 4.2 g per bottle sounds a lot to me. Certainly I only use about half that amount of sugar; I vary from 1.7 to 2.3 g per bottle effective, dependent on style, and that seems plenty to me. But other posters clearly use more sugar, and find it successful for them, so I take from that it must also dependent on your brewing method.

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

I use a priming syrup too, I like that you can meter the amount of sugar per bottle accurately this way. But I think variations in each brew probably count for more. 4.2 g per bottle sounds a lot to me. Certainly I only use about half that amount of sugar; I vary from 1.7 to 2.3 g per bottle effective, dependent on style, and that seems plenty to me. But other posters clearly use more sugar, and find it successful for them, so I take from that it must also dependent on your brewing method.

Thanks for that, for my next brew I`m going to vary one or 2 bottles, I also wondered why some use mil`s and some like you use grams.

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

I use a priming syrup too, I like that you can meter the amount of sugar per bottle accurately this way. But I think variations in each brew probably count for more. 4.2 g per bottle sounds a lot to me. Certainly I only use about half that amount of sugar; I vary from 1.7 to 2.3 g per bottle effective, dependent on style, and that seems plenty to me. But other posters clearly use more sugar, and find it successful for them, so I take from that it must also dependent on your brewing method.

For the 40pint kit I used 150gr of sugar, divided by 40 = 3.75gr, I see now why its mils in a syringe but its calculated in grams

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

I think I have sussed out the problem, looks like I have too much head space, what do you think ???

 

[moto748]

As far as mls v grams is concerned, you may choose to add 10 ml of a weaker syrup, or 5 ml of a stronger one, but at the end of the day, it's how much sugar is going into each bottle that matters here.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I think I have sussed out the problem, looks like I have too much head space, what do you think ???
View attachment 73094

Looks fine to me

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Like moto748 I use 2g per bottle (of ordinary caster sugar in my case) and that has always been plenty

 

[Brewshed]

I use about 2 grams of caster for each bottle and make it up as a syrup with enough to prime each bottle with 5ml. I also dissolve my fining gelatine in it so when I add to each bottle with a syringe I am priming and fining. This has always worked well for me.

 

[WM7793]

Wow guys, I am amazed at how much sugar you put in per bottle! What are you aiming for in terms of carbonation levels?
I typically batch prime around 20 litres of beer with approximately 27 gms of table sugar to 1.2 volumes of CO2 for a standard pale ale, slightly more for a Belgian.
I don’t enjoy fizzy beer.

 

[Kit-brewer]

I use around 75-100g per 20l kit. Just normal sugar. It takes a while to carbonate, but I prefer a less carbonated beer anyway. Also, less carbonation means its more similar to a real ale when you pour into a jug to remove the carbonation and becomes a little more creamy when poured into a glass.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Wow guys, I am amazed at how much sugar you put in per bottle! What are you aiming for in terms of carbonation levels?

I use a half teaspoon (~2g) of sucrose (table sugar) per 500ml bottle for english ales, and 1tsp (~4g) for continental styles (weiss/wit, belgians, hoppy IPAs).

There would have been plenty of yeast available no matter how “clear” it looked

. Even if you cold crash it, there will be yeast to bottle carbonate. You'll only get rid of the yeast if you kill it chemically (Sodium Metabisulphite used for cider etc where you want residual sugar) or filtering your beer. It normally takes a few days to get going, then picks up speed as the yeast wakes up. Give it another week an you'll probably find your beer is fine

I've found that if I leave it in the primary until it is bright (super clear) then it takes longer to bottle carbonate (because there is less yeast in the beer and it's gone more dormant) - normally 2-3 weeks for me. You'll also get less sediment in the bottle

If I bottle it earlier (largely by mistake than by design) when it's still murky/hazy (ie, with more suspended yeast) it can take 1-2 weeks to fully carbonate.

This is in my spare room/garage, where the temperature fluctuates. The temperature at this stage doesn't have a significant impact on the final beer (but does on the speed of carbonation).

I think I have sussed out the problem, looks like I have too much head space, what do you think ???

Head space looks fine and shouldn't affect carbonation much - beer normally has between 1 and 4 'volumes' of CO2 dissolved in it (meaning for a 500ml bottle, "1 volume" of CO2 will be 500ml of dissolved CO2 whereas "4 volumes" will have 2L of dissolved CO2. The headspace is far smaller than this so has negligible impact on the CO2 dissolving

. Given you have PET bottles, you can give them a squeeze to check on carbonation levels rather than opening them.

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

I use a half teaspoon (~2g) of sucrose (table sugar) per 500ml bottle for english ales, and 1tsp (~4g) for continental styles (weiss/wit, belgians, hoppy IPAs).


. Even if you cold crash it, there will be yeast to bottle carbonate. You'll only get rid of the yeast if you kill it chemically (Sodium Metabisulphite used for cider etc where you want residual sugar) or filtering your beer. It normally takes a few days to get going, then picks up speed as the yeast wakes up. Give it another week an you'll probably find your beer is fine

I've found that if I leave it in the primary until it is bright (super clear) then it takes longer to bottle carbonate (because there is less yeast in the beer and it's gone more dormant) - normally 2-3 weeks for me. You'll also get less sediment in the bottle

If I bottle it earlier (largely by mistake than by design) when it's still murky/hazy (ie, with more suspended yeast) it can take 1-2 weeks to fully carbonate.

This is in my spare room/garage, where the temperature fluctuates. The temperature at this stage doesn't have a significant impact on the final beer (but does on the speed of carbonation).



Head space looks fine and shouldn't affect carbonation much - beer normally has between 1 and 4 'volumes' of CO2 dissolved in it (meaning for a 500ml bottle, "1 volume" of CO2 will be 500ml of dissolved CO2 whereas "4 volumes" will have 2L of dissolved CO2. The headspace is far smaller than this so has negligible impact on the CO2 dissolving

. Given you have PET bottles, you can give them a squeeze to check on carbonation levels rather than opening

Cheers for that info bud, looks like I just need more patience

 

[RichardM]

Thanks for that helpful info, I`ll definitely stick to brewing sugar from now on

There is no need to. Ordinary granulated sugar works perfectly well, is cheaper and readily available.

 

[Johnny_GM7LSI]

There is no need to. Ordinary granulated sugar works perfectly well, is cheaper and readily available.

That's good to know, thanks