# Coopers Carbonation Drops



## RWithers (26/7/10)

Hi all,
just brewed and bottled my first batch of beer. A coopers pale ale. I bottled it in 650ml long necks. I was told that 2 carbonation drops would be fine even though they recommend 2 for 750mls. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Will it be over carbonated at all?


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## bum (26/7/10)

For many people that will be over carbed (in fact, many think 2 drops in 750 is also a bit over the top). But that is just personal preference - you may think it is perfect. The only thing that might present an actual problem is if your beer is not completely fermented prior to bottling. With a few points left to go in the brew plus a touch too much priming sugar in the bottles you might find this will combine to make bottle bombs. But I don't think it'll be a concern if your brew fermented out properly.

Btw, you're about to see 100 replies telling you to bulk prime.


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## Pennywise (26/7/10)

Hi bloke, welcome to the forums. Yes it will be a bit more carbed than your average home brew, so long as your FG (final gravity) was constant (and realistic) over 2-3 days it'll be fine though. If you find they're way overcarbed for you then you can vent the bottles and re-seal em' so the carbonation dies down a bit. Try one after a week and see how it is


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## DU99 (26/7/10)

from my experience if and when you put them the bottles..when you put the first drop in the bottle the beer shouldnt foam out of the bottle..neither should the second..
The dosage required is 1 drop per 345-375ml stubby or 2 drops per 740-750ml bottle.


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## bum (26/7/10)

DU99 said:


> from my experience if and when you put them the bottles..when you put the first drop in the bottle the beer shouldnt foam out of the bottle..neither should the second..


 
Very true. This is because they should both be in the bottle _before_ the beer. Unless you wish to make life interesting by increasing the difficulty of a tedious task, of course.


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## manticle (26/7/10)

RWithers said:


> Hi all,
> just brewed and bottled my first batch of beer. A coopers pale ale. I bottled it in 650ml long necks. I was told that 2 carbonation drops would be fine even though they recommend 2 for 750mls. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Will it be over carbonated at all?



I'd be inclined to go for one unless you like really fizzy beer. 

I don't - I prefer lower so take my advice with a grain of salt.


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## mwd (26/7/10)

Even better is buy yourself a kilo bag of dex or caster sugar and one of those little scoops for a couple of dollars.

Much cheaper and just as easy as carb drops.


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## RWithers (26/7/10)

ok cheers, I'm hoping i don't create bottle bombs. because i've got them in the loungeroom (boxed and wrapped in a tarp) cause that is the only place in the house with a constant temp of around 22. I started it in the fermenter last tuesday. fermented at about 22C and the bubbling had stopped by saturday, so i took some readings. original SG was 1046 and over the last 2 days it has been at 1014 so I figured fermentation had finished. Does this sound about right? one thing i don't want is explosions in the loungeroom


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## bum (26/7/10)

Tropical_Brews said:


> Even better is buy yourself a kilo bag of dex or caster sugar and one of those little scoops for a couple of dollars.
> 
> Much cheaper and just as easy as carb drops.



Still would be considered as over priming by many though. 

Warra posted a really good little tutorial on adapting those priming measures for non-standard bottle sizes on another board once. Perhaps he might be persuaded to repeat it here?


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## Hatchy (26/7/10)

Under a week in the fermenter could cause a problem. What were you expecting the fg to be? Could be bottle bombs.

I'll be amazed if someone hasn't beaten me to this post.


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## bum (26/7/10)

Hatchy said:


> I'll be amazed if someone hasn't beaten me to this post.


 
Why? It would be pretty easy to get kit yeast brew done and dusted in 3 days. Maybe even less. 

But it has been mentioned a couple times that it is important that a proper FG has been reached so I'm still not sure what you mean.


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## RWithers (26/7/10)

would it be wise to uncap after a day or so and recap to relieve some pressure? would this help?


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## MeLoveBeer (26/7/10)

bum said:


> Btw, you're about to see 100 replies telling you to bulk prime.



lol... just for bum; you should bulk prime, its heaps easier :icon_cheers:

Seriously, I had nothing but probs with the carb drops... one seemed too low, two too high carbonation and the uneven size of the tablets meant that it was hit and miss regardless.


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## bum (26/7/10)

RWithers said:


> would it be wise to uncap after a day or so and recap to relieve some pressure? would this help?


 
Some panic merchants will tell you that, yes, you should do this now. Won't anyone think of the children?! 

Give them up to a week and crack one. If it is already really fizzy then have a think about relieving the pressure. Can't advise the most appropriate method for this as I've never done it but have a read around, there's almost always an active thread about it. 

As for you question about your FG, your assumptions sound reasonable but it would all depend on your recipe. 1014 is potentially on the high side of things but it depends to a large extent on your ingredients.


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## Hatchy (26/7/10)

bum said:


> Why? It would be pretty easy to get kit yeast brew done and dusted in 3 days. Maybe even less.
> 
> But it has been mentioned a couple times that it is important that a proper FG has been reached so I'm still not sure what you mean.



