Adding carbonation to a brew

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Howard Taylor

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Hi all,

I made a brew of Amber ale a few weeks ago, put some of it in bottles and they are fine, about 60% of the brew went into a Hambleton Bard beersphere, that 3 gallon of beer has almost no carbonation. So my question is how do I re-carbonate this beer before transferring it to bottles and can I do it at this stage?

I was thinking of adding some sugar solution to the brew and then rebottling..... If I use standard granulated sugar dissolved in hot water how much sugar will I need and what amount of water to dissolve it in? Would appreciate any comments, thanks.

The original issue with the beersphere was the float assembly not keeping the take-off tube under the surface of the beer. When I took the top off to correct this I lost the carbonation I think. So I added some CO2 gas from a cylinder to keep the beer fresh...... Now I think it's best to bottle it, what are you're thoughts on this plan?

Howard
 
If you know the volume of beer you have, then you just need to use a calculate to workout how much sugar you need to use to prime it again, then bottle as normal. That's what I had to do with my braggot when the stupid ruddy pressure barrel tried to pee it out everywhere (last time I ever used one of the stupid things).

My advice? If you can't afford corny kegs or something similar, safe yourself some grief and bottle. ;)
 
Half a teaspoonful of sugar per bottle. That's it...
Or if you sort out the leak on your pressure barrel just add 3 ounces (80g) of sugar and leave it in the barrel.
 
Thanks for your comments, both of you. So I don't need to dissolve the sugar in some hot water before adding it to the brew? I used the calculator on this forum and it gave me an estimate of 81 grams of sugar to add to the 3 gallons. Might just put it into bottles anyway, as I now have enough bottles to do this! There was no leak on my beersphere (as far as I know), I just lost the gas when I removed the top to repair the float. Then after about 7 days I tried a pint and it was almost flat...... Hence the original question to you experienced brewers. Thanks again.
 
Thanks for your comments, both of you. So I don't need to dissolve the sugar in some hot water before adding it to the brew? I used the calculator on this forum and it gave me an estimate of 81 grams of sugar to add to the 3 gallons. Might just put it into bottles anyway, as I now have enough bottles to do this! There was no leak on my beersphere (as far as I know), I just lost the gas when I removed the top to repair the float. Then after about 7 days I tried a pint and it was almost flat...... Hence the original question to you experienced brewers. Thanks again.

I sanitise my bottles with one of those fancy upsidedown plastic jet rinsers, and use a funnel to depose a heaped half teaspoon of sugar (3 grams -ish for my .5L bottles). Then bottling using silicon hose and a filling pipe (can't find the proper word). Works like a charm. Beware though: sugar granules can block the valve!

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Thanks for your comments, both of you. So I don't need to dissolve the sugar in some hot water before adding it to the brew? I used the calculator on this forum and it gave me an estimate of 81 grams of sugar to add to the 3 gallons. Might just put it into bottles anyway, as I now have enough bottles to do this! There was no leak on my beersphere (as far as I know), I just lost the gas when I removed the top to repair the float. Then after about 7 days I tried a pint and it was almost flat...... Hence the original question to you experienced brewers. Thanks again.

It's a lot less effort if you add your 81g of sugar into a small amount of water (about 1cm deep in your smallest pan), bring to the boil for a minute or two to sterilise it then just pour it into the beer in the sphere, stir well but do not splash about, wait for about 30 minutes for it to mix evenly then bottle with a syphon or a tube attached to the tap. Again, don't splash around or you'll introduce oxygen at a stage when you really don't want it.
 
GerritT it's a little bottler I have one on the end of, my Syphon tube and if makes bottling day a lot less of a chore.
 
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