# How Much Priming Sugar For 500ml Bottles



## fraser_john (21/10/08)

I got 72 500ml flip top bottles from my brother and finally got around to cleaning them on the w/e. I have a belgian double I want to bottle tonight but am unsure how much sugar to prime a 500ml bottle with!

My estimates are about 4gm/bottle?? Is this right?


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## Fents (21/10/08)

why dont you bulk prime it? 5g/L i think is the going rate.


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## Interloper (21/10/08)

fraser_john said:


> I got 72 500ml flip top bottles from my brother and finally got around to cleaning them on the w/e. I have a belgian double I want to bottle tonight but am unsure how much sugar to prime a 500ml bottle with!
> 
> My estimates are about 4gm/bottle?? Is this right?



Measuring out 4gms a bottle? That will take forever - Bulk prime FTW!

Go here for more calculations

170gms at most for this style with 22L of brew
Dissolve in 1/2 cup of water
Rack brew onto sugar in a clean fermenter
Bottle

Easy Peasy.


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## buttersd70 (22/10/08)

Don'tknow if it's too late for this batch cos you said you were bottling last night.....
but, carbonation level is dependent on several factors, and it is best to calculate for the specific requirement as opposed to a generic Xg/L

edit: duh, Interloper has already linked. That is a great calc, I use it all the time.


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## fraser_john (22/10/08)

No did not bottle last night, decided I'd give bulk priming a go, based on this I decided I would polyclar it first and then bulk prime with a pack saflager dissolved in as well to give it some fresh yeast for carbonating. That way it will last longer on the shelf.


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## buttersd70 (22/10/08)

fraser_john said:


> No did not bottle last night, decided I'd give bulk priming a go, based on this I decided I would polyclar it first and then bulk prime with a pack saflager dissolved in as well to give it some fresh yeast for carbonating. That way it will last longer on the shelf.



Bulk priming is the dogs wotsits  btw, if you use that priming calculator, the 'beer temperature' is the maximum temperature that the beer got to at any point in the fermentation process, not the temperature of the beer at the time of bottling. Its used to calculate the level of residual co2 left in solution, and catches some people unaware.
Polyclar will definately aid in the long term storage, it's great stuff...is the additional yeast really necessary, though?


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## Interloper (22/10/08)

fraser_john said:


> ... and then bulk prime with a pack saflager dissolved in as well to give it some fresh yeast for carbonating. That way it will last longer on the shelf.



hmmm not sure about that - if you give it too much yeast it may end up explosive - bottle bombs from excess carbing.

I wouldn't have thought this was a good idea? Interested to hear others thoughts, but that fresh yeast in there won't make it last longer on the shelf and if anything will give you an 'unfinished' taste because it is so fresh?

Thoughts from others on this? Never heard of adding yeast to a bulk prime before...


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## fraser_john (22/10/08)

I was thinking doing that after the polyclar, thinking it might strip out too much yeast whilst it settles the proteins?


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## Interloper (22/10/08)

fraser_john said:


> I was thinking doing that after the polyclar, thinking it might strip out too much yeast whilst it settles the proteins?



Even after a fining agent there should still be plenty of yeastie beasties to keep your brew carbed up.

I wouldn't have thought it necessary even with poly, but will happily be corrected by those with more experience!


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## buttersd70 (22/10/08)

Agree with interloper, there should be plenty of yeast. Polyclar isn't a yeast fining agent, it's for the various proteins. It wlso works best in 'clear' beer. But any fining or addition of polyclar (at least on a HB scale) is unlikely to clear enough yeast from the beer to prevent adequate carbonation (in most cases. High alc beers such as tripples sometimes need a bit of help, but that is more due to the high stress on the yeast from fermenting such a high gravity beer, and having such a high alcohol content. At least thats my understanding, but I'm not overly familiar with high grav beers.)

But having used polyclar in conjunction with geletin finings, I have never found a problem with carbonation. Even filtering with a 1 micron filter (the pleated canister type filter, similar to what Ross sells, not a depth or sheet filter, thats a totally differant animal  ), you will have enough yeast come through to finish the job.


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## Snow (22/10/08)

You haven't said what volume you intend to prime, but in my opinion, a good dubbel should be well carbonated. When I do a dubbel, I put 160-180g dextrose in a 22L batch for bulk priming. No more yeast is needed. If you use cane sugar, just add around 15% less.

This View attachment BULK_PRIMING___Secondary_Fermentation.doc
provides a good indicator of priming amounts for different fermentables.

Cheers - Snow


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## fraser_john (22/10/08)

I racked it yesterday off the secondary yeast deposit and got about 15 litres from what I estimate. I'll polyclar tonight. But I wont get a chance now to bottle it till Monday night due to other engagements.


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## buttersd70 (22/10/08)

Unless filtering, you would need to leave minimum 2 days after polyclaring it anyway.  the manufacturer says that theres no problem with extended contact time, so I don't see any issues with leaving it till monday, so just leave it in cold untill you're ready.


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