# Replacement For Carb Drops?



## Liam dee (28/4/10)

Hey guys,

3rd post in an hour haha. I just ate a coopers bottle carbonation drop. Thats right... Like a lolly. And it was nice... but it got me to thinking... 

Has anyone thought of replacing the carbonation drop with a barley sugar? I know this might sound crazy... but i thought of barley sugar when i was eating the carb drop. And I am only a very green sapling in homebrew at the moment, but I cant help but think if you added a barley sugar as a carb drop in a wheat beer, it might start to take the form of a Beez Neez. Now i know that a Beez Neez is a honey wheat beer. But i think barley might be close

Voice your opinions openly

- Liam


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## MarkMc (28/4/10)

Liam dee said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> 3rd post in an hour haha. I just ate a coopers bottle carbonation drop. Thats right... Like a lolly. And it was nice... but it got me to thinking...
> 
> ...




No idea, but try a few bottles with your next brew... try it in plastic bottles too, dont risk glass.


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## Nick JD (28/4/10)

Should work fine, but I'd check the ingredients list for any fats - you don't want that in your beer.

BTW - beer is made from barley.


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## MarkMc (28/4/10)

Nick JD said:


> Should work fine, but I'd check the ingredients list for any fats - you don't want that in your beer.
> 
> BTW - beer is made from barley.


Where abouts on the border are you Nick?


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## Hatchy (28/4/10)

If I was going to try it (which I wouldn't) I'd probably go with 1 barley sugar in a longneck & store it away from the house. Someone here would know how much fermentable sugar is in a barley sugar but I don't. I'd also suggest keeping as many constants as possible in yr brewing until you get the hang of it. If yr going to try it, do what the other guys said & only do 1 or 2 (plastic) bottles & check the ingredients.


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## manticle (28/4/10)

Traditionally it's barley water boiled for hours to candy consistency. Commercially it's sugar with acid added so I doubt you'll notice much difference.

Prime 2 bottles with barley and two with carb drops, wrap them with glad wrap and keep them in a dark cool (18 degree) place for 6 weeks. Crack open and compare.


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## jyo (28/4/10)

When I first started brewing, I tried a little experiment with carbing using different flavoured jelly babies. I know, I'm a fruity bastard. 2 in each longneck. The red ones and orange ones were ok :wacko: ... No perceivable problems with fats/oils reducing head retention, so I imagine barley sugar would be ok. 

Cheers, John.


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## kelbygreen (28/4/10)

just go with dextrose or white sugar. No troubles here and its cheaper and just as easy. Not sure the little amount of carbing sugar added would make much difference to the taste as its only 6g of fermentable sugar per 750ml.


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## Bribie G (28/4/10)

If you are using PET bottles, a CSR sugar cube has been designed by God to fit precisely through the top of any PET bottle. One cube does a 750ml coopers type, and with 2L bottles which I used extensively before I took up kegging, two cubes for an ale and three for a lager. A third of the cost of the carb drops.


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## Nick JD (29/4/10)

MarkMc said:


> Where abouts on the border are you Nick?



I must change that - used to be up Tweed Valley, but now in Burleigh.


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## black_labb (29/4/10)

if you havent have a read of bulk priming have a read of the the article in the article section. bulk priming means you only prime once.


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## HoppingMad (29/4/10)

Would a barley sugar dissolve fully? Or are you looking at some serious cellar time to get rid of that sugary lump?

I thought Carb drops were designed to dissolve. Barley sugar to my knowledge isn't.

That said I'd love to throw a bit of Castlemaine Rock (a famous barley sugar in regional Vic) into a bottle to see if it works.

Hopper.


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## zoidbergmerc (29/4/10)

I used Lemon Flavoured Lollies to prime a few bottles of cerveza once. It carbed up well but it tasted aweful.


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## Fatgodzilla (29/4/10)

zoidbergmerc said:


> I used Lemon Flavoured Lollies to prime a few bottles of cerveza once. It carbed up well but it tasted aweful.




I used musk sticks once in a novelty beer but forgot to allow for the fact that each stick is more than a teaspoon full of sugar - result - bottle gushers of pink beer. By all reports the beer was drinkable once enough could be made to settle down, but it did stain the concrete. 

Be aware of what the carbonation sugar (lolly) is and what it contains (additives) before using it.


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## Steve (29/4/10)

Was given a glass of stout once that was carbed with a black jelly bean in the bottle. It was beautiful.
Cheers
Steve


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## Liam dee (29/4/10)

Some good replys guys... For some of you who seemed to think i meant as a permanent option... I was only thinking of a novelty/taste comparison. Brew sugars will always be my primary, because they are designed for it, and cheap too. I had never thought of jelly babies... and as for the stout with a liquorish jelly baby, that makes sense. I read somewhere that if you want unbelievable head (as we all do) on a stout, add some liquorish extract.

As for the lemon lolly in a corona brew, I think you would be better off with just some lemon rind in the fermentation process.

Good to hear what people have tried though...

- Liam


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