I meant that there was 4 minutes between his post & mine.

Edit: I used those drops for the 1st time in years last week & it made me REALLY appreciate bulk priming.


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## RWithers (26/7/10)

ok cheers, recipe was just coopers pale ale kit, 1kg of brew enhancer, no added hops or anything. I'll give them a week and see how it goes. i'll let yas know if i have to replace any carpet in the loungeroom due to severe beer soakage. Ha


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## Pennywise (27/7/10)

RWithers said:


> ok cheers, recipe was just coopers pale ale kit, 1kg of brew enhancer, no added hops or anything. I'll give them a week and see how it goes. i'll let yas know if i have to replace any carpet in the loungeroom due to severe beer soakage. Ha




Disclaimer: I don't use brew enhancers so I could be talking out of my arse, but;

I would have expected an FG a little lower than 1014, that's the sort of FG I'd expect with an all malt K&K. Considering brew enhancers have a fair amount of dextrose in them that would result in a lower FG. I'd expect somewhere around 1010-1012, prolly closer to 1012. I wouldn't worry too much, I'm not confident that that small difference would result in exploding bottles, unless you have a bottle with a defect in it (crack, chip). One a side note, regarding the replacing of carpet, that'll be the last thing you think of if one (or more) bottles explode and there's someone in the room to take a big shard of glass in the face, glass bottles are dangerous if not treated with full respect.


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## RWithers (29/7/10)

hey guys just to let you know, cracked a beer open and they seem fine, not much pressure in there considering what i thought it would be. I'll leave them in a warm area til monday then move them to the cellar. cheers for your help. Anyone tried the ESB Beer packs at all? Just got an American Pale Ale pack so that'll be my next one


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## levin_ae92 (29/7/10)

I must confess I'm so lazy I still use carb drops and csr sugar cubes to prime my bottles! One sugar cube per long neck is perfect!


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## warra48 (29/7/10)

bum said:


> Still would be considered as over priming by many though.
> 
> Warra posted a really good little tutorial on adapting those priming measures for non-standard bottle sizes on another board once. Perhaps he might be persuaded to repeat it here?



OK, here it is:







I have always bottled all my brews, and envisage I'll continue to do so into the future.

Fortunately, I've not had a bottle bomb since 1973. I do leave all my brews in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks, except Hefeweizens, which I bottle after 7 or 8 days. However, Hefeweizens don't last long, I start drinking them 1 week post bottling, and a batch is generally gone in 4 to 6 weeks.

My preferred priming medium is Caster Sugar, and I use the priming measures available from HB shops, BigW etc to dispense the sugar through a small funnel into my bottles.

My experience is that the standard measure delivers priming at the very high end of the range, at about 2.9 volumes.
That's fine if I bottle say, a Hefeweizen, but it is totally unsuited to my preferred carbonation level for Pale Ales, Bitters etc etc.

Additionally, the measures are designed to dispense priming medium for 750 mil and 375 mil bottles. That makes it difficult to dispense an accurate measure in 500 mil bottles.

This is how I dealt with this issue. The photo shows 3 dispensers.
One is the standard one as bought from the HB shop. It is what I use for 375 and 750 mil when bottling hefeweizens.
Another one has been cut down with my modeling knife, commensurate with 500 mil bottles. I used a set of calipers to get precise measurements when doing this.


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## DU99 (29/7/10)

interesting idea..how much did you cut off


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## warra48 (29/7/10)

DU99 said:


> interesting idea..how much did you cut off



About 1/3rd.
It's not cut from the top. What I did was to lower the cut out portion, so it measures less sugar.
As it is now, it's fine for Pale Ales etc. 
For Milds and Bitters, I use still less, and they still carbonate adequately.


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## DU99 (29/7/10)

Will give it a try..Thanks


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## Hatchy (29/7/10)

Is there a reason you don't bulk prime Warra? I've still got at least 1 of those scoops but haven't used 1 for years.


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## warra48 (30/7/10)

Hatchy said:


> Is there a reason you don't bulk prime Warra? I've still got at least 1 of those scoops but haven't used 1 for years.



Tried it once. Didn't particularly like doing it that way.
For me, individual priming seems just as quick, although being retired, time is not a great pressing issue.

Each to their own. :icon_cheers:


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## DU99 (30/7/10)

i have tried bulk priming also..i have time on my hands also..only time i will do again if i get odd sized bottles


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## Jeff Margrie (30/7/10)

warra48 said:


> Additionally, the measures are designed to dispense priming medium for 750 mil and 375 mil bottles. That makes it difficult to dispense an accurate measure in 500 mil bottles.



You can buy scoops to suit 330ml & 500ml

From here Grain & Grape

Or HERE

Cheers WoolBrew :icon_cheers:


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## sandjeep457 (30/7/10)

Highly recommend the simplicity of Carb Drops. The Coopers ones I use are all identical in size and give a precise measurment.
If you want to over complicate it, or cannot afford them, then use one of the other methods.


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