Carbonation Drops or Sugar for priming?

[mancer62]

Hi there would be interested to know just what the general view was regarding priming bottles and kegs both in an economic and finished article aspect.
For example are Coopers carbonation drops preferable than sugar to prime for example? And would 1 drop be sufficient for 500ml bottle?
What would the amount needed be for perfect carbonation of a 500ml plastic coopers beer bottle using (a) Drops. (b) Sugar. (c) Or something else?
What would be the amount needed on average to prime 40 pints in a pressure barrel with (a) Drops. (b) Sugar. (c) Or something else?
Also if using sugar would it be recommended to put an amount in each individual bottle or batch prime?
What would the best way and amount be to batch prime?
I will be making Real Ales, Pale Ales, Stouts and Bitters. :

 

[winelight]

It doesn't really matter which method you use, drops or sugar, batch prime or individual. It's all down to personal preferences. The quantity you use depends on the beer style, lager would be more than bitter for example.

I use sugar because it's cheaper. I use slightly less than one teaspoon per bottle. I do individual bottles.

In a pressure barrel, 50 to 80g depending on beer style.

 

[mike77]

I don't think there will be any taste/quality difference between drops or sugar. Personally I like the drops at the moment as they are more convenient to use. I find 1 drop in a 500ml bottle gives me the right amount of carbonation that I'm after which is a very light fizz. If you are after something closer to lager carbonation then I think that you would be best using sugar as 1 drop is not enough and 2 drops is too much.

 

[NickW]

Batch priming is far easier and least time consuming, thats what I have found anyway.

Boil up the required amount of sugar in a small amount of water and add to the bottling bucket before adding your beer.

 

[winelight]

I know that's what everyone says, but it takes about 1 second to prime a bottle. I can't believe it takes you less than 44 seconds to batch prime.

 

[oldbloke]

Just thought worth mentioning we regularly see posts from people dissatisfied with the results of carbonation drops.

 

[NickW]

It takes slightly longer to batch prime. But 90% of that time is just waiting for the sugar solution to boil. Plus I have a lot more control over precisly how much sugar I want to prime with. Carbonation tablets don't give you that option.. and if you're using sugar to individually prime bottles it will take you a lot longer than batch priming.

 

[Will12283]

I have batch primed and used the drops. I found that batch priming give a more consistent level of carbonation than the drops, but I do use the drops for my 1g batches of TC ask find this easier. Found drops were best used with lager rather than beer/bitter, or just any drinks you want to be very fizzy (2 drops per 500ml bottle)

 

[rpt]

Coopers carbonation drops cost about £3 for 250g. Granulated sugar is less than £1 for 1kg. So carbonation drops are 12 times more expensive.

 

[fizz head1982]

Aye, coopers carb drops are £2.75 in boyes and contain 80 pieces. Each one can treat a 330 to 500ml bottle.... Sugar in Heron is about 80 pence per kilo. So economically sugar batch pricing is cheapest!

As for quality i cant recommend either. :party:

 

[gotstar]

Can you use castor sugar in place of granulated sugar and does it make any carbonation or taste difference?

 

[rpt]

Caster sugar is just finer white sugar so it is the same as using granulated sugar. You can get golden caster sugar but I doubt it would make much difference.

 

[DethApostle]

I have done an experiment with different sugars on my blog (about 9 months ago) which was inspired by 'How to Brew'.
effectively you can use any type of sugar including Honey, Treacle, White, Brown, etc etc however you need to vary the amount depending on the fermentable sugar in each product.
I doubt there is much difference between white castor or golden castor at all. The difference betwen white castor and Treacle is quite significant though! (though you wouldn't want to add Treacle in a pale ale!)

In short it's worth an experimental tinker with your priming sugars as it does make a difference in taste to the finished brew.

Oh, and to answer the original post. I batch prime, with castor sugar. It's just as easy as single bottle priming, but a fraction of the cost and you are likely to always have sugar in the house rather than Carbonation drops!
Of course this has reminded me I was going to try to prime a beer using Cola Cubes... :hmm:

Cheers
DA

 

[mattrickl06]

I use castor sugar in the following amounts per each 500ml bottle

Stouts - 1/2 teaspoon
Ale - 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon
Lager -1 flat teaspoon
Hefe -1 full teaspoon

I used to use drops but i too found that 1 drop was not enough for a 500ml bottle and 2 was too much :wha:

I am also not keen on batch priming as it doesnt seem to mix evenly (even with a gentle stir) - if you taste the wort at the bottom of the bottling bucket after batch priming it is sweeter than a nuns honeypot!!

A teaspoon, a little funnel and some castor sugar and i am a happy primer!!

 

[cuba]

Definetly use 2 carbonation drops for a 500ml bottle.
1 is drop is not enough.