Priming sugar, a few questions.

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Using x grams of sugar per bottle is not a very accurate method and could lead to additional infection.. I'm fermenting in a bucket with a tap and at the end of fermentation I boil table sugar in a few cups of water [as a rule of thumb - 6 grams per litre] which I pour in the beer after it cools down, stirring it slowly with a sanitised paddle. This ensures the same carbonation level is achieved in each bottle.
 
Alan_H said:
Using x grams of sugar per bottle is not a very accurate method and could lead to additional infection.. I'm fermenting in a bucket with a tap and at the end of fermentation I boil table sugar in a few cups of water [as a rule of thumb - 6 grams per litre] which I pour in the beer after it cools down, stirring it slowly with a sanitised paddle. This ensures the same carbonation level is achieved in each bottle.
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I read people saying this all the time but as yet haven't been able to understand it. Excuse my ignorance but how is it not accurate to put a known amount of sugar into each bottle? Surely that IS the definition of accurate?

Whereas batch priming you are relying on the sugar solution distributing evenly through the brew, of which you have no way of knowing that has happened.

Also, when calculating how much sugar to add when batch priming, surely you have to guess how much beer you will get out of the batch? It's not an exact science and yield differs from brew to brew depending on how much **** is at the bottom of the barrel, how much you can be bothered draining every last drop of beer out etc!

Also don't see bottle priming as any more of an infection risk that batch priming. In fact the way most folk batch prime, i.e. transfer the beer to a second FV, could be argued as being more of a risk to infection. Appreciate this isn't how you do it, but aren't you stirring up all the **** from the bottom when you stir the sugar in?

Guess its strokes for folks as they say.
 
I guess either way works well... first times I did the priming by adding some dextrose to each bottle.. time consuming and I didn't measure each dosage - I used a 3 gram plastic spoon like the ones used for baby food. Then I tried carbonation drops [also dextrose I believe?] which should give you the same amount of sugar per bottle. But you have to manipulate them by hand - I'm just paranoid about sanitation I guess.
And when I stir in the boiled syrup I make for priming I do it very gently, without touching the bottom of FV, so the **** from the bottom stays there :) I mainly use high flocculation yeast which also helps.
I also do this before sanitising my bottles and everything else, giving time for whatever went up to settle back in and when I bottle it, I can see dodgy clumps of yeast going through the first couple of bottles, which I mark separately and drink those first.
I might also be over-complicating things, but mainly dosage per bottle is time consuming, not saying the other ways are wrong though :)
 
It's really hard to get the exact weight for each spoon. Again, I've never spoiled a batch but when I was doing the drops and spoons, there's a lot of variables that are open...
About how much you get out of a batch, when you do it enough times, you know how much loss you get. You can get it down to pretty close. Besides when you transfer to the bottling bucket and if it's graduated you can see how much you're working with. Mine isn't but the last 5 batches, I've been spot on with how many bottles I'll get.
 
I don't like priming individual bottles with raw sugar for a number of reasons so I "batch prime" after moving the fermented brew to a bucket ready for bottling; however, I increase the risk of infection.

Okay, here comes the "daft question" ...

"Has anyone made a strong sugar syrup and used that to individually prime bottles?"​

The reason I ask is that:

o I have home made Rose-Hip and Blackberry Syrups that are still in perfect condition after over a year in the shed so a simple boiled syrup should last just as long without introducing anything nasty when used as a priming sugar.

o Weighing out the sugar as the syrup is made will make it easy to calculate the relevant weight of sugar per millilitre of syrup.

o For accuracy (and to prevent stickiness and the introduction of nasties!) using a syringe to dispense the syrup into the bottles would make it a lot easier than sugar crystals on a spoon.

