Priming bottles with a syringe

[evil.soup]

Well this thread has been an eye opener.

My plan was to use a funnel and a small measuring cup with 4g of priming sugar per 500ml bottle. I have been worrying about any damp clogging the funnel and was going to try to solve this by drying the cup, funnel and tops of bottles with a hair dryer after sterilisation to ensure everything is bone dry. Not sure if that would have worked, but can't see why it wouldn't, has anyone tried that before?

Now I have read this though, I am thinking I will just dissolve my sugar in water and use an old calpol syringe. 160g sugar in a measuring jug, topped up to 200ml of water to dissolve will give me 4g sugar for every 5ml portion.

Pretty sure I have my maths correct on that?

 

[BasementArtie]

Going back to original thing I use a 10ml BD medical syringe to individually "inseminate" each bottle. I use my spreadsheet to calculate the amount of solution to draw up for the desired CO2 vols. For the style.

I used to use the funnel technique however the clogging was annoying.

Priming Dosage Calculator

 

[user 47834]

Now I have read this though, I am thinking I will just dissolve my sugar in water and use an old calpol syringe. 160g sugar in a measuring jug, topped up to 200ml of water to dissolve will give me 4g sugar for every 5ml portion.

Pretty sure I have my maths correct on that?

That would be a very thick syrup!

 

[Agentgonzo]

My plan was to use a funnel and a small measuring cup with 4g of priming sugar per 500ml bottle. I have been worrying about any damp clogging the funnel and was going to try to solve this by drying the cup, funnel and tops of bottles with a hair dryer after sterilisation to ensure everything is bone dry. Not sure if that would have worked, but can't see why it wouldn't, has anyone tried that before?

I can't see why that wouldn't work. My funnel is stainless steel, so I sanitise it with a kitchen blow torch. Any damp and you're right, the sugar will clump.

Even doing this, the end of the funnel will get a bit damp when going into the bottle (no rinse sanitiser residue in the bottles - I don't wait for them to dry). Over the course of 40 bottles there is a bit of sugar build up at the bottom of the funnel, but not enough to clog it (1cm diameter) or materially affect the amount of sugar going into the bottle.

4g of sugar is quite high (but may be what you after). I tend to use 1tsp, which is about 2.5g IIRC.


I wonder if this is necessary though. Raw sugar is actually a fairly bad environment for stuff to grow on (I think, don't quote me in this) and the alcohol in the beer will kill most things. I would imagine the potential for spoilage would be small even if you didn't sanitise the dry priming gear. Especially if you've dishwashed them already.

 

[evil.soup]

That would be a very thick syrup!

Really?? I haven't tried yet so I'm just going on the simplest maths to make a 5ml dose, but will be a pain if its going to end up thick.

In my mind I had a calpol style consistency from the quantity I am thinking to mix but that was just a guess...

 

[user 47834]

Really?? I haven't tried yet so I'm just going on the simplest maths to make a 5ml dose, but will be a pain if its going to end up thick.

In my mind I had a calpol style consistency from the quantity I am thinking to mix but that was just a guess...

I'm not 100% tbh.

Sure try it and you can always add more water to thin it out if needs be.

 

[evil.soup]

I'm not 100% tbh.

Sure try it and you can always add more water to thin it out if needs be.

Yeah I think I will give that a go, will just need to adjust my maths to suit if I have to add more water. If I go to 300ml that should mean 7.5ml. I was only trying to keep it to a 5ml dose as I am using a calpol syringe that only goes to 5ml lol!

 

[user 47834]

Yeah I think I will give that a go, will just need to adjust my maths to suit if I have to add more water. If I go to 300ml that should mean 7.5ml. I was only trying to keep it to a 5ml dose as I am using a calpol syringe that only goes to 5ml lol!

I'm after buying a 200ml syringe so it's 20 doses of 10ml so will only need 1 refill.

 

[evil.soup]

I'm after buying a 200ml syringe so it's 20 doses of 10ml so will only need 1 refill.

I need to look into that myself...

 

[Caramel Ox]

It seems a lot of fuss to avoid sanitising a funnel and spoon that I forget to do anything with most of the time anyway.

I did syringe once - equal parts water and sugar by weight, but when I think about it I’m pretty sure I didn’t sanitise the syringe.

 

[user 47834]

It seems a lot of fuss to avoid sanitising a funnel and spoon that I forget to do anything with most of the time anyway.

I did syringe once - equal parts water and sugar by weight, but when I think about it I’m pretty sure I didn’t sanitise the syringe.

Spoons are a fixed amount. What if I need a different amount?

Making a solution and loading it into a big syringe isn't that much fuss really

 

[Caramel Ox]

Spoons are a fixed amount. What if I need a different amount?

Making a solution and loading it into a big syringe isn't that much fuss really

Well with a 1/2 teaspoon you can do level, slightly raised, rounded, heaped. I work it out first using the coffee scales (now I realise it sounds fussy as well) to get the target amount. If I can’t manage well enough I try with 1/4 teaspoon.

 

[evil.soup]

Well with a 1/2 teaspoon you can do level, slightly raised, rounded, heaped. I work it out first using the coffee scales (now I realise it sounds fussy as well) to get the target amount. If I can’t manage well enough I try with 1/4 teaspoon.

That goes against the meticulous control freak in me, I would worry i have put too much or too little in differing quantities in each bottle and end up with different levels of carbonation across a batch, that would bug the life out of me and keep me awake

 

[Caramel Ox]

I did look to see if you can get non standard sized teaspoons without success. You can get a variable one which I haven’t tried.

The sugar solution may not stay well mixed, if you have a stirrer plate that could help.

 

[user 47834]

I did look to see if you can get non standard sized teaspoons without success. You can get a variable one which I haven’t tried.

The sugar solution may not stay well mixed, if you have a stirrer plate that could help.

Do you not boil the sugar solution?

 

[SMP Brewery]

I’ve just this second finished bottling 20 ltrs of my Saison and I dissolved 180g of sugar in 400ml of boiled water. Then used a 5ml syringe to add 2 lots to each bottle, hopefully getting 3.2 volumes of CO2.

Used pet bottles and it was so much easier than crown caps.

 

[Caramel Ox]

Do you not boil the sugar solution?

If you do boil you have to deal with evaporation and all of your previous calculations will be out. Would have to measure volume after boiling and work out your dose again. You won’t have a nice round number like 10ml though.

 

[evil.soup]

I did look to see if you can get non standard sized teaspoons without success. You can get a variable one which I haven’t tried.

The sugar solution may not stay well mixed, if you have a stirrer plate that could help.

I did think about priming all 40 bottles then getting on with filling them, but then it crossed my mind thar as the sugar solution cools in the bottle, it may solidify and not mix well, so I am thinking prime and fill one at a time.

The idea of carbonation drops is more and more appealing, but the cost in comparison to a kg of priming sugar is pretty much 100% more expensive.

 

[MashBag]

Sanitising a funnel

 

[evil.soup]

Sanitising a funnel

No?