So, what does everyone think? Viable idea or a waste of time?​

All comments welcome! :thumb::thumb:
 
That makes a lot of sense, can't see any reason why it wouldn't work... :smile:

I've batch primed regularly but of late, things have been somewhat chaotic and I've found various brewing buckets being used to store Lego or other such inconvenient non brewing items, so have primed bottles the old way. I use a small funnel and a chef's 1/2 teaspoon measure - so it's near as damn it bang on the half a teaspoon of bog standard granulated sugar every single time and nothing gets wasted as it all goes straight down the funnel... it works for me. However the idea of using a home made flavoured syrup such as suggested above, I find tempting... :)
 
Dutto said:
I don't like priming individual bottles with raw sugar for a number of reasons so I "batch prime" after moving the fermented brew to a bucket ready for bottling; however, I increase the risk of infection.

Okay, here comes the "daft question" ...

"Has anyone made a strong sugar syrup and used that to individually prime bottles?"​

The reason I ask is that:

o I have home made Rose-Hip and Blackberry Syrups that are still in perfect condition after over a year in the shed so a simple boiled syrup should last just as long without introducing anything nasty when used as a priming sugar.

o Weighing out the sugar as the syrup is made will make it easy to calculate the relevant weight of sugar per millilitre of syrup.

o For accuracy (and to prevent stickiness and the introduction of nasties!) using a syringe to dispense the syrup into the bottles would make it a lot easier than sugar crystals on a spoon.

So, what does everyone think? Viable idea or a waste of time?​

All comments welcome! :thumb::thumb:
Click to expand...

My comment? More than one way to de-integument a feline......
 
Dutto said:
"Has anyone made a strong sugar syrup and used that to individually prime bottles?"​

Why not add that syrup to the entire batch instead...? You can check your priming gravity [with sugar or whatever it is you're using] and get the same one with the syrup...
Click to expand...
 
Alan_H said:
Dutto said:
"Has anyone made a strong sugar syrup and used that to individually prime bottles?"​

Why not add that syrup to the entire batch instead...? You can check your priming gravity [with sugar or whatever it is you're using] and get the same one with the syrup...
Click to expand...

That's what I do at present (bottled a brew yesterday) but putting the brew into a bottling bucket and stirring in the syrup exposes it to both the possibility of infection and exposure to oxygen; which is why a lot of people go the "sugar in bottle" route.

I'm still wondering if making up a syrup and using syringe would be a safer and more accurate system; but as no-one seems to do it my instinct tells me that it is NOT a good idea. :nono: :nono:
Click to expand...
 
I put my priming syrup into the bottling bucket first, then siphon into it. I keep the end of the siphon submerged, so no risk of introducing o2, and the priming syrup gets distributed evenly.
 
My feeling is that it makes precious little difference what sugar you prime with or how you do so.

Home Brewing seems to be prone to superstition, in as much as each HB'er will do repetitively what seemed to work for them previously. That is actually very scientific, since science is essentially empirical rather than theoretical.

I am quite sure my "method" differs in some way from almost everyone else on here. It also differs from week to week. Today I "forgot" to do a mash out before chucking the mash pot contents into the grain bag in the "holding" FV. Possibly not overly consequential, after all.
 
Dutto said:
Alan_H said:
That's what I do at present (bottled a brew yesterday) but putting the brew into a bottling bucket and stirring in the syrup exposes it to both the possibility of infection and exposure to oxygen; which is why a lot of people go the "sugar in bottle" route.

I'm still wondering if making up a syrup and using syringe would be a safer and more accurate system; but as no-one seems to do it my instinct tells me that it is NOT a good idea. :nono: :nono:
Click to expand...


I did that for a while. You can get syringes every where and all sizes. I got a 30 ml one. But after awhile it still gets tiresome. Just get a bottling bucket and batch prime. You get really good at knowing how much trub loss you get on each batch.
Click to expand...
 
JapanBrew said:
Dutto said:
I did that for a while. You can get syringes every where and all sizes. I got a 30 ml one. But after awhile it still gets tiresome. Just get a bottling bucket and batch prime. You get really good at knowing how much trub loss you get on each batch.
Click to expand...

Ah well, another bright idea goes in the bin. (No wonder I'm not rich!) :doh:

Thanks for the comments. :thumb: :thumb:
Click to expand...
 
Not in the bin. Try it. You might find a way that suits you and even something new that really works well. In my opinion that's what homebrew is about. Getting your style and comfort level in line.
 